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A woman has shared the moment pulling a birth control implant from her arm, after it poked out of her skin.
Marianna Ibarra claimed she had visited her doctor, who had convinced her it was all part of the normal healing process.
"Shout out to the doctors who gaslit me and said that the cyst that was growing on the incision was part of the healing process," she captioned the video.
The clip showed the Nexplanon birth control implant poking out of her arm from a large hole in her skin. "I'm just taking out my birth control implant that literally just came out of my skin. I'm not even kidding you right now and I don't even know what to do," she said in the clip.
Nexplanon birth control is placed into the arm and prevents pregnancy by slowly releasing a steady flow of a synthetic version of the hormone progesterone, known as progestin. It prevents ovulation, thickens cervical mucus and changes the uterus lining.
Cases of the implant poking out of the skin are infrequent, but there have been reports of the implant being able to migrate to other parts of the body. In 2016, the FDA changed the Nexplanon label to include warnings about migration, writing that a "deep" insertion is more likely to cause issues with locating or removing the implant.
@marianna_sauce Shoutout to the doctors who gaslit me and said that the cyst that was growing on the incision was part of the healing process ? #nexplanon #Vanessahudgensisaliar
♬ original sound - Marianna Ibarra
A later video originally shared to TikTok showed Ibarra pulling the implant out with her own hands, but it was swiftly removed by the app. She published the clip to Twitter soon after.
Ibarra reiterated to viewers of the video that she had a Nexplanon implant and not an IUD, after confusion led people to suggest it looked like a "lollipop stick." Unlike IUDs, Nexplanon has a matchstick-like shape.
For most viewers, the video acted as an example of how AFAB issues are often overlooked in healthcare. A 2021 study found that cis women, trans men and non-binary people with gyne organs are five times more likely to feel not listened to when asking for help with reproductive health.
Less than 2.5% of publicly funded research in the U.K. is dedicated to reproductive health, despite one in three women suffering from a reproductive or gynecological health problem in their life. In 2016, there was five times more research into erectile than premenstrual syndrome, despite only 19% of men suffering from erectile dysfunction, while premenstrual syndrome affects 90% of women.
In fact, research trials in the U.S. weren't required by the National Institute of Health to include women until 1993. Prior to this, women's bodies were reportedly viewed as being too complex as a consequence of fluctuating hormones.
Others, however, took to the comments to reassure other women that the video should not be a reason for them to not choose the birth control method, noting their positive experiences with it instead.
"My Nexplanon is fine. Blame your physician," wrote one user.
"That's a technical error, not an error with Nexplanon," commented another.
"It works for some and not for others, just please do your own research and don't let doctors gaslight you when you know something is wrong," summarized Ibarra in a following video.
Newsweek has contacted Marianna Ibarra for comment.
