Implant (Nexplanon)

If you have health insurance—whether it’s through your parents, school, job, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace, or Medicaid—chances are good that you’ll be able to get an implant with no out-of-pocket cost.

If you don’t have health insurance or have a plan that doesn’t cover birth control, it’s true that the up-front cost of an implant can be high, but because the implant can last for five years even if you pay full price upfront, it ends up being pretty cheap over time.

If those aren’t options for you, the manufacturers of the implant offer discounts and you can also check with the family planning clinics around you and find out if they offer discounts or payment plans for the implant.

If the implant is new to you (that means 6 months or less) and the side effects are bearable, you may want to give it a little more time as hormone levels will start to level off, so those hormonal side effects tend to go away.

The hormonal IUDs, shot, implant, and progestin-only pill have all been shown to overall reduce periods for most people. For some people, that means they don’t get a period at all, but for others it can cause bleeding when you aren’t expecting it even if you have less total bleeding.

You can use the pill or the ring continuously to intentionally skip your period altogether.

Using a method of birth control with estrogen, like the pill, patch, or ring, increases the risk of forming a blood clot, but the risk is so low that if you don’t have any factors that increase your chances of having a blood clot, you can safely use all types of birth control. If you do have an increased risk of blood clots because you’ve had one before you’ve had a stroke or heart attack, or you have a medical condition that increases your risk of a blood clot, like high blood pressure, then adding birth control with estrogen to the mix increases your risk too much and it’s not recommended that you use birth control with estrogen in it. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a birth control method for you! 


If you can’t take estrogen, you have quite a few options available to you. First you have the non-hormonal methods, like the copper IUD. You can also use any of the hormonal methods that only contain progestin, not estrogen, like the implant, mini-pill, shot, and hormonal IUDs, like Mirena, Skyla, Liletta, and Kyleena. These don’t increase your risk of blood clots and are all really good at preventing pregnancy.

If you’re worried about blood clots or don’t know if you have risk factors, talk to a health care provider about which birth control methods are options for you.

Most birth control methods will not cause weight gain. Everyone’s body responds to birth control differently, but research shows that the pill, patch, the hormonal IUD, the ring, and non-hormonal birth control methods like a copper IUD or condoms don’t cause weight gain (or loss). Studies do show that about 1 in 4 people who use the shot will gain some weight (around 5% of body weight).

While the Paragard and hormonal methods that don’t contain estrogen—the shot, the Mirena IUD, the implant and the mini-pill—are safe for people who are postpartum to use immediately after giving birth, combination pills, which contain estrogen, shouldn’t be used until three weeks after giving birth, since estrogen can increase a postpartum person’s risk of blood clots.

Up-front costs can be high if you don’t have insurance, but since the implant can stay in place for up to four years, even at full price you end up paying the equivalent of just $10 a month. Check out our implant page for more details about cost.

The implant can improve dysmenorrhea (which is severe pain during one’s period). And, since it doesn’t contain estrogen, it can be used by breastfeeding women, smokers over 35, and others who cannot tolerate estrogen.

In a word, no. The best way to guard against sexually transmitted infections (STIs) if you’re having sex is still the good ol’ condom. If you’re concerned about both pregnancy and STIs, doubling up with the implant and condoms is a great option.

No, most forms of birth control are not effective immediately, so you want to check with you doctor before having unprotected sex. Until then, use a condom for added protection.

Some methods are much easier to hide than others. The shot and the implant are invisible, so nobody will know you’re using birth control. The IUD is also very discrete, so that’s another possibility, though some guys may be able to feel the strings during sex. And if you are looking for a permanent solution, sterilization surgery is also undetectable, but there may be age restrictions and waiting periods for this procedure.

No, the implant is a medical device created by a pharmaceutical company that has no interest in tracking where you’re going.