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Pipelle exam in clean days

23 July, 2020

Question:

I am 49 years old and have a conventional IUD. Recently I started spotting between periods. The doctor said my hormone levels are still fine. I am not yet in menopause or early menopause. He did a hysteroscopy and found a polyp in my uterus. Yesterday, the doctor conducted a “pipelle” exam and afterwards I was spotting. This was on day 4 of my 7 clean days. Am I a niddah from the spotting? I asked the doctor and he said “maybe”.

Also while this polyp issue is being resolved and I am spotting between periods, what can I do to minimize being in a frequent state of niddah?


Answer:

Any staining found after the pipelle exam may be attributed to trauma and does not invalidate the clean days. You may omit bedikot until the staining subsides but should make sure to perform one final bedikah on day 7. If you are still staining on day 7, as long you performed daily bedikot on days 1-3 of the clean days, you may delay your final bedikah until day 9 if necessary. In that case, your days 3 and 9 would become your new days 1 and 7. If you didn’t perform any bedikot beyond day 1, and you are unable to get an acceptable bedikah on day 7, unfortunately you would have to restart your 7 clean days.

Going forward, we recommend reviewing the laws of ketamim, since not all staining will render a woman niddah. As long as you do not experience an actual flow (comparable to a period), you may take precautions against becoming niddah from this staining by wearing colored underwear and waiting at least a few seconds (ideally 15 seconds) after urinating before wiping. See our page on stains for more details.

Please feel free to get back to us with any further questions.

B’hatzlacha!

This response has been updated to reflect the rulings of our current Rabbinic Supervisor, Rav Kenneth Auman, regarding waiting before wiping.


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