When it’s first put in, you may feel some bruising, tenderness or swelling around the implant. Your periods may become irregular, lighter, heavier or longer. A common side effect is that your periods stop (amenorrhoea). It’s not harmful, but you may want to consider this before deciding to have an implant.

Getting your birth control implant — also called Nexplanon — can cost anywhere between $0 and $1,300. Implant removal can cost between $0 and $300. But the good news is that implants are totally free (or low cost) with most health insurance plans, Medicaid, and some other government programs.

The brand, made by Merck pharmaceuticals, was approved in Canada in May. It is available after September 8 2020 and is called Nexplanon. The cost is between $300 – $350.

Where is it available? Nexplanon can be purchased at a pharmacy with a prescription. It can then be taken to a trained health-care provider to be inserted. It takes two separate appointments to get Nexplanon — one for the assessment and prescription, and one for implantation.

Both the pill and the implant are highly effective forms of birth control, with a 99 percent effectiveness rate when used correctly. However, in real life conditions, the implant is usually a more effective form of birth control than the pill.

Already available in over 100 countries, Nexplanon is now finally approved for use in Canada. Nexplanon is a contraceptive implant: a small rod, inserted into the upper arm through a tiny incision, that prevents pregnancy for up to three years.

You will need to purchase your Implant at a pharmacy before your insertion appointment and bring it with you. These cost approximately $350. The Implant (Nexplanon) is new to Canada (approved in 2020, although it has been used for many years in other countries), which means that private insurance may not cover it yet.

The use of Nexplanon, a three-year contraceptive implant that’s implanted into your upper arm, has long been unavailable in Canada as the research from its clinical trials did not yet meet Health Canada’s standards.

Nexplanon works for 3 years before it needs to be replaced. You can use this method until you reach the menopause, when a woman’s monthly periods stop naturally. The implant can be removed at any time by a specially trained doctor or nurse. It only takes a few minutes to remove, and a local anaesthetic will be used.

Progestin, the hormone in a birth control implant, keeps sperm away from your eggs. Many people think it could cause you to gain weight. In fact, weight gain is one of the top reasons why women stop using the implant. But the link between the birth control implant and weight gain isn’t strong.

A device implanted into your arm to prevent ovulation, and therefore pregnancy, may sound a little freaky, but it’s actually nothing new. Due to a superior level of effectiveness, the arm implant has been a popular birth control option among women outside of Canada for a while, but hasn’t been available here since it went off the market in 2002.

NEXPLANON ® is the first single-rod arm implant to be approved by Health Canada for the prevention of pregnancy. 1 The implant provides Canadians with a new birth control option that can be removed at any point during the three-year period by a healthcare professional. 1

The birth control implant (AKA Nexplanon®) is a tiny, thin rod about the size of a matchstick. The implant releases hormones into your body that prevent you from getting pregnant. A doctor inserts the implant into your arm and that’s it — you’re protected from pregnancy for up to 3 years. It’s get-it-and-forget-it birth control.

Nexplanon, a single-rod arm implant (which is smaller and more comfortable than previous versions) has just been approved by Health Canada for pregnancy prevention.