This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Towson chapter.

Weighing your birth control options is important. Not every method works for everyone, and sometimes not every brand of every method fits you right either.

At the end of the summer I was faced with having to go off of depo shots, which I had loved for four years (you are totally not supposed to be on those shots that long!), and I had to start weighing my options. Pills were out because I rank towards the top of most disorganized humans ever raised. Nuva Ring and IUDs scared me. I have a self tanner addiction so I couldn’t use the patch (yay priorities!). Finally, I settled on Nexplanon.

Nexplanon, formerly known as Implanon, is a match stick sized, flexible rod that your doctor implants in your arm. It lasts for three years, and apparently if you like it you can just replace it with another one at the end of its run!

Sounds great, right? Well, yeah if that’s all your doctor tells you which is basically what happened to me. Sure, I was warned about the risk of stroke, especially if I smoke (I don’t and you shouldn’t either). As the friendly blogger that I am, I have decided to compile a list of the pros and cons on getting a Nexplanon based on my first few weeks with it.

Con: It hurt! Maybe I should have thought ahead about the amount of pain I’d feel, but I was not prepared. The doctor numbs your arm with a lidocaine injection, but that really burns. Also, you can’t lift anything for a few days afterwards because your arm is sore and you don’t want to open the wound.

Pro: Everything previously stated is temporary! Now I rarely notice that there is anything in my arm. Sometimes I lift something heavy the area around the implant hurts, but I suspect that will go away once it is completely healed in another month or so.

Con: The bruises are really gross. Honestly, looking at my left arm for about two weeks made me queasy. Apparently bad bruising isn’t very common, but it does happen. I hid in long sleeves until they were mostly healed which made me more uncomfortable, but it was still better than the “OMG what happened to you?!” comments.

Pro: Maybe you’re the type of person who can make a good conversation out of “battle scars.” Most likely your arm won’t be the one that turns black.

Con: There is now a foreign object embedded in you. That might not be your thing.

Pro: You never have to think about it! Unless you want to – sometimes I do enjoy asking people if they want to touch it. On the other hand, nobody ever has to know you’re on birth control but you!

Con: Your period could get weird.

Pro: Your period could get so weird that it just decides not to bother you for a while (fingers crossed). You might not even miss it!

Con: Weight gain. Or maybe weight loss. Nobody knows for sure what could happen there. It’s always upsetting when your body changes outside your control.

Pro: Really effective birth control. Besides not having a uterus, you can’t do much better at preventing a pregnancy.

Your doctor’s advice is much more important than mine. Ask your doctor any questions you may have and discuss your concerns with them thoroughly. Most importantly, you should take whatever they say seriously. There are things I still don’t know even having the Nexplanon. But I think that it’s always valuable to hear an experience from somebody before you make a big decision. Overall, I would say it was a good choice for me, and I hope that you will feel good about whatever decision you choose to make!Weighing your birth control options is important. Not every method works for everyone, and sometimes not every brand of every method fits you right either.