BALTIMORE — Fresh off a pair of disappointing losses to the Yankees and Red Sox, the Orioles took another, more costly, blow on Thursday afternoon, this one knocking out the entire right side of their infield.

First baseman Derrek Lee (left oblique strain) and second baseman Brian Roberts were put on the disabled list, although given Roberts’ injury — concussion-like symptoms — the Orioles were able to place him on the newly enacted seven-day DL rather than the 15-day DL.

Neither player made himself available to the media following the announcement, although Lee said earlier in the afternoon that he understood that his presence on the active roster — while the team evaluated him on a daily basis — was handcuffing the Orioles’ bench.

“I understand the situation they are in,” Lee said of an O’s bullpen that exhausted every reliever — including Thursday’s originally scheduled starter, Jeremy Guthrie — in Wednesday’s 4-1 loss to the Yankees in 15 innings. “And at the end of the day, you have to do what’s best for your team.”

The veteran first baseman had been bothered by discomfort in his left side for weeks, but he aggravated the muscle further while running the bases during his first at-bat at Fenway Park on Monday. Roberts also started feeling the ill effects of his diagnosis in that game — which the Orioles lost despite holding a 6-0 lead in the sixth inning — following a headfirst slide into first base after he hit a ball off starter Daisuke Matsuzaka’s midsection in the top of the first.

Roberts, Baltimore’s leadoff hitter, was batting .221 with three homers and 19 RBIs in 39 games. he got off to a hot start this season but has struggled in May, which he opened with a 4-for-45 stretch through 11 games. Roberts had hit safely in his past three contests, going 5-for-15, before his headaches were brought to manager Buck Showalter’s attention.

While Lee’s trip to the DL was almost expected, given the nature of his injury, the news for Roberts is more surprising and potentially more devastating, given that the second baseman’s 2010 season ended due to a concussion from which he took months to fully recover.

“Any time you’re dealing with a concussion and heads and stuff, you’re concerned about it,” Showalter said of Roberts, who was limited to just 59 games last year due to a herniated disc in his lower back. “I was talking to Brian. this isn’t anything like the symptoms he was feeling last year. That’s good, but you still have those symptoms that we’re going to make sure that we have our arms around before we go forward.

“We’re hoping that it clears up and the doctors feel fine about it, and he’s a player [activated for] Tuesday.”

The timetable for Lee isn’t as optimistic; the first day he would be eligible to complete his stint on the DL — which is retroactive to Tuesday — is June 1. Lee, who was hitting .231 with 14 RBIs and 41 strikeouts, had tried to state his case to avoid the DL, citing his improvement on Wednesday.

But Lee hasn’t made any significant strides in recovery since then, and the Orioles — who went through a similar situation before losing shortstop J.J. Hardy to the DL for a month — weren’t willing to risk further injury.

“Talking to medical people, I don’t want to lose Derrek,” Showalter said. “I’d like to have him. he impacts our team in a lot of ways, but taking a chance on this?

“In my experience with these [injuries] over the years, there is usually a lot more going on there than you think. I hope not. I think there’s some talk about taking some form of X-rays or something that show certain inflammations to try and judge how bad it is.”

Given the dire straits of their bullpen following Wednesday’s loss, the O’s recalled left-hander Troy Patton and righty Chris Jakubauskas from Triple-A Norfolk to take the roster spots vacated by Lee and Roberts. Both pitchers were demoted after the game, and the O’s are expected to recall outfielder Nolan Reimold and purchase second baseman Ryan Adams’ contract from Triple-A Norfolk prior to Friday’s series opener against the Nationals.

The first moves of the day left the Orioles with a two-man bench for Thursday’s game: Luke Scott and catcher Matt Wieters, who was scheduled to get a rare day off.

Sitting in the bathroom, I am looking apprehensively towards the pregnancy test on the bench. My heart is pounding as I reach out to turn it over. Then I let out a huge sigh of relief: I’m not pregnant.

But, of course, I shouldn’t be. That’s because I’ve had the contraceptive implant Implanon in my arm for more than a year.

This matchstick-sized rod is designed to release hormones that prevent pregnancy. Licensed in 1999, it has become a ?popular form of ?contraception, with around 800,000 women using it, according to Department of Health estimates.

Implanon: The matchstick-sized rod is implanted in the arm to release hormones that simulate pregnancy (posed by models)

After a local anaesthetic, the implant is inserted into your upper arm through a tiny cut — you can just feel it under your skin.

It works by gradually releasing the ?synthetic ?hormone etonogestrel into the bloodstream, which fools the body into believing it’s pregnant. This stops eggs maturing in the ovaries and the womb becomes a hostile environment to sperm.

Implanon is designed for women who don’t want any more children, but don’t want to be sterilised, or who want long-lasting contraception (the device lasts for three years, when you then ?simply have it replaced).

And there are lots of plus points. Unlike the Pill, very few medicines affect Implanon (St John’s Wort is one that does). Nor do you have to worry about Implanon if you have a stomach bug (unlike with an oral contraceptive).

You also don’t have to ?remember to take it. No wonder so many women like the idea of it.

But last week it emerged that hundreds of women have been permanently scarred or become pregnant after their implant ?apparently failed — 584 have reported unwanted pregnancies and 1,607 ?complained about the implant going wrong.

As well as these side effects, the National ?Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) states that almost half of women will have infrequent, ?frequent or prolonged bleeding. Up to 43 per cent stop using it within three years — 33 per cent because of irregular ?bleeding.

That’s a lot of dissatisfied customers. I am one of them. for me, Implanon has been a nightmare from day one, starting with almost ?constant heavy bleeding for the first five months, which ?inexplicably stopped suddenly.

I then had all the ?symptoms of pregnancy — sore breasts, exhaustion, going off ?certain food. This was the reason I took the pregnancy test. it was to be the first of three such scares.

It really was terrifying because I nearly ?haemorrhaged to death after giving birth to my third child (I have a son aged two, and daughters who are four and six). I’m 38, and my husband and I have no ?intention of having any more children; we’re lucky to have three who still have a mother.

Health issues aside, we simply can’t afford another child. when I first went to my GP, just a couple of months after my son Ben’s birth, Implanon seemed like the only viable option (I can’t take the Pill because, with a history of migraines, it puts you at risk of stroke).

It sounded brilliant. Quite apart from the convenience, statistically, there is no question that Implanon performs extremely well.

‘though the Pill and Implanon are quoted as being over 99 per cent effective, that’s with ?correct usage,’ says Dr Alyson ?Elliman, vice-president of the ?Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare of the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

‘The actual failure rate is more like 0.05 per cent in Implanon and 8 per cent with the Pill in real-life situations.’

Personal choice: Implanon is more convenient than taking a daily pill but can have adverse side effects (posed by model)

But there are those adverse effects. ‘Bleeding patterns may be affected,’ says Dr Elliman.

This is because the membranes ?lining the uterus can be affected. ‘but any method of ?contraception that targets egg release may cause erratic bleeding,’ she says.

Skin problems such as acne may also be ?exacerbated and you might ?experience breast tenderness.

A week after my first pregnancy scare, the bleeding started again. I was sufficiently concerned about it to return to the private gynaecologist who looked after me following the traumatic birth of my son.

He conducted various ?investigations — ultrasounds and even a biopsy — to ascertain whether something more sinister going on, but concluded that the Implanon was at fault.

He suggested that I find an ?alternative method of contraception — advice I foolishly ignored.

A few months later, I returned to my GP. The almost incessant ?bleeding was starting to affect our family life and holidays. but my GP was reluctant to remove the implant (another option, the Mirena coil, can also cause bleeding or spotting for the first six months).

My second pregnancy scare was highly traumatic and occurred a couple of months after the first. I was suffering all the symptoms, but despite taking test after test over a week, the results were all negative. but the symptoms were so strong I assumed I didn’t have sufficient ?levels of pregnancy hormones in my body to show up on the tests.

One evening I sat my ?husband down and, in floods of tears, asked him what we’d do. The thought of abortion is hideous at any time; if you have children, I think it an ?especially hard choice.

Throughout all this stress was the frustrating fact that I’d thought I was thoroughly protected.

I returned to my GP. it was time to consider other options.

‘just sit it out,’ he said, without looking up from my patient notes. ‘I’m sure it’ll all die down in time.’

‘I want to talk about sterilisation,’ I said firmly. He started and put his pen down.

‘That’s a very long and onerous process. You have to undergo all sorts of psychological assessments. You’re much better off as you are.’

I don’t believe I am. I know I don’t want any more children and I’m sure the stress of this is far worse than any of the assessments.

Of course, my experience with Implanon pales in comparison to those who actually got pregnant or badly scarred on their arms.

‘Statistically, it may be unlikely you suffer problems,’ says ?Jennifer ?Emerson of the law firm Irwin ?Mitchell, which represents a number of women affected by Implanon. ‘but if you’re one of the few who does have scarring or an unwanted ?pregnancy, it’s incredibly traumatic.’

One theory about those unwanted pregnancies is that the device wasn’t inserted properly; sometimes it is not released from the applicator.

Scarring may be caused if the device is inserted too deeply. Implanon can’t be detected by X-rays, so there is no way of ?finding it without an operation under general ?anaesthetic.

In one case handled by Irwin Mitchell, the device was inserted so deeply it couldn’t be found by the nurse.

‘The poor woman went through the ordeal of a nurse cutting deeper and deeper into the tissue before she realised that it had been wrongly inserted into the muscle in her arm,’ says Jennifer Emerson.

‘In these cases, the patient may need to have surgery under ?general anaesthetic to remove the implant, which carries risks and leaves scarring.’

Dr Elliman puts such problems down to a lack of training rather than the implant itself and is calling for a nationally recognised standard of training.

Yet not all medical professionals are convinced by Implanon. a ?leading gynaecologist, Dickinson Cowan from the Portland Hospital, says he has ‘reservations’.

‘I don’t use it myself, but have removed one from a patient who suffered incessant and heavy bleeding.’

He points out that if Implanon suits the patient then fine, but ?suggests there are superior ?alternatives.

‘I don’t understand why women wouldn’t simply opt for the Mirena coil — which releases progesterone locally in the lining of the womb — rather than having something which affects your whole body.’

Dr Elliman suggests that last week’s news reports about adverse effects of Implanon are unhelpful: ‘Women who were perfectly happy with their ?contraception will be ?worrying and those considering ?contraception might decide against it.’

Yet many women have been ?traumatised by its use. Who knows how many have suffered severe side-effects or pregnancies and not reported them?

As all the doctors concur, contraception is a ?personal choice. for me, Implanon was the wrong one.

Though I believe mine was ?correctly inserted, it has caused an awful lot of trouble and pain. and, 18 months later, I am going to have it removed. Sterilisation seems the easier option.