Hey, Panda. I always recommend numbing with ice for painful shots. I always ice it first and I almost never have pain.
Ditto on the hormones after hysto. Your body needs hormones of some sort, so if it's not T, it'll have to be E. If you're having just the hysto and not the oopho, though, it may be different--I'm not sure. I had both, and my doctor told me in no uncertain terms that if I ever stopped T I would need to come back in and start E ASAP.