STIs and Smear tests - information and questions

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No idea, haven't done my obs and gynae yet. Or had a smear.

As for painkillers, they won't make it stop hurting totally (they're not anaesthetics!) but they might take the edge off it and hopefully help you relax a little more. In your case isabella, this is clearly the key.

Reply 21

isabella

Helenia

I completley agree with u - in that i need to relax. But it really isn't easy - particulary that now i'm expecting bad pain :frown:

Reply 22

RetiredAccount89

painkillers before hand won't help because the pain you are describing is sharp. the pain is your vaginal muscles spasming becuse you are tense and they are then tightened by the speculum.
metal or plastic doesn't make much difference. the problem with the metal ones is they can be cold - but if the doc puts it under a warm tap before hand then this is ok. plastic ones can have a bit of an edge to them.

The key thing to do is to relax. its so hard but you have to. take an mp3 player in by all accouts. think of something - anything.
some nurses will have smashing advice on other methods. i'm racking my brains to remember whether 'push your bum into the seat' was a good thing to do or bad thing. i think its a good thing to do because most women respond to the speculum by alomst jumping up.

they do smears more often in america and australia because their systems work differently, and are much less sensitive than ours.

Reply 23

Anonymous #1

I've had two vaginal exams (not for smears):

1 - was given by a female doctor, she warmed the speculum, applied lubrication and was very gentle. She talked me through every step.

2 - was given by a female nurse at a GUM clinic. The speculum was cold, the largest available and not lubricated. She was rough and it was extremely painful. She did not keep me informed of what she was doing. I bled for a while afterwards.

Whilst I agree that relaxing is key (and I relaxed for both), the situation can be entirely changed by the person performing the exam on you. It's fine to say "relax, it's usually the fault of the patient if it hurts" but when someone has not prepared the equipment suitably (by selecting the correct size and lubricating it) and you are made to bleed then it's NOT your fault.

Reply 24

isabella

Anonymous

With me the Doctor used the smallest speculum possible & warmed it under the tap. I had no idea what to expect & she didn't tell me what she was doing. If she had, i'm sure it wouldn't have helped the pain, but i wouldn't have been so jumpy. It just really isn't easy to relax in situations like that.

Reply 25

isabella

Last time my GP did my Smear Test. If a Gynaecologist did it, would it be better ?. I'm sure it wouldn't help the pain, but they have more experience and would surely be better at it ?

Reply 26

Helenia

isabella

Last time my GP did my Smear Test. If a Gynaecologist did it, would it be better ?. I'm sure it wouldn't help the pain, but they have more experience and would surely be better at it ?

I would be surprised if gynaes actually did that many more than GPs do, to be honest.

Reply 27

isabella

Helenia

I would be surprised if gynaes actually did that many more than GPs do, to be honest.

Surely they have more experience then GP's ?

Reply 28

Helenia

isabella

Surely they have more experience then GP's ?

Gynaecologists are specialists, yes. But because of this they spend a lot of time doing specialist procedures, which a smear is definitely not. There's quite often a nurse/junior doctor to do those sorts of things.

GPs do them fairly regularly, especially if they are one of those "GP with a special interest" thingies. In most cases, I wouldn't expect them to have much less experience at smears than a gynaecologist. Besides, you'd never get a gynae referral just to have a smear done!

Reply 29

isabella

Helenia

Oh, ok i assumed that gynae's did them the whole time. To be honest i only wanted a gynae to do it because, i imagined them to be better at it, so therefore less painful. But i guess that isn't right !

Reply 30

Anonymous #2

sorry for the big bump..

i had anappointment with the nurse today general check-up thing. she started talking about smear tests. i am 21. i am a virgin. but she told me that once you're 20 you should have smear tests every 3 years. girls who don't have them every 3 years will get cervical cancer. she was pretty explicit about this. hmmm. but now i'm reading that people under 25/virgins don't really need one.

so is it necessary for me to have one? thanks.

Reply 31

Helenia

Anonymous

You've gotta love nurses sometimes. Not that we're much better, but at least we know what we're talking about most of the time.

OK, if you're a virgin, then you do not need a smear test. The age for calling people for them is now 25 in most areas (some local health authorities may still do it at 20, but if they did, you'd have had a letter from your GP by now). You will not get cervical cancer for sure if you don't have them, the problem is that if you DO get it, it won't be picked up for ages and ages. Sounds like you've been scared unnecessarily.

Reply 32

Suyin01

i'm 20, and my parents (both medics who did work in family planning) are telling me to get a smear test done. i havent heard anything from my GP at all, but then again i'm registered with my uni health centre, so.... :smile:

my parents tell me i can walk into a family planning clinic and get it done. is it that straightforward? (sorry if its a stupid question but i'm an international student so uk healthcare is still a bit confusing to me)

also how long would it take? and how would i get the results?

thanks for any help :smile:

Reply 33

TeaSquirrel

Just had this done in france after going into an emergency unit for antibiotics for a throat infection (which I eventually got)....completely unexpected to have anything looked at down there to say the least! The doctor was a gynaecologist and asked about my full medical history and decided to do a 'full check'. I'm 19 but I know nothing about the French system. It was absolute AGONY and I kept telling the woman to stop but she persisted with what was a very large metal speculum without lubrication/warming....anything. I have never ever experienced anything so painful and am now terrified of having it done ever again!!! I suppose if I was expecting it/the whole thing was conducted in english I'd be more relaxed...she kept telling me to relax but the pain was so intense there was no chance. Nothing would have helped!

Reply 34

xXMessedUpXx

has anyone else been refused a smear test? :mad:

i'm 21 but was refused saying i should go back when i'm 25 as its rare for young women to develop cervical cancer (apparently...)

Reply 35

.*Sophie*.

xXMessedUpXx

has anyone else been refused a smear test? :mad:

i'm 21 but was refused saying i should go back when i'm 25 as its rare for young women to develop cervical cancer (apparently...)

Yeah, I was told this too. Very recently. Apparently it's because we live in South Yorkshire and they've decided that, due to the number of false readings for abnormal cells in women under 25, and the fact that cervical cancer under that age is extremely rare, it's not necessary. I'm not sure about other areas though.

I went to see the nurse because I found a lump on my cervix (I went looking after my period had started early and I mistook it for bleeding after sex), panicked and went to A&E (I've got hypochondria) where I was looked at with one of those speculum thingies by a doctor. She said that there was no lump, my cervix looked perfectly healthy and she suspected the "lump" I'd felt was just the natural feel of the cervix which can be uneven or whatever. She also said I might want to go to a GUM clinic to look for STIs if I'd never been before, to put my mind at rest. I outright asked if it was cancer, she said not. I was OK with this for a few days but decided to go and get a smear to really put my mind at rest and was told that I couldn't have one. The nurse said that I didn't need to worry as, if anything was wrong (i.e. cancer) I'd be very symptomatic. I've not been. But reading Helenia's post about it not being picked up for ages and ages without a smear, I wonder what I'm supposed to do. Scaaaaryyy.

Reply 36

Envy Eyes

TeaSquirrel

You mean to say you specifically asked her to stop and she just carried on anyway? That sounds wrong on so many levels! Poor you! :no:

I know it's unnecessary, but even reading this thread makes me feel sick. When the time comes that I finally have one then I swear there's no way I'm even opening my legs unless they're using the smallest spectrum possible and it's warm and thoroughly lubed.
No wonder so many women avoid them, they obviously don't have to be painful so why on earth are so many people performing them making them such a nightmare? :mad:

Reply 37

Anonymous #3

fleur de lis

Very few STIs can be transmitted through skin contact.

SCABIES!!!

It's HORRIBLE.

It's not just an STI, you can catch it from any skin-to-skin contact, but obviously this includes sex, which is prolonged contact so if you have sex with someone with scabies, it is very likely that you'll catch it. And condoms are useless in preventing its spread unless you can find one to cover your entire body lol.

For people who don't know what it is, it's caused by little mites that live and breed in your skin.

I'm not exactly sure where or how I caught it but I had it for three months and I didn't know what it was until a friend diagnosed it. It is one of the worst things that has ever happened to me. You're just itchy constantly, to the extent that you scratch so much you begin to tear your skin away. And it's worse at night so you can't sleep either. It's absolute misery. So if you feel a little itchy, make sure you can eliminate scabies and if not get yourself to the chemist asap because it's highly contagious and you'll probably pass it on to all your friends, like I did.

The good news is that you can cure it very easily, you just need to put some cream on over night and apply it again a week later. And also you need to wash your clothes, bedding and towels as the little ****s can survive for 48 hrs outside of the body.

Reply 38

Anonymous #4

I went to get checked a few months ago, and I got given a swab to "do it myself" as they say. I gave them my number and they said they would call me if anything came up. They never called but for some reason I'm scared I didn't swab enough or maybe I didn't get enough on the stick? If that had been the case, would they have called me up? Or maybe they don't need a lot to check...very paranoid!