20 years old, positive for high risk HPV strain, now what?

[eleanor_rigby]

Please help me. I am 20 years old and here in the UK they won't do cervical smear tests until I'm 25. So i went to a private clinic and paid for a HPV tests looking for the high risk strains. This came back positive! I haven't had sex since December. I don't know what to do now and I'm so scared. Has anyone got any experience with this?

[Mondie]

Didn't the clinic talk you through the test result? What did they say?
It doesn't mean you have HPV though. does it?

[tashbarnes87]

I know its a little more but why dont you pay for a private smear test? least you will know for sure that theres nothing wrong. HPV normally clears within 2 years so you will be fine. xx

[pd]

Especially if you're young. I tested positive for a strain a couple of years ago but when I was tested a few months ago it was completely clear. A lot of the time it goes away on its own, and it is so, so common. You should be able to get GUM tests on the NHS, it's just the smears they won't do till you're 25.

Here's wishing they'd developed that vaccine a few years earlier when we were still young enough to get it, eh?

[eleanor_rigby]

They told me to wait 6 months and test again. But they said my doctors would probably be shifty about this so i might have to come back and pay another £120. I'm just scared i don't know what this means and after all that jade goody stuff...

[xfilme]

the reason Jade Goody was all over the press was because she didnt take her doctors advice..... for years.... and years.... and years... and years.... and then when it became so bad the doctors told her if she didnt have treatment they would not be held accountable, she prioritiesd work and money over having the treatment that probably would have saved her life. Jade Goody was an example of personal neglect that was held up as bravery for choosing not to help herself. In a way the whole publicity was a form of scaremongering in my books, to get more women to have screenings. Jade Goody was a perfect example of a bad example and health anxiety sufferers are paying the price.

If you have reason for concern, call NHS Direct on 0845 46 47 and speak to a nurse and tell them what has happened. I was always under the impression that they did not do screenings on women under 25. But many are flexible if you have reasonable evidence to back up your concerns. I would approach your gp before paying to go private. You never know, they may let you have one.