Hi,
I’m 26 , like many, I received the letter when I was 24.5 that I needed to go for my smear. Pretty much a month later I went ahead for my appointment. I expected it to be painful as sometimes intimacy with partners has been painful....and I’ve never really worked out whether it was a psychological or physical issue for me.
Either way I went ahead, and I didn’t feel too bad until I went in. My local doctors surgery isn’t known for being good. The first thing the doctor said to me was ‘have you had one before, I am going to warn you that it will hurt’. Her manner wasn’t exactly sensitive. I went ahead and I deliberately didn’t look up what happens during a smear until later, so I did not pay attention to what she was doing. All I can say is she didn’t get very far at all and it hurt and I started yelping a bit. She decided to quit, then proceeded to ask me if I was a virgin and then literally shut the door and ran off...
The procedure didn’t seem normal at all considering the fact that this is such an important thing to do. I left crying, felt like a massive baby and then realised I was even bleeding after despite her not even being able to get as near as taking a sample...so I am guessing she was quite heavy handed. I remember talking to my mum and she said it’s quite possible that seeing as it was an evening appointment that I was the last person and she just wanted to rush and get home. Either way, its not fair to have such bad manners that you pretty much put someone off going.
Two years later and I’m now reconsidering. But I am worried that the problem could be me and then it ends up happening again and I don’t know what to do.
When all this lockdown stuff eases and its possible to do so, I wanted to try a family planning clinic instead. Ive heard that people can have different speculum sizes...I have no idea what was used last time but its worth a try. I was also thinking of maybe taking a painkiller prior.
Has anyone else had this experience? I have only been sexually active since 22 years and from what I’ve read it would be quite unlucky to be having any issues 4-5 years down the line but I would still like that peace of mind, especially as I’m also on the pill and have been since i was 16.