Not if you've never been sexually active, no.
Actually you don't *have* to have any tests. You can decline. I'm considering declining mammograms in a few years time. I'm not convinced by the evidence for them.
Not if you've never been sexually active, no.
Actually you don't *have* to have any tests. You can decline. I'm considering declining mammograms in a few years time. I'm not convinced by the evidence for them.
I was due my 3-yearly smear last year, but didn't get round to it. This was partly because when the reminders arrived I was very busy and didn't want to take a half-day off work, partly because I'm perimenopausal, so it was hard to accurately predict in advance when I wouldn't be having a period, but mostly because I have vaginismus and the two previous smears I had were absolute agony.
I know I should go, that if I get cervical cancer it will be entirely my own fault, but I keep finding reasons to put it off, because I know that it's going to be painful and the staff at my surgery have not been at all patient or sympathetic in the past.
Just went for my pap dr said that if a women goes every three years she should be fine, meaning that they will find it early and treat it, it takes cervical changes ten years to become cancer.
Neither myself nor my husband have had sexual relationships with anyone else ... I've had normal Pap smears in the past... is it worth continuing ??
Hi all,
I have a question concerning the pap smear. I'm 26 years old and still a virgin due to my vaginismus (my boyfriend and I are trying to have sex but fail every time because of how painful it gets). Anyway, my family doctor once suggested I should do the pap smear. I told her about my problem, and she said it should be possible to do the smear even on a virgin, but she wasn't completely sure about it.
Since then, I grew more and more anxious about cervical cancer. Even though I haven't had "real" sex, one year ago when I was on the pill my boyfriend and I were rubbing our genitals together when we were making out and now I'm afraid I might have caught the virus back then. I am anxious about going to the gynecologist, because all my past experiences with them were really bad.
I am constantly thinking about how I might be developing cervical cancer and I won't be able to diagnose it in time because I am unable to get the necessary test done. This makes me even more anxious and thus worsens my vaginismus even more. I get odd sensations in my vagina every now and then.
So, my question is, does anyone know if it is possible do the pap smear on a virgin? And if so, would it hurt a lot? Thank you!
Yes it is possible but yes it could hurt somewhat.
If you use tampons though that should help.
Nicola
“Don't be afraid of death; be afraid of an unlived life. You don't have to live forever, you just have to live.” - Natalie Babbitt
Please help keep NMP running and donate to the running costs: http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/donate
Hi, I jusf wanted to share my experience as I’ve recently been diagnosed with ‘high grade precancerous cells’ (CIN 3). This is one stage before cancer, it’s the worst and most serious stage of abnormalities to get.
As scary as it sounds, all of the health professionals I’ve spoken to have all said that if you go for regular smears when they’re due, they can nearly always pick up the early abnormalities before they progress into cancer.
I had the treatment (LLETZ) done a week ago, under local anaesthetic. They now test what they’ve removed to make sure it has ‘clear margins’, if it does it means the treatment has been successful! And I just have more regular smears for a few years, then my risk level goes back to normal. (Yay!)
Where I am, they don’t even treat CIN 1 (low grade) and don’t always treat CIN 2 (moderate grade) because there’s such a significant chance the cells will still go back to normal by themselves and get better. Even my CIN 3 can improve but they told me that at this stage, they judge the risk level high enough to warrant treatment and it isn’t worth waiting any longer. I had the treatment just two days after my results came back.
For what it’s worth - I have only had one partner I’ve had unprotected sex with, one partner I had protected sex with, yet I was still unlucky enough to pick up high risk HPV. You just don’t know til you test, there are no symptoms. It can be passed super easily, through any kind of sexual contact, so it’s really worth keeping up to date with smears for your own peace of mind.
Sienna 🌈
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)