cervical smears

TimBear

I've had ongoing gynaecological issues; I've had multiple smear tests over the past few years (although I've not long turned 25), two colposcopies and biopsies, scans, and I had a large portion of my cervix removed last year by Lletz due to having CIN3 abnormalities.

Anyway, before I turned 25 I was having my second or third smear (after my first colposcopy but before having Lletz done) and the nurse had to write a note on my sample to send to the lab as she said that often they just send it back without testing due to the age of the patient (I 'wasn't old enough').

I know that's not the situation here, but it seems the testing people have their own agenda sometimes despite the medical professionals telling them that their patients need this doing.

Skyllo

With regards to the comment about your cervix looking abnormal - it will if you've previously had treatment on it.

The policy in England must be that if you have 2 normal smears after treatment, then it's back to 3 yearly screening. I live in Scotland and it's similar. HPV tests are now done on biopsies to help divide women into higher and lower risk groups.

The reason smears are only done every 3 years is because cervical cancer takes a long time to develop - about 10+ years. Screening 3 yearly will still pick up the very early pre-cancerous changes.

Are you due your 3 yearly smear this year anyway? I would probably wait until then and if all is normal then you can be reassured that there's no need for annual smears right now.

any_name_will_suffice

Skyllo wrote: »

With regards to the comment about your cervix looking abnormal - it will if you've previously had treatment on it. .

The explanation the doctor gave was imagine if you roll your lips back slightly so some of the inside skin is showing on the outside! That's what my cervix looks like apparently!

I've been pulling all sorts of funny faces trying to do that :rotfl:

Skyllo

any_name_will_suffice wrote: »

The explanation the doctor gave was imagine if you roll your lips back slightly so some of the inside skin is showing on the outside! That's what my cervix looks like apparently!

I've been pulling all sorts of funny faces trying to do that :rotfl:

That's cervical ectropian and it's very common. It's a normal variation and not a disease. The lining of your vagina and your uterus are 2 different types of cells but in some people the lining of the uterus spreads onto the cervix a bit. Usually doesn't cause any trouble but can cause some people to bleed abnormally, such as after sex. It's particularly common in young women and those on hormonal contraception.

any_name_will_suffice

That's really interesting, do you work in a medical profession?

I haven't taken the pill for many years and I'm not sure how young 30 is considered! Do you know if it's a permanent thing, or does it go back?

Skyllo

any_name_will_suffice wrote: »

That's really interesting, do you work in a medical profession?

I haven't taken the pill for many years and I'm not sure how young 30 is considered! Do you know if it's a permanent thing, or does it go back?

I'm a final year medical student and currently on an obs and gyn placement so I've seen a lot of cervixes recently. :eek:

30 is young! It's not permanent, it usually goes away but it's not harmful, nor does it have the potential to be harmful. It's not pre-cancerous and won't affect your smear tests (I have it!).

any_name_will_suffice

Ah, that explains a lot, you do know a lot about cervixes!

thanks you for taking the time to explain it to me, I was so stressed out when I saw the GP, as we were trying to get to the bottom of my bleed- I was convinced I had had another miscarriage and honestly was getting distracted by my lovely but rather pregnant GP (I'm a bit sensitive about all things pregnancy related at the moment) I'm not sure I was listening properly by the time she got to talking about lips!

I will update when I hear back from the practice nurse, just incase anyone stumbles across this in future with a similar problem x