smear tests

1012donna

As has been said the guidelines for how many years between smears are only guidelines nad you can have it done when you want. I have mine yearly due to abnormal smears and laser treatment in the past and am hoping that I may be able to reduce it to 2 or 3 yearly - I understand you feel anger at being missed but as long as you go now and have one then that's the main thing!!

patchwork_cat

1012 donna you can't have it done when you want at my practice. If you go and it shows that you are nowhere near a recall - you will get grief.

beachbeth

I have had smear this week and can't remember when my last one was - whether 5 or 3 years ago. I really really hate them! It doesn't seem to matter whether a woman or a man does them (although I think women are slightly worse) they always seem to hurt. This time it didn't actually hurt me but I was left with a little bleeding which lasted for 3 days.

A few years ago I had a doctor do it and he said "you seem really tense" and I thought "Well, wouldn't you!!!!" and I said "Im really nervous" and he then said "I'll use a small one then" - I didn't know they came in different sizes! Unless he was just saying that! Why don't they make them smaller anyway! Some of these people think we are made of rubber or something. I have been quite upset about mine this week and always feel a bit violated afterwards.

Sorry for the rant and being a total wuss but it really is an awful procedure that could be made better in my opinion. However, having said that, I will still go for regular smears because it is better than dying of cancer.

Sugar_Coated_Owl

I've not had a smear test as yet. What age should you start going?

butterfly72

I was going to start a thread about my smear test but I hope the OP doesn't mind me invading this one! I went for a smear on Wednesday and in the past two days have been having craps. They feel like the crampy feeling you get when having the smear and like period pains. I've never had post smear cramps before. Is it normal? I have no bleeding and period not due!
thanks

shoppaholic_returns

I agree completely beachbeth, I have had quite a few tests and they always seem to manage to really hurt me, what I cannot understand is that in this day and age why is this test still so horrid,and uncomfortable, why have we not come up with a DIY swab or certainly something far less degrading??? oh and , more accurate.

dmg24

frivolous_fay wrote: »

I'm very picky

No offence f_f, but that is a very naive attitude.

We recently had a family friend pass away, and her 'original' cancer was of the cervix. She had had the same sexual partner all her life, her partner had also had no other partners, they were childhood sweethearts. No one knows why she got cancer, no one really knows why anybody gets any cancers (though we of course know of various contributory factors).

I have no idea how you think that being 'picky' with your sexual partner(s) makes you think that you are 100% safe from cervical cancer or STI's.

I would recommend having a chat with your practice nurse or your GP, in order to get a more realistic view of the causes of cervical cancer.

dmg24

shoppaholic_returns wrote: »

I agree completely beachbeth, I have had quite a few tests and they always seem to manage to really hurt me, what I cannot understand is that in this day and age why is this test still so horrid,and uncomfortable, why have we not come up with a DIY swab or certainly something far less degrading??? oh and , more accurate.

I was talking about this with a midwife recently, and depending on where the pain is, it is possible that the shape of your cervix is the reason why you get more pain than most. If it is anterior, it is more likely to hurt.

One of those random facts that you never thought you'd know (or want to know?)!

the_geary

Firstly, can I suggest going to the national screening programme website
It has lots of info about the basics and background and explains more about the test.
I am a scientist who is involved in the screening programme and
I will try and answer som eof the questions that have been raised in this thread:
The national policy is for 3 yearly screening between 25-49 and 5 yearly from 50 years. There is a small percentage difference in the pick-up rate between 3-5 year intervals but these days women >50 years will have been regularly screened so that was why the interval was changed for that age group.

When the change of policy was made, it would have been very complicated to back to everyones' records (who were already being screened ) and change from 3 to 5 or 5 to 3 - so the next time you are called the recall interval will be updated at time of that result.

There is actually a national system where all the results are entered onto. It is called Open Exeter. each Health Authority in liaison with the the local Primary Care Trust has a screening office. The staff in the office use Open Exeter - it automatically generates letters which invite you to go for a smear test - usually about 6 weeks before it's due. At the same time a 'Prior Notification List' goes to the surgery/Gp that you are registered with to let them know who's due for a test. They may then send an invite letter(sometimes with an appointment already made) to you themselves.

If you think you are due for a smear then the surgery can contact either their local screening office or lab who will be able to check when you are due.

When you move areas the notes get sent into the current HA, then when register with a new GP, the notes are sent to the new HA and GP. The Open Exeter system then transfers you onto that area's OE. the previous test results are then available. Not all surgerys have access to Open Exeter but many have - it is also used for keeping track of things like immunisation.

The reason some labs were taking around 12 weeks to report the results is because they are changing over to the new way of doing smears called 'liquid based cytology'. It takes awhile for the scientists to be trained but once it's up and running it is much quicker than the old way.

Also from 2010, the national screening office have decided that there should be a 2 week turnaround time from taking the smear to the result letter being sent out. So most labs and screening offices are now planning and working out how to make the system more efficient to speed things up.

beachbeth

butterfly72 wrote: »

I was going to start a thread about my smear test but I hope the OP doesn't mind me invading this one! I went for a smear on Wednesday and in the past two days have been having craps. They feel like the crampy feeling you get when having the smear and like period pains. I've never had post smear cramps before. Is it normal? I have no bleeding and period not due!
thanks

I have had this too and wouldn't worry about it unless it gets worse and doesn't go away after about a week (Im not a doctor so this isn't medical advice, just my opinion!).

I had one particular smear that was really painful - done by a lady doctor, who I chose instead of a male because I thought she'd be more gentle!!! Boy was I wrong!:eek: She was not gentle at all and even gave my lower abdomen a good prodding saying she was "checking my ovaries". Afterwards I had period type pains which lasted a couple of days but I don't think I had any bleeding. The pain wasn't very nice and I never went back to have her do my smear again.