Smear's and so forth

[TicTakToe]

Hi all, hoping for a bit of advice.

I am 28 and have never had a successful smear test. I've tried multiple times and the nurse is very nice, but for me it goes from very uncomfortable (like the feeling you get when you've swallowed a mouthful that is too big and can feel yourself swallowing it) to hugely painful (jabbing pain as someone tries to push something where there is no where to push, is the best way I can describe it). The nurse tells me to relax, but my bum on the bed etc, but that doesn't really help any more telling someone to relax when they're choking might do. My 'best' smear was only one or two cm's in and I was drenched in sweat and shaky afterwards.

My boyfriend and I also intend to start a family in the next couple of years, and I'm worried that there are test or examinations that work the same way, that my current reactions would prevent me from having done.

So my two questions:

1 - For my health, are there any tips you can give to have a successful smear?

2- For the health of any future children, are there are procedures where I'd have to do this (hoping that birth itself would be different cos it's coming from the other way, if you see what I mean)

[Hoophopes]

Hi, for q2, unless you need fertility treatment then you do not need any internal examinations in a normal pregnancy.

[BelaLug0si]

Bump for Sidge's attention

[trafficwarden]

I am pretty good at wielding speculums so here are some tips. I'm sure Sidge will have more!

1. Take a simle painkiller before you go - paracetamol or brufen
   
2. Tell the nurse you are anxious and about the previous problems
   
3. Ask for the smallest speculum and ask if you can insert it yourself - imagine putting in a tampon. She can wait outside the screen while you do it.
   
4. If you manage to get it in yourself then the opening up is strange but no more painful in my personal experience (and I have lots!)
   
5. Sit on a pillow or your hands to tilt your pelvis upwards - it often makes the cervix easier to view.
   
6. If all this doesn't work, ask for a sedative and referal to a family planning clinic or gynaecology clinic where they can usually do them with their eyes closed.
   

Good luck, it really is important to have your smear test doen regularly. Oh and I can confirm that with a normal pregnancy there's no need for any speculum examinations.

[TicTakToe]

Thank you for your responses, have really put my mind at ease on that second one!



Have bought a speculum so I can practise - now that's a sentance that I never thought I would type!