Smear test - is it normal to find leaves and twigs?

Is it more or less painful then a sweep (or whatever that thing is called where they try and encourage the baby to come out)?

I had lots of sweeps- baby didn't budge- so could withstand the pain if it was similar.

I'm not sure if it is called a sweep or I made it up🤔

Well at your age you wouldn’t be thrown into early menopause etc. so it doesn’t sound like a terrible idea. I m not a medic, but it may be worth asking your medical advisor /s .

I think any surgery is best avoided, other things being equal, but with your issues that’s not the case. I’m a bit older than you and I would probably consider it.

The official line seems to be that they can be uncomfortable but shouldn’t be painful.

in my experience of doctors when they say discomfort or uncomfortable it means painful.

i’m ten years overdue and I’ve had several all of which were very painful.

can’t find any data on what percentage of women find them painful but I’d guess quite high.

https://www.higgsllp.co.uk/articles/cervical-smear-clear-experts-urge-women-to-overcome-cervical-screening-fears-as-nearly-1-in-3-miss-vital-tests

55

A lot depends on your age I think

I've always found them painful but last time I had a smear at the GP surgery the nurse was awful. I was in agony and decided I wasn't going to have another one. A couple of years later I had pelvic pain and saw a gynaecologist who asked me when my smear was due and when I explained she said she would do it there and then.

The first time I was on the bed and ended up crying in pain but, unlike the bitch of a nurse, she stopped and suggested trying the colposcopy chair. I couldn't believe the difference, it went from agony to discomfort. She explained my cervix is high and over to one side so it was never going to be possible to do it on a bed without causing pain.

What a weird title to a thread.

I’ve had about 3 and am scared of them. I have had 2 kids by c section. Every time they try, they say my pelvic floor is very strong- think say this like it’s a good thing but then it’s accompanied by them having loads of trouble getting the swab. It hurts like hell and they say relax over and over again but I can’t. I can’t bring myself to go back even though I’m overdue by a few years. I have to go back for my coil to be changed next year which is painful for me but much easier than the smear. I’m really not sure what to do. Ive got like a block now- can’t face it. I don’t know if my cervix is weird- I couldn’t give birth naturally because I failed to progress and certain positions hurt during sex. But then no one has mentioned it being weird.

Nurse here who does smear tests.
Thanks OP we always appreciate some health promotion !
some people do find them painful- I’m incredibly experience and do hundreds of speculums a week and still have some patients who find it painful no matter how gentle I am/what size speculum I use.
For this self swapping for HPV- this is fine and definitely better than nothing but we also look at the cervix for changes and can refer for changes there too if needed (something like 9% of cervical cancer isn’t HPV related) so I would also choose a proper smear over self swab if you can manage it. For 90% of people takes less than 5 mins and is no big deal.

I have found a few uncomfortable but in the last few years I have had to have far worse done to me lady parts including biopsy’s, cameras and surgery. I had my final smear 6 months ago and got the all clear. I no longer have a cervix so no more smears.

I was late getting my last smear, it came back with HPV and some dodgy looking cells on my cervix. Luckily I was already waiting for hysterectomy due to possible cancer (after failed biopsy).

Smear tests are important, yes they are embarrassing and sometimes uncomfortable. As someone who has PTSD from sexual assault I still made myself go and get it done and I’m glad I did. There really are far worse procedures to have, some that you may end up needing if you don’t go to your smear when called up.

This might be an odd attitude, but I have had lots of painful procedures done and had two babies. But pain is ok, I can tolerate it, the reassurance or answers are worth any pain. The anxiety and putting off things is a psychologically draining thing.

I also wondered what the point was now they only looked for HPV but it’s also a pelvic exam and we are very rarely doing those in England. As I said earlier, this has meant they’ve spotted cervical changes and I’ll have investigations and I’m told likely it removed / biopsied due to my smear. I’ve had heavier periods and some cervical pain but I just put things down to being 42.

Do you think that a woman who's got to 40 who hasn't yet been to a smear test has simply not gone because she cant be bothered? Or do you think that you telling them how it was for you would make them forget the possible trauma or whatever it has been that's prevented them from going in the past?

I'm honestly not trying to be a dick about this, and I appreciate what you are trying to do, and the thread title did actually make me smile. But, as one of the women who have been putting off certain medical screenings for reasons far too deep rooted and complex to go into here, someone breezily telling me "oh it's honestly fine, you should do it" just isn't going to change anything.

You should always aways always encourage women to go to smear tests. Even if they don’t want to hear it. I am a huge advocate for them. Smear tests save lives.

I'm sure you didn't mean it at all, but that title made me think you had been sexually assaulted. I remember reading one time about a woman who had been raped in a park after being spiked. She had no memory of the assault but there were leaves and bits of soil inside her vagina after she was forensically examined.

Maybe be a bit cautious about your wording next time.

Well I don't have any real problem with smear tests but I have been avoiding mammograms for years!
So thanks for telling us they are not always painful OP.
My DM was in agony after hers and that put me right off, maybe I should go along next time, stop with the head in sand approach.

Every research done shows that it isn't fine for most and it's ridiculous that pain relief/a relaxant wasn't offered as the norm. It's part of women being under medicated for procedures and pain.

I’ve mine in a few weeks and I’m already dreading the thought of the nurse staring at my fanny and pubes. It’s uncomfortable and then gets to the point of being painful and then it’s done, all that left is trying to put pants back on quickly as possible and not think about the nurse who just stared in the abyss that is my minge

I self test for HPV every few years instead. Easier and no need to fit in an appointment

I thought she had maybe been doing some naked gardening and got leaves stuck in her pubic hair.

The comments like this are annoying. OPs post isn’t aimed at you. Op hasn’t said it’s easy for everyone. She’s trying to encourage people who have never had one to go and have one, which is a good thing!!

I literally thought she was raped with a twig with leaves on it

I like the title OP, it certainly drew me in.

I have never had a bad smear test, I did have to have LLETZ and that was fine too, worst part for me was the smell.