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

Is it worse or better after birth? I found it better but the nurse did say everyone tells her she's good!

Thank you for trying to help people Op. I need to make an appointment and will prioritise one ASAP.

I didn't know people have routine mammogram appointments. Is that something I can just book through the GP, even without worrying symptoms?

Edited because of typos - looked like an ape with a typewriter wrote it.

Quite. I'm 40 and have never had one. I know I should, but am absolutely petrified. This attitude of "of course theyre absolutely fine, don't know what the fuss is about" is one of the things I find really off putting. I need the practitioner to understand how frightened I am, and not dismiss my concerns.

I would add to this - if you've had a bad experience please try and go again when due. I put it off for months and was dreading it after a bad experience. Finally went and it was a different person doing it and I genuinely barely felt it. I cried in relief

I am sure op is posting from a good place and for good reasons. But, op, if you have had one or more vaginal births then that makes a HUGE difference.

I have always found cervical smear tests to be incredibly painful. About 15 years ago I had a particularly horrendous experience with a half trained registrar who clearly didn't know much about female anatomy, kept trying to force a speculum in at the wrong angle, causing me to bleed, before giving up and trying to blame me ("oh well the vagina dries and tightens up with age")!.

After that I insisted that I would only do it under general anaesthetic. That got me an appointment with the gynae consultant (not a registrar) ... and it was then I discovered (after decades of pain) that speculums come in different sizes and if the right angle of approach is utilised then entry is really quite easy.

Since then I have insisted on being tested at a specialist service (usually the contraceptive service) - not the GP, or an overworked nurse at the GP's, but someone who understands women's bodies.

Mine has always been painful because I had a tilted cervix (or something!).

Nurses were always so gentle and helped my get into a better position (put hands under your buttocks).

However since having my cervix removed as part of my hysterectomy a few years ago I also can’t deny never having to of through it again is something I’ll miss!!!

Well done OP for getting it done - the longer you put it off the harder it is to do it.

Your thread title also made me laugh and I’m also a little disappointed your nurse didn’t find a leaf up your fanny 🤣

It's great that it was a painless experience for you. It's not the same for everyone, some people do find it very painful. Some people find it very distressing, particularly SA survivors. That's not to say we shouldn't all go for one. The reality is that it won't be easy for everyone but it is likely to be worth it.

OP isn’t smug, she’s trying to raise awareness. Grow up.

No you are being horribly patronising, bossy and annoyingly flippant. For some of us it is agonisingly painful, so quit the smugness.

Because they do a visual check for abnormalities as well. It’s not just about the swab.

I go, but it certainly isn’t painless for me. Your post is annoying.

If they are only testing for HPV, is it still necessary for someone who has had the HPV vaccine to have a smear?

I go every year as that’s what we’re supposed to do in the country where I live and it’s always fine. However in the UK it has always been mixed.

I must say though that not going is just foolish as dying from cancer is inevitably much worse and I say that as someone whose first smear test was done without consent by a male doctor who was sexually assaulting me.

I had a normal smear 6 weeks post birth of my last baby and then 3 years later when I went back, was referred to gynae and I was diagnosed with Cin 2 pre cancerous cells. Had most of my cervix removed, and thankfully it hadn't spread. I had to have 3 monthly, then 6 monthly then annual smears for quite a few years so I'm loving being back to the 3 yearly ones again. I've got a tilted uterus/cervix and it's not nice but I'm still here thanks to having them. I'd rather have 48 hours of discomfort after than cancer.

Although uncomfortable, the problem isn't physical for me but psychological.

Chose to do the last one at an out of hours GP to avoid the few nurses who work at the local surgery from seeing my very hypertrophic inner labia. I don't even undress in front of my husband.

Aibu to tell as many people as I can who might also never have gone to just do it?

Yes. Don’t assume the rest of us also missed our check ups. Clickbait title also patronising. Sure shout out to all who still don’t go but better ways to do it rather than an annoying way.

Thank you. I had a lumpectomy in November last year, but they didn’t clear it all and I had a mastectomy a couple of weeks later. Thankfully now been given the all clear after radiotherapy and other combined treatments. The thing that scared me witless was the fact that had it not been for the mammogram I’d never have known it was there, and at diagnosis the tumour measured 13cm !!

I think these examinations are so important and I would encourage everyone to attend when invited. I don’t think you should dwell on the fact that you’ve missed other smear invitations - I think the important thing is that you’re going now. Some on MN may take issue with your post, and I understand that some may have had a bad experience but it doesn’t compare with the unthinkable alternative.

You can still get a new case of hpv in a monogamous relationship as it can lay dormant in your body for years.
Isnt the HPV check to assess your risk level and then they do go on to check for abnormal cells if HPV is detected?

Not sure if I’m traumatised by the age I was around the time of Jade goody, but I wouldn’t dream of missing one whether it was painful or uncomfortable etc. I had one a few weeks ago and the nurse told me they’re now 5 yearly due to the HPV vaccine. Not ideal as I wasn’t vaccinated (not by choice, I was just on the cut off age when it came in). I don’t have health anxiety but I wouldn’t risk missing stuff like that, I want to see my children grow up.

Agreed! I went along to my first one when I was invited, thinking nothing of it because most people always says it’s fine. It was absolutely awful and extremely painful and I really had to push myself to go to the next one, which was exactly the same experience as the first

I've had a few that were completely uneventful. I was quite smug in my complacency when my last one became due.

No idea why, but for the first time it was horrendous. Felt like being punched inside with scissors. I actually yelled and I'm sure the nurse thought I was being dramatic but I'm usually stoic with pain and this was so unexpected.

So I guess, in delightful contrast to your Op, this is a PSA to warn that just because its painless for years, you really never know until the appointment!

Wtf