I’ve never had any pain after a smear test until now. Is it normal?

[Duckegg271]

I had a routine smear this morning. I’ve never found one painful before and I don’t think pains actually the right word for it but it was very uncomfortable, it really made me wince and clench my fists. I don’t know if the nurse was rough or if I was more sensitive this time. It did feel rough though (when she was swabbing).

I’ve got period pain now and brown discharge-the same I get just before I start my period so I don’t think it’s spotting from the cervix itself.

This is all within the range of normal isn’t it?

I sympathise. I had mine last week and it was so painful. They usually are uncomfortable but she was poking around my for ages trying to find my cervix. I had some red and brown spotting after. I usually do.

My most recent one was the first painful one I've had and I can only think it's due to a change in collection method and/or the instrument used. Where it had previously been a quick swipe and done, this time she was rotating it firmly (too firmly!) and counting the rotations under her breath.

That sounds horrible. This is new to me, it’s always been so quick and easy. I’m currently tucked up in bed with a hot water bottle.

I’ve had one rough smear in my life and it was exactly as you describe. Very uncomfortable.

I get this every time I go for one. Take some paracetamol and going for a bath helps. Usually I get spotting for 1/2 days and then it's all ok

threemilesupthreemilesdown yes!! Before it’s felt like a quick swipe but this felt like she was scrubbing the dishes.

She said that they now don’t look for cell changes but test for the hpv virus. If that comes back positive they then look at the cells but if it’s negative they don’t 🧐

I wonder if that’s got anything to do with it.

Mine has gotten slightly more uncomfortable as I've got older. I'm 49.

My colleagues describe taking smears as "scrubbing the loo with a toilet brush". No wonder some women bleed and leave in pain.

My first one was awful. I shouted out as she caused me so much pain but she just looked at me like I was a piece of shit. Took me a very long time to have another one

This is expected for many reasons such as;

1. Past trauma
2. Past gynae procedures, particularly cervix related
3. Inverted uterus
4. Age (hurts more as you get older)

They also changed the spatula in recent years, from a soft cotton bud head to a plastic brush, which is meant to be more effective. The speculum has also changed from more comfortable metal to less comfortable single-use-plastic.

This blogger (and others who comment) have written about their experiences which are not too dissimilar to yours Op, though admittedly possibly for different reasons.

Good luck with your results.

finalresolve.wordpress.com/2019/09/27/smear/

The method of taking the sample is exactly the same, for primary HPV as well as primary Cytology (I work in a screening lab).
It may be that nurse has recently had some results come back as insufficient cells to read/give an accurate test result, and is making sure to do the 5 x 360° sweeps and press firmly.
Hope you feel better soon.

I had a horribly painful one last month. I've had countless smears over the years - had CIN III ten years ago and needed umpteen colposcopies, two loop excisions, and six-monthly smears for several years. Never had anything as uncomfortable as that one though - I was perfectly relaxed beforehand, but once she started I thought I was going to shoot the speculum out involuntarily because I tensed up so hard against it. I'm also a bit worried about the HPV test: I thought it was as well as, not instead of, looking at cells, but my results came back saying they'd found no HPV so they didn't need to look at my cells, which I found a lot less reassuring.

Thanks for the replies. I feel really a bit odd. I feel sick but not like a normal sick feeling, it’s like that nails on a chalk board, toe curling feeling in the pit of my stomach but the feelings coming from my cervix and I feel like I need a good cry.

So strange, I’ve never had any kind of issue before. I feel really silly! I’m in my 40’s, I’ve given birth, had all kinds of medical procedures.

And I had the test done nearly 12 hours ago!

Oh bless you :( That sounds miserable. Hopefully you'll feel better tomorrow. Have a warm bath and an early night if you can