Pain/bleeding after a smear?

[ifyouwerejustaweebitlessofa]

Had a smear at 9am this morning, lovely consultant did it specialist clinic at family planning centre (history of trauma/abuse) . She said several times my cervix is very hard to find, took 15+ minutes and a lot of coughing/bum shuffling - eventually found it because she tipped the bed so feet were higher than my head.

Anyway she said there was a bit of bleeding (something about a very sensitive cervix), said she thought she might have accidentally nicked something inside as well (was very apologetic). She did have to poke around a lot to find cervix... Was bloody painful when she was doing the brush thing, like sharp period pain.

I'm not bleeding heavily but I am sore, bruised/crampy type feeling and feeling a bit fragile! Is that normal after a smear? Haven't had bleeding with a smear before. Consultant did say she thought it was more 'trauma' related and should settle within 24 hours or so.

I've had the same, settled down after a couple of days and I took paracetamol.

Consultant did say she thought it was more 'trauma' related

Wtf does that mean? The trauma of them poking it or your past? Insinuating it's your past is bullshit. I say that as I'm in the same position. My cervix is hidden too but I know how to direct people to it after years of learning. The person who did it did a crap job.

This is really normal. I don't think it's 'trauma' related at all - bit of a daft thing to say as not all the times our bodies are tricky are related to trauma. It's more likely to be due to where you are in your cycle, if you have any cervical ectropion (just means more sensitive skin that bleeds easier, perfectly normal), and the skill of the practitioner than anything.

While it is normal to have a bit of spotting after a smear, that is usually only the case if you are within a week of starting your period.

What you describe has me thinking you may have a retroverted uterus which is a normal variation affecting 10% of women. It just means your uterus is angled a different way. This means the cervix is also angled opposite to 90% of women and thus ‘hard to find’ for an inexperienced clinician.

However, the smear itself should not hurt as much as yours did. A clinician should never have to “poke around” to find your cervix.

Consultants don’t get the amount of experience doing smears that a senior nurse would have. And her comment about it being “trauma related” is completely wrong unless she is making an inappropriate joke about the trauma she’s done ‘nicking something’ is akin to the past CSA you have experienced.

I wouldn’t thinking of her as “lovely” at all.

'Trauma' related just means blood from the mascara brush thing they use, just a scratch.

They have to poke around a lot to find mine, completely normal for some women.