to come here and overshare by telling you all that today I ...

[crapcrapcrapcrap]

... had my smear test and it was NOT THAT BAD and took just a moment - truly it was over in a flash.

Do it ladies :)

Speculum is plastic now, and the new method with the little brush just tickles rather than being uncomfortable imo.

I'm due for one next month and the only thing I'll have to do, is remember when booking it, to ask for the other nurse who does not have DC at the same school as mine, she's lovely but i don't fancy seeing her on the school run a couple of hours after she's been poking around in my vag

You're correct Hester - but it's also important to say that nurses are usually very kind and sympathetic, and will set aside more time if you're nervous. Lots of things can help. Taking a nice relaxing bath beforehand, making an appointment at a time when you're unlikely to have a long wait (maybe ask for the first appointment of the day), talking about your anxieties at an appointment beforehand and taking someone to hold your hand (they can't see anything) could all be helpful ways of dealing with it.

The important thing is to know that it can be very quick and straightforward and if you're worried nobody will laugh at you.

I had to take my (then) 3-year-old to my last one. She insisted on straddling me and sitting on my chest. At least it was a distraction.

I fucking hate smears. I've never had an easy one due to my cervix being very far set back, last time it took two nurses 45 minutes and I tried more positions than I usually use during sex awful.

But I still go! They are important and in the grand scheme of things 45 mins of embarrassment is nothing.

I'm sure to all think that you're coming across as encouraging, but really a lot of you sound quite patronising, and minimising of others' experiences. 'Don't be an idiot', 'it's never sore' etc.

Well you know what? It fucking hurts for me. It physically hurts, due to the position of my cervix, and also due to my fears. I was raped, by a penis and with a piece of metal. Somehow having objects put up there reminds me of it, quite a lot. And I've had cancer too, not cervical, but I am pretty well informed as to my risks of a recurrence, or of an entirely new cancer.

But thanks anyway.

sorry to hear that zebra but I thought this thread was about encouraging others to brave it and go not trying to put them off

perhaps I am in the wrong but certainly sorry you are upset by mine and other's comments

But for a lot of women it's not about being brave and not being an "idiot" (nice)- for a lot of us there are genuine fears associated with them and a lot of this does sound quite patronising.

I'm glad most have good experiences, though.

Zebra

Good woman op!

Seriously. It's the most important thing you can do.

I'm very sorry that you've had such horrible experiences, Zebra and others. Nobody would expect anyone with such fears to blithely go through such tests without a second thought, and I think you probably know that.

But there are many people who, thanks to horror stories, feel very anxious about the procedure. My intention was to encourage them not to put it off, by pointing out how brief and simple the test is. My intention was not "let's start a smear thread to make rape victims feel patronised". I'm truly sorry if you have been hurt by the thread, but I have tried hard to explain repeatedly that there is help available for those with anxiety, and to acknowledge that everyone's experiences are different.

My original point remains - don't put it off, it is usually quick and painless, and if you feel anxious ask for help. It isn't designed to torture women needlessly - it is designed to save lives.

My first smear was awful. Not the actual smear bit, but because I'd known the practice nurse since I was little and as she put the speculum in she thought that'd be a good time to ask how my mum was doing and mention she'd seen her a few days earlier at the shops. Thanks I need you chatting about my mother whilst you have your hand in my fanjo! Most off putting.

Then as she was done a strange man tried to walk in.

Strangely I changed practice soon after that.

But the actual smear, fine.

I hate going, but I make myself do it and drag myself along to the appointment.

It is just a few minutes, and no it's not the best way to spend them but it's soon over and as a reward after.

I always walk out with this dread I have left my knickers on the chair or something though.

I'm a big advocate of smear testing, it without doubt saved my life. That said, women who struggle with them for physiological reasons (I found them difficult as my cervix was weirdly positioned) or psychological ones need more than being told not to be silly. For most people they are generally fine, and over in minutes, but that's not the case for everyone.

Im in the states and we have one every year. They have always been very painful for me due to a tilted cervix. So, I would only go every 3 or 4 yrs when my GP would absolutely insist.

3 years ago, they found abnormal cells, burnt them off, did several other procedures (cone biopsy twice &other things I cant remember exactly what) to remove the abnormal cells, but they came back and were worse each time.

I went for smears and tests every 3 months. Finally the doctor told me I was in the 1st stages of cacner and a total hysterectomy was scheduled for 2 weeks later. I was 40 and just remarried and considering ttc.

But, now I have no chance of getting cervical cancer because everything is gone. I won't be able to have another baby, and my ds is an only, but I have LIFE.
Get your smears, they do save lives.

Zebra, so sorry for what you have been through. I hope you are able to find someone who can help you deal with what happened to you.

Worst bit of mine was the nurse managing to get a pube caught in the speculum

I really worked myself up about it reading horror stories but tbh I've had blood tests that hurt more!!

I just had one with a cack-handed nurse who hurt me and then hadn't even got enough cells so I have just got a letter through to say I need to do it again in 3 months . Got to be better than letting cancer progress though...

The nurse had a proper rummage around last time and it still didn't hurt.

She finally suggested lifting up my pelvis and putting my hands face down on the bench underneath my bum cheeks - omg it was sooo much easier that way. In and out in two seconds. Will definitely adopt that position for future.

I usually don't mind them but my latest one was done while stitches from child birth were still healing. It made the eyes water a little more than usual.

Forgot to add it still wasn't that bad nd I would ALWAYS encourage ppl to go

Booked mine this morning going on 22nd December dreading it but will go.

I had mine today as well which was fine but it was followed by a coil removal and refit. Now that was bloody awful! Had to come home and lay on the sofa for a bit with a large mug of tea....

If you're nervous, grit your teeth and get it done. It's over in seconds, doesn't hurt, is hardly any different from inserting a tampon and lucky us, it's free.

Or, alternatively, don't ever go, and risk developing invasive, possibly terminal cancer.

Who would choose the latter??

Booked mine

Not til mid January tho

Well obviously people should have their smear tests....but people should also obviously give up smoking, give up drinking, stop eating sugar etc.

As with all of the above it can, for some people, be very very much harder to do than for others.

I used to be one of the "it's uncomfortable but I can get over it" gang...then I briefly joined the "so what if I get cancer, I am still not doing it" gang. I finally got mine done about a year ago. It will still be almost as hard next time.