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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to ask if you’ve ever had a painful smear.

94 replies

Oopsusernamealreadytaken · 27/11/2018 12:19

Resting up feeling a bit sorry for myself after my smear yesterday, sorry if TMI, not really a conversation I can have with my work chums 😂

I’m feeling battered and bruised down there, I think I was caught or grazed by the speculum. On top of that feeling very crampy and bleeding which I know can be normal.

Ugh. Being a woman sucks at times!

OP posts:
BuffaloCauliflower · 27/11/2018 12:23

No mine have never even been uncomfortable, let alone painful. I’d think they have to be quite bad at doing it to hurt you? I’ve had a couple of colposcopy’s that have been mainly ok as well, only thing that was a bit sore was a cervical biopsy.

ambereeree · 27/11/2018 12:29

Mine are always painful. I think i tense up which makes it worse.

rumidumi · 27/11/2018 12:29

My first was incredibly painful. It made me feel sick and I ended up with a terrible migraine. When I went for my second a few months ago, I was terrified and really nervous about going because the first hurt so much. This one was a different person doing it and different city. It didn't hurt at all! So I think it's sometimes the people doing it. Hope you're ok.

DoraChance · 27/11/2018 12:30

Always really painful for me too. Hate them.

Sarahjconnor · 27/11/2018 12:33

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

hendal · 27/11/2018 12:35

Always painful for me too.
I get worried about being tense so fixate on relaxing muscles. Don’t think it helps.

My last smear I had bleeding (and a headache) for a good week afterwards which worried me. I have cervical ectropion which explains the bleeding but even knowing that I was paranoid and on edge until it stopped and I got the results in the post.

LikeLadyGodiva · 27/11/2018 12:37

Yep - I take painkillers beforehand . I’d never not get it done but I did have a nurse once who was quite rough and it hurt significantly more than normal

Rinceoir · 27/11/2018 12:39

I have a retroverted cervix and always find them quite uncomfortable. I had lots of inconclusive smears as it’s so hard to find so I’m mostly followed up in colposcopy these days which is actually a lot easier.

BlackeyedGruesome · 27/11/2018 12:41

thanks to sarah j, I now think mine are not so bad afterall. Flowers

TeenTimesTwo · 27/11/2018 12:41

I was fine.
Then I had IVF.
Then it got more and more and more traumatising.
When I turned 50 the doctor signed me off from having any more.

Cherries101 · 27/11/2018 12:47

Mine are always painful. Nurse recommended taking a shot of whiskey in addition to my usual two paracetamol and two ibuprofen beforehand and it still hurt!

JoyofSticks · 27/11/2018 12:50

Mine were never an issue until I moved to where I live now. The nurses at my local surgery have been brutal with my smears and because of that I'm not going back for one, years of painful smears. I've asked them each time to try not to hurt me, explained about the one before and the one before but since moving home my cervix has apparently VANISHED and the nurses take bloody AGES bashing and scraping until they find it. ONLY AT THIS SURGERY!!!

Erysium · 27/11/2018 12:53

I never had pain before, but this time I did. It was a different nurse who did it and it was definitely more sore than uncomfortable. I also bled for the first time ever.

Satsumaeater · 27/11/2018 12:55

The last two I had were quite uncomfortable. The nurse wasn't very sympathetic, I think she thought I was being a wimp compared with what I'd have to go through if I had cervical cancer but I don't think it's really the point. I might try the whisky next time, I live close enough to the surgery to walk there!

Onefliesoverthecuckoosnest · 27/11/2018 12:57

I am always in agony; I dread them.

Joinourclub · 27/11/2018 13:00

I’ve found them uncomfortable but not painful. Though one time I tensed up so much that the nurse couldn’t get the speculum back out!

Bluerussian · 27/11/2018 13:02

Not exactly painful but uncomfortable, 'nipped' a bit. Apparently not unusual in older women.

UpstartCrow · 27/11/2018 13:04

My GP gets round the risk of nipping by using so much lube I surf out the door Envy

WhoKnewBeefStew · 27/11/2018 13:05

No I've never had a painful smear. It's maybe bled a little and felt a bit scratchy at the time but thats it.

I've had a colosxopy and biopsy and it didn't sound as bad as your smear op

ankasi · 27/11/2018 13:05

When I still lived in Germany I had one every year as part of my annual check up, it never hurt, here I've had two and they did hurt, a lot.

I think one of the big differences for me is the lack of a gynaecological chair.
While they look like a torture instrument, they can make things more comfortable.

slug · 27/11/2018 13:05

Every. Single. Time.

It's not unusual for me to be left bleeding afterwards.

MustBeThin · 27/11/2018 13:08

Mine are always really painful and I bleed loads evrrytime

QuizzlyBear · 27/11/2018 13:08

I have a tilted cervix and I think that makes it more difficult (and therefore more painful!) to reach. Maybe that's the issue for some people?

nellieellie · 27/11/2018 13:09

Unbearable pain this time. She had to go and get a smaller speculum. I felt like I was being ripped apart.

lidoshuffle · 27/11/2018 13:09

I never had a problem until plastic specula (?) we're used. rather than the old steel ones. The last 2 out of 3 I've bled quite a bit (blood on the couch and I was given a sanitary towel) so that I'm not looking forward to my next one.