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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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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:

itsnowthewaitinggame · 27/11/2018 13:11

I've had smears for 40 years. About ten years ago I had one that was so horrendous that I cried in pain. I then really bled so heavily leaving the surgery that I had to go straight home to bath and change. The nurse clearly couldn't have been good or experienced enough as I've never before or since had a painful one

Oysterbabe · 27/11/2018 13:12

Mine have never hurt at all.

BernardsarenotalwaysSaints · 27/11/2018 13:12

Yes, my last one actually. My cervix had gone in to hiding & when it was eventually found it wasn't half painful. The nurse was lovely & not intentionally rough (in fact she asked if I wanted to abandon it for a week but I figured we may as well get it done) but my body didn't take it well at all, I was taking regular painkillers for a good 3 days after. I've had more smears than I should have done for my age due to other gynae issues as well as 5 vaginal births & it's never happened before. It certainly won't put me off my next, unpleasant as it was.

Pringlecat · 27/11/2018 13:14

I had a horrendous one (and a horrendous colposcopy) and have never been back.

The way I was treated has really traumatised me. I can't bring myself to get checked again.

GreenIce · 27/11/2018 13:14

My last one was awful. She couldn't find my cervix and had to use a long speculum which she kept banging my cervix with, it was so painful and to make it worse the bed looked like a butcher's chopping board when I stood up. Normal results though.

BackIntoTheSun · 27/11/2018 13:17

Mine are always a little painful and I bleed a bit but I do have mild vaginismus and, apparently, a difficult to find cervix

mycatistoo · 27/11/2018 13:18

Mine are always bad.

JollyGiraffe · 27/11/2018 13:19

Ive only had 1 (I'm young) and found it uncomfortable but not really painful. The nurse was poking around for a while and then asked if it felt uncomfortable- I said yes, and she took the speculum out and went in at a different angle and it felt much more comfortable (and she could then see my cervix!)

I also wonder if the people who find it incredibly painful have a tilted cervix and have a nurse trying to force it rather than adjust.

I really don't like these threads as I'm sure they must put people off having it done, and for the vast majority there is no pain at all.

WinterfellWench · 27/11/2018 13:27

Yeah I have had 3 that have been a bit shit, (3 in a row over 2-3 years) but mostly OK.

One nurse pinched me (on the way in!) with the clamp. ouchy! Then the result was 'inconclusive because she didn't take enough cells! So I had a second one a few months later!

Then on that second one, a different nurse, opened the fucking clamp real wide, and I yelped!

The third one (a couple of years after,) was she rammed in clamp in hard, and I had a painful ummm, cervix womb... (biology never was my thing!) for a week!

The last 3 or 4 have been OK, and the ones proceeding the 3 shit ones. They use a plastic thing to 'open' your fanjybobs. (Not a clamp that they have to widen!)

Not a fan of smears and will be glad when I don't have to have them anymore tbh. Even though they are not always painful (for me) they are still not nice!

WinterfellWench · 27/11/2018 13:29

@JollyGiraffe

I really don't like these threads as I'm sure they must put people off having it done, and for the vast majority there is no pain at all.

I think you are probably right.

Drogosnextwife · 27/11/2018 13:29

Yes and it's the reason why I've been putting off going for one for a good 8 months now which I am pissed off at myself for.

JuneFromBethesda · 27/11/2018 13:30

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

Sorry but that did make me laugh!

I've definitely had at least one over the years that was painful. The memory of that does stay with you - I haven't had a painful one in years but I'm surprised every time just how easy they are now. My last one was a few weeks ago and it was so quick and painless I was surprised it was over! I could have kissed the nurse, I was so relieved

firstbrightday · 27/11/2018 13:31

Oh my gosh, I have my first one next month and I'm absolutely terrified!

megletthesecond · 27/11/2018 13:32

Yes. Hated them. And I'd cry.
The flat couch wasn't an ideal position tbh. I ended up liking the gynea chairs more, they tip the pelvis into the correct position.

user1457017537 · 27/11/2018 13:32

I had one once and then what I was told was a smear but consultant took a sample biopsy. I have never had another

Fancycatpants · 27/11/2018 13:33

My first was excruciating. It felt like my cervix was held by pliers and being wrenched back and forth.

I told the (male) doctor through clenched teeth “this really hurts” and he kind of sighed and said “well it’s not supposed to be pleasant”

It was so bad I ended up avoiding smears for over ten years. Just the memory of the pain made me procrastinate and keep putting it off. When I finally had another with a female nurse, I was shocked to find it didn’t really hurt much. Then the next one I had (with another female nurse), I barely even felt at all.

I do think some people are better at it than others. Also after my first bad experience, I never ever want a male doctor near my bits again, if I can help it.

Oysterbabe · 27/11/2018 13:42

Bit of a derail, but I have a question. I've just had one recently, results today in fact. It said I had an HPV negative result so they didn't do any further checks as its highly unlikely that there will be abnormal cells.
Is HPV only passed on through sexual activity? If I'm in a monogamous marriage and we don't have it, is there any need for more smears?

rosie1959 · 27/11/2018 13:42

Almost 60 now so have been having smear tests regularly since 20 Never had a painful or even uncomfortable one
Suppose I have never expected one to hurt so pretty relaxed through them all which must help

WinterfellWench · 27/11/2018 13:44

@firstbrightday DON'T be terrified or put off. For the majority of women it's fine. And the last 3 I have had (so over the last 8 years or so) have all been fine. They don't use a clamp anymore, and it's much better than it used to be.

PLEASE still go. It's only 2 minutes of your life, and it will be OK!

mummymayhem18 · 27/11/2018 13:53

Yes mine have been really painful since I had my daughter. It's ok going in but once they open it up it really hurts,plus they have trouble seeing my cervix. I crie out and cry it's so bad. Used to be bearable before I had my daughter so I don't know what has changed. I was due one last month but keep telling myself I will have it after Christmas. I also have painful bladder syndrome and having my smear also flares that up as it's all close together. So you aren't alone going by a lot of the comments. We aren't trying to scare people,just being truthful with our experiences x

BonnieandHyde · 27/11/2018 13:54

It should not be painful. It is a speculum and a swab. If it was painful you need to go and get checked to find out why.

BonnieandHyde · 27/11/2018 13:56

@Oysterbabe it can have other causes. HPV is just one if them. Also it doesn't mean you or your partner are negative for HPV. It just means your cervix doesnt contain HPV affected cells.

megletthesecond · 27/11/2018 13:56

It's funny because in 20 years of periods I could never master non-applicator tampons. Maybe there's a link between pelvic / vaginal shape that makes it trickier for some of us.

BonnieandHyde · 27/11/2018 13:58

@GreenIce sorry I call bollocks on that. Stop fucking scaremongering. You posting that could put someone off having one when it could save their life.

Tawdrylocalbrouhaha · 27/11/2018 13:59

Mine are always painful at the time, but not afterwards (I just don't like being winched open). I really don't think it should be painful the next day though

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