To be pleased self screening for cervical cancer is being trialled in the UK

[FredSoftly]

Only in London at the moment and only on 31,000 women.

The test is done at home (swab your vagina) and returned in prepaid envelope to be checked for the presence of HPV. If no HPV - no further action needed. If HPV found you'll need to have a regular smear at GP.

It was discussed on Radio4 Today at 08.39 this morning.

The doctor said it would offer women "choice, convenience and privacy."

I see this as a positive thing and would gladly take part.....but i dont live in London!.
Hope it gets rolled out across the cpuntry soon

Oh god me too. Im well overdue a smear but I just cant bear the procedure. Not to mention the difficulty of getting an appointment to match up with the right time in the cycle to get it done.
I didnt use to be as bothered about these procedures, but as time has gone on, I get more and more anxiety.
One internal examination i had to have made me shake and cry which is just as awkward for the nurse as it was for me im sure.

I think it's fabulous!

And I know it's not quite the same but you can get these done privately anywhere already

I'm really pleased. I find smear tests really difficult because of a badly handled first one, and since then have struggled (physically, though that is psychosomatic I'm sure) to have then done - even the smallest speculum now causes me to clench and be in serious pain. Being able to do it at home (obviously understanding that if there is an abnormality it is to the doctors I go) would be wonderful.

I really hope the trial works so it can be rolled out for all those who wish to do this.

Anything like this which makes it more likely that women will take the test is good.

This year in particular women are going to have struggled to get a appointment booked around working from home and home schooling and whatever else. Something that can be done at home when you get 10 minutes free is much better

I was overdue a smear by about 20 years. I did my own HPV test privately this year.

I found the BBC news article a bit lacking in reasons why women don't come forward for their smears - it talked about covid worries but didn't mention that they're bloody painful and uncomfortable for many of us.

I’d love this! My last smear was uncomfortable and i get extremely anxious beforehand to the point I’m on the verge of a panic attack.

It does say embarrassment, cultural factors, worries about covid as well as many other factors can stop women going for smears. So I spose they're trying not to make out smears have to be painful for those who maybe haven't had one maybe and don't need that extra worry. It still reads a bit to me as though we should all just get over our embarrassment and get on with it.

Nothing to do with embarrassment here and everything to do with an awful experience with a gynaecologist, postpartum.

Nothing to do with embarrassment here, it triggers me due to extensive rape and sexual assaults. The idea that women are simply embarrassed makes me really angry, when there is very little support for those who find it exceptionally traumatic.

Jo’s trust have a great fact sheet for smears after sexual assault,

www.jostrust.org.uk/information/cervical-screening/cervical-screening-after-sexual-violence

but my surgery look at me like I have 2 heads when I request it. It shouldn’t be something you have to fight for or feel like a nuisance. It should just be standard practise eg. On the form it should state ‘if you have any concerns about your smear please don’t hesitate to contact us’ and links to Jo’s Trust.

I’m also absolutely sick of frigging memes about it on social media. I want to respond to them with; Good for you hun, it’s lovely that you don’t have ptsd.

I’m up to date with mine, but I have a wonderful support network, and not everyone has that.

My gp surgery isn't doing them
Because of covid

I saw this and was very disappointed that it is confined to a few areas of London. I hope they proceed with a very fast nationwide roll-out but I guess it will take at least a few more years

The idea that women are simply embarrassed makes me really angry, when there is very little support for those who find it exceptionally traumatic

And some of us aren't traumatised by it, but it bloody well hurts so we're not exactly rushing to do it. And until a few years ago it had to be at a certain point in your monthly cycle which isn't easy if you're not regular etc etc. As ever people like be judgey but there are loads of reasons why women don't have them or as often as they should.

Although: don't about 90% of us have HPV present so it's not going to reduce the number of actual required smears by that much?

I really wish this was in my area. I have autism and have huge issues with people touching me, and I haven't had a smear for 14 years, ever since a really awful postnatal check up when I had a meltdown in the GP surgery because I was so stressed by being prodded around everywhere, then a very painful smear. I get the reminders and think maybe I should try and go, but they end up getting stuffed in a drawer as I can't face it. I'm low risk because I've only ever had sex with dh, but I suppose I ought to have a smear if possible, so I hope this is rolled out country-wide soon. It's got to be a lot cheaper for the NHS too, and help with the covid backlog of people waiting for f2f appointments for other things.

Ladies I understand some of you have had bad experiences with smear tests but I would urge you to get them done as they can save your life. I would suggest asking for a different doctor or clinician, explaining your concerns beforehand so that they will be understanding and take it slowly with the procedure. If you don't feel comfortable at any point, ask them not to proceed and try again another time. I know it can be extremely difficult, but they are so important to do.

Thank god! And thank god a thread which is not full of posters saying "get it done it will save your life" etc. I find any kind of vaginal examination traumatic and would welcome this. I also hate how campaigns and other women talk about embarrassment being the main factor.. it's pain and discomfort. I would welcome a self test!

And some of us aren't traumatised by it, but it bloody well hurts

Absolutely. Genuinely wasn’t dismissing the physical side of it. Was just speaking from my personal experience.

I was reading something the other day about how there is a new way to check for prostate cancer in men because current way is invasive and men don’t like it.

It made me think of smear tests and how incredibly invasive they are and how many women don’t like them!! And how they are started at a young age, I know now not as young.

Anyway it made me feel pissed off that they haven’t yet come up with a reliable better way of doing a smear.

I'm for in the sense that if it helps other women get some results without the fear of a smear then great but personally I'd rather see a professional. I dont like the idea of these HPV only tests and I'm looking to go private to get a proper full smear test as I do not want to be one of the ones who fall through the gap and have negative HPV but cancerous cells

This is such good news and long overdue.

I hate the way that smear testing is talked about in communications urging us to have them - all that crap about the nurse has seen it all before and no one cares what your fanny looks like, as though women's worries about internal procedures centered on such concerns. Where's the information about how to make it work in light of pain, previous trauma, prolapse, atrophy etc? Jokes about hairy pussies etc don't tell us anything.

@Peanutbutterblood

I'm for in the sense that if it helps other women get some results without the fear of a smear then great but personally I'd rather see a professional. I dont like the idea of these HPV only tests and I'm looking to go private to get a proper full smear test as I do not want to be one of the ones who fall through the gap and have negative HPV but cancerous cells

My understanding is that this is how smear tests work now anyway. They check for HPV and only progress the sample if HPV is present.

That puts me off having a smear at the moment as I doubt I have HPV, so don't see the point in a full smear for me.

And it only took a global pandemic for this to happen!

I would much prefer this but they need to stop the reporting saying it’s a hone smear test it is nothing of the sort and leading to lots of confusion.