To ask why you’ve missed/delayed/declined cervical screening?

[chickentikkawhatswrong]

I see a lot of the campaigns on Facebook about women not going to smears or putting them off for too long.

However it’s generally stats and doesn’t seem to delve too far into the actual reasons?

If you are reluctant what holds you back from attending?

Why does anyone need "approval" from their GP/practice nurse to not have a smear? (seen a few comments to that effect).
What happened to 'no' being a reasonable answer?

I also don't understand why smears stop at 55 even if you are still sexually active.

You get reduced to a 5 yearly recall at 55. Smears stop at 65.

I get mine done as part of my annual work health assessment. The NHS reminders still come, of course I have told them it’s been done elsewhere, plus my surgery receives the report but I expect I am recorded as not having had a smear for years.

@Iwasonline

A family member says she doesn't need a smear...she's never been sexually active. These are her reasons

Same for my sister. Mid thirties and never had any form of sexual relationship. She doesn't feel the need for a smear.

@WonderfulYou

If you don’t want to get one then fine.

But please stop posting things that implies they don’t save lives, because they absolutely do.

Well it won't save mine as I don't have HPV so mine won't even be looked at.

I'll have to wait for symptoms to occur before they will actually do a proper test.

I did use to go for smears in the days that they were actually proper smear tests

@kawa

Come to me, I’m brilliant at smears and the patient and I have a good laugh! “I’m like a cat burglar.. in and out in 10 seconds!!😂😂

I totally would travel further to someone who was good at smears. Mine are always terribly painful (and I’ve had two induced labours without pain relief, for comparison) and there’s one nurse at my GPs who is TERRIBLE. The last time, I told her she’d need the long speculum but she ignored me; she used the short speculum, couldn’t see, looked around and realised she didn’t have one and couldn’t leave the room to get a long one (my vulva was facing the door, no curtain). She proceeded to tell me it was my fault for having “too much discharge” and told me “not to book at this point in your cycle”. I had to rebook. No wonder women don’t bother.

Not reluctant. My invitation for the smear came in the middle of investigations for possible breast cancer (luckily after a lot of tests and surgery it was found to be benign) and I'd had enough of medical procedures. I've now booked my smear now I'm emotionally over the stress it caused.

@XenoBitch

Why does anyone need "approval" from their GP/practice nurse to not have a smear? (seen a few comments to that effect). What happened to 'no' being a reasonable answer?

You dont. You can formally opt out of the smear programme if you like, which is an admin process between the patient and the GP. I THINK the paperwork has to be signed by both, then it gets sent off to the smear programme admin people who will take you off their system.

Or you can just not make appts, but you'll still get reminders.

@TeenPlusCat

I totally agree they are a good thing. However following ivf I found them increasingly painful and traumatic. My last one was whilst I was under a GA. If I have any more they will have to be under sedation.

This. I have attended all of my smears but my last one was after IVF and a miscarriage. The smear test itself hurt alot more than previously, the nurse had difficulty finding my cervix and it took loads longer than usual (I suspect courtesy of the after effects of my miscarriage but I guess it could have been that particular nurse). I also found the scrapping of the cervix triggering as in my last round of IVF I woke from the sedation mid egg-collection and could feel everything which was incredibly painful. As I'd had no problems with smears before I really wasn't expecting it to be so painful or to be so triggering. I am planning to attend in future and hoping to not have a repeat experience but am very apprehensive about it now when I never used to be and think I always will be every time it comes round.

Never mind ‘why don’t women attend smear appointments’. There is plenty of research showing why lots of women don’t. The question is ‘why don’t the medical establishment put in place the things needed to avoid women needing invasive smear tests and for those who do need them, proper training and empathy in professionals so they can understand and help women, including providing sedation and/or pain relief if necessary.’ The answer to the second question is of course, misogyny.

@TheProvincialLady

Never mind ‘why don’t women attend smear appointments’. There is plenty of research showing why lots of women don’t. The question is ‘why don’t the medical establishment put in place the things needed to avoid women needing invasive smear tests and for those who do need them, proper training and empathy in professionals so they can understand and help women, including providing sedation and/or pain relief if necessary.’ The answer to the second question is of course, misogyny.

Hear, hear.

I do always do them, but the experience is utterly awful - the first time they tried it was so uncomfortable they had to give up. Turned out it was probably as I was still a virgin at the time - which status changed between the first and second one!

I can’t book mine in for the right dates as the system doesn’t let me book that far out. I’ve had to cancel mine twice as my period has been 5 days early then 5 days late. It’s impossible to book at the right time in your cycle.

You don't need screening. Its a choice you are offered.

You do need a smear if you have symptoms.

Big difference.

Yes you may get cancer without screening. But the risk is still small and lifestyle and genetics do affect your risk factors. That doesn't mean you are at no risk if your lifestyle choices are of a particular type, but it does mean you are less at risk - unless there is a known genetic reason to screen.

It also doesn't mean that if you get cervical cancer if you don't participate in screening that you will die of it. It reduces your survival chances but it doesn't stop them.

The problem here is the lack of nuance.

Whats fascinating is that they have just announced changes to breast screening which are more nuanced and is going to recall some patients more frequently and others less frequently based on advances in being able to distinguish between those more at risk and less at risk.

@TheProvincialLady

Never mind ‘why don’t women attend smear appointments’. There is plenty of research showing why lots of women don’t. The question is ‘why don’t the medical establishment put in place the things needed to avoid women needing invasive smear tests and for those who do need them, proper training and empathy in professionals so they can understand and help women, including providing sedation and/or pain relief if necessary.’ The answer to the second question is of course, misogyny.

Absolutely.

Instead we get advertising campaigns telling us not to be so silly.

Just reading these and wondering if the people fell prey to c/c. Would it make them think how stupid they were to avoid going for ten minutes to see that everything is ok

Also @TheProvincialLady is spot on.

Because women are just expected to put up with this degree of discomfort - if men had to experience something equivalent to check for a common cancer, they'd have moved heaven and earth to find a better way of doing it.

It would've made for a more interesting and useful discussion had you not repeatedly insisted on regaling us with your lack of understanding despite women telling you how unhelpful you were being, but we are where we are.

And where we are is you only posting on this thread to criticise my posts, and not contributing anything. Do you have any thoughts on the topic at hand that you would like to share?

And other posters, I really would like to hear about your risk assessment/cost-benefit analysis process. My own reasoning for getting it done has been a) I could end up being the one that does get it (which is what I referred to when I mentioned optimism bias - this is me recognising the risk of that particular cognitive bias) and b) the NHS presumably has a lot of data that means they know more about it and my risk than I do. Does anyone have any studies or anything that they recommend? I find smears painful but I'd happily have my fingernails pulled out one by one to avoid cancer treatment.

Where I live, if you're not HPV positive, your cells don't get sent. I haven't had sex since ex, and I'm sure I've not got HPV as a result (tested during pregnancy), so I haven't chased.

Plus I'm in Ireland, and they just had a major case around smear tests not being correctly checked.

I didn't want the first person poking around down there to be a complete stranger i hadn't chosen to get intimate with.

Figured not being sexually active meant my risk was negligible, since i don't have HPV.

And since childbirth, it's not painful (it bloody was before!), so it's purely people not pushing, and me researching and deciding that the risk is minimal, as the government agrees.

@mogsrus

Just reading these and wondering if the people fell prey to c/c. Would it make them think how stupid they were to avoid going for ten minutes to see that everything is ok

No more than having a heart attack and regretting not having exercised or eaten healthily. Cancer is not a result of stupidity. Never. You can make yourself ill thinking about the 'what ifs' and 'if only'.

Always had them when called. Here’s a conversation with a friend’s friend on Facebook though

Figured not being sexually active meant my risk was negligible, since i don't have HPV.

Your chance of having cancer is negligible, your chance of it being picked up by a smear test in the absence of a positive HPV test is zero as they won’t look at anything else. In my view you’re entirely right not to bother.

@mogsrus

Just reading these and wondering if the people fell prey to c/c. Would it make them think how stupid they were to avoid going for ten minutes to see that everything is ok

If that's all you're thinking, you need to learn to read better. You condescending arse.