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?

@Historybubble you are just derailing genuine concerns and constructive criticism of the smear programme.that might actually lead to real life action to improve things for women. Shame on you.

I put mine off for a year because I'd had a lot of gynaecological problems and procedures with the most recent being traumatic. I couldn't bear the thought of anybody touching me down there for any reason.
I did go eventually. I cried in the waiting room and all the way through it. It was difficult for the nurse as I was tense. Then I cried all the way home.
I've always been on time for smears otherwise.

I had a positive smear and had to have lazer treatment I was so traumatised by the experience it took me 8 years to go back for another one.

Dying hair at the hair dressers. Broken nail.

Even these comparisons are dripping in misogyny.

I'd forgotten that they don't actually check the cells anymore. I am due a smear but I will decline and order an at home HPV test, even though it's highly unlikely I have HPV due to negative results from last smear.

I'm not going to take part in a system that is deeply flawed and, at heart, misogynistic, when I have an incredibly low risk of developing the cancer in question.

[quote Historybubble]@coatofsomanycolours how was my post unkind??? How do you compare assault to a smear test lol. An assault is a sickening, horrific experience I do not wish upon anyone ever!
A smear test is a smear test- an uncomfortable 10 mins experience that may save your life.[/quote]
There are several accounts on this thread (that I am assuming that you haven't read) of women asking the HCP to stop and them ignoring or shaming/laughing at them. This is assault and totally unacceptable. If you'd read the thread you'd know there are many valid reasons to not want to have one.
Broken nail, indeed.

If I don’t want an object shoved in my vagina, if I don’t want a stranger’s hands on my genitals, then coercing me into it feels like assault.

[quote Historybubble]@coatofsomanycolours how was my post unkind??? How do you compare assault to a smear test lol. An assault is a sickening, horrific experience I do not wish upon anyone ever!
A smear test is a smear test- an uncomfortable 10 mins experience that may save your life.[/quote]
It would be an assault on me because I wouldn’t consent to it. You do understand consent, I take it? It would be much more than uncomfortable for me.

Can we discuss how women are often threatened to be removed from the GP list, are refused prescription for contraception and bullied into the screening during every appointment, no matter the reason for said appointment? Consent by coercion should be a thing of the past but it’s not.

@Igloo79

If I don’t want an object shoved in my vagina, if I don’t want a stranger’s hands on my genitals, then coercing me into it feels like assault.

It feels like assault because it is. Coercion is not a great look for the NHS.

@RedToothBrush

Dying hair at the hair dressers. Broken nail.

Even these comparisons are dripping in misogyny.

Really true. I think this is also why this thread unsettles me.

History bubble, a smear test is an assault if you tell the nurse to stop and she just carries on, and it is an assault if you just have it because you are told you will be removed from practice lists or denied meds for asthma until you have a smear!

@Historybubble - how very magnanimous of you to concede that whilst most on here talking about trauma are pathetic drama queens, some just might be genuine.

On a serious note, I find most posts that contain the words ‘I bet’ and ‘I reckon’ include half-baked theories based on that poster’s prejudices. You have no basis to ‘bet’ anything and you know it.

What I’d really like to know is why so many women are so invested in minimising what others are saying. The ludicrous demonstrable bollocks of the ‘it doesn’t hurt’ posts. The insistence that it’s just mildly embarrassing. Saying it’s not as bad as sexual abuse - to posters who have presumably experienced both and say they cannot face smears. The PA smiley faces. Could one of you explain why it’s so important to you that women who disagree with you on this subject be silly and overwrought? Are you scared they might they might be right and you could face this in the future? Or do you get a kick out of being better, stronger, more resilient? Genuinely interested.

Being panicky and over sensitive is generally a problem in itself. Nobody is panicky and over sensitive for fun. FGS.

@Historybubble A smear test is a smear test- an uncomfortable 10 mins experience that may save your life.

Seriously? Did you read the thread? I despair. For YOU it it may well be for OTHERS it is not. Why is that difficult to accept? FYI- I am one of two posters on here who have torn - yes - ripped perineum during a smear test so not actually a teensy bit ouchy, a sharp scratch, a bit of discomfort - an injury from the procedure that also, just to add insult to injury, contaminates the test so it can’t be used. Other women have other distressing experiences. Read the thread. You think we are fibbing? Add to this the fact this is an unnecessarily invasive way to obtain a sample for HPV testing, and I, like others on here do a risk benefit analysis and stop attending.

[quote Historybubble]@grapewine you see that’s what I’m talking about… if reading something in the internet unsettles you then it’s that kind of over - sensitive people that are afraid of smear tests[/quote]
I mean, maybe read my posts on this thread about my pain levels before calling me oversensitive.

But you do you.

… and the risk benefit analysis I have done is exactly what the NHS will eventually do and stop the test programme in its current format. Only it’s going to be hard to stop because they did such a ‘good’ job on bullying and coercing women down this route for the past few decades.

@Historybubble

Therefore not everyone that is afraid has a valid reason to be afraid. Some do, most don’t, they are just panicky and over sensitive to everything

How do you know this?

It’s ok not to want it even if you didn’t have a traumatic experience or pain during previous smears. I was fine, my nurse is fine. But I’m anxious, always have been. I need to weigh pros and cons of going and having one and all this propaganda and scare tactics do not work well with me. “My mum missed her test now I miss my mum”. How do they even DARE? They refuse me basic checks and try to coerce me into screening for something I’m low risk for. It’s ok to be anxious. It’s ok to be sensitive to degrading and rude treatment by others. I was sensitive when I was 4. I’m sensitive now when I’m mid 30s. So what? Scare tactics do not work with me. I come from a background where you’re forced to shut up and think of England. Can’t say more due to privacy but no one ever will force me to do something I don’t want to do AT THE MOMENT. I’m HPV negative. That’s what they want to check. Why harassment?

Been TTC for months so constantly might be pregnant = can't go!

Check out the search facility... Just saying.

@Historybubble

Therefore not everyone that is afraid has a valid reason to be afraid. Some do, most don’t, they are just panicky and over sensitive to everything

You don't get to decide that women's reasons aren't valid.