I’m 33 and I’ve never had a smear test

[Spacehopp]

I’ve got a 3 year old son, but I had a c-section with him that I chose to have as I’m so scared of things being put inside me (I don’t mean a penis obviously, but ‘instruments’)

I refused all internal examinations while I was pregnant too.

So apart from sex and my mooncup I use every month when I’m on my period, I’ve not had anything put inside me or had a medical professional’s fingers etc in there.
The thought makes me feel physically ill.

I keep getting letters about the smear and just throwing them in the bin. I feel embarrassed about it. But I also think if men had to go through this kind of invasive procedure, they would have come up with something else by now.

But smear tests don’t actually check for cancer any more. They only screen for HPV. If someone is HPV negative then then don’t check the cells further.

Something to bear in mind that may be reassuring.. I love my mooncup now but getting used to that was at least 100 times worse than a smear test. If/when you do decide to go I think you'll be very pleasantly surprised! X

My smear tests are always scream inducing. So quite frankly saying they don’t hurt is utter bollocks.

You think a swab down their dickhole and a finger up their arsehole isn’t intrusive?

What screening programs require men to have a finger up their bum and a swab down their dick hole?

They aren't pleasant but they can be life saving. I had CIN3 twice and ended up with a preventive hysterectomy at 35 as there wasn't much more of my cervix to remove.

I would suggest having it done in a gynea ward in a proper chair. I found my coloposcopies easier than smears for that reason. And get a diazepam .

It’s your body and all that. But you have a child now and I’m sure he would like his mum to be around for years to come. Embarrassment really isn’t a strong enough reason to ignore those letters.

Honestly some people on this thread are so irresponsible. Smears aren’t exactly pleasant (and I always get the practice nurse who I can’t stand) but they are extremely important. Obviously. My last one showed HPV and I’m about to have the 1 year check up after to see if it is still there/if I need further testing. I’m counting down the days until the next one because I would like to understand if I am at risk of cervical cancer. I like my life and want to minimise risks of death….even if you get an HPV test yourself at the pharmacy and send it in you need to do SOMETHING. I’ve also had a mammogram for a lump in the past.

how can someone be so precious about something so important?

as for the sexism thing… what?!?! I don’t think the prostate test is exactly pleasant!

Your child could be motherless all over a smear test. It's not worth the risk. My friend died of cervical cancer at 34 she left behind a 3 year old and she went to her smears. Heart breaking to here you are taking such a risk.

Btw the amount of people who know people in their early 30s who have died from cervical cancer is very eye opening

But what is the difference between going to your GP for a HPV test and taking the swab yourself and sending it away? Why is it irresponsible to take the swabs yourself and send them off?

Men don’t have routine prostrate exams. They would only have a prostate exam for suspected prostate cancer.

Sorry about your friend but you do realise that smear tests no longer actually screen for cervical cancer right?

Agreed! FFS men do not have a cervix!

@MariosMagicMushrooms

“even if you get an HPV test yourself at the pharmacy and send it in you need to do SOMETHING”

my point here was that it’s preferable to do the HPV test oneself and send than to do nothing. Obviously it’s always better to have a healthcare professional administer tests because they are trained.

Ah OP if you're still reading you're braver than I am. So many harsh, shaming replies which will only put women off.

I'm a decade older than you and I recently had my first smear. The nurse was really nice to me, didn't treat me like an idiot, told me she was just glad when women go. Notice that the replies you've already had from nurses on this thread are all along those lines.

I'm glad I now have one less thing to worry about/feel guilty about for a while. It didn't hurt at all. But next time I'm going with a private HPV swab, given my sample just got binned without being checked.

Men don’t have routine prostrate exams. They would only have a prostate exam for suspected prostate cancer

surely that’s a benefit to women? I would rather have a routine smear than wait until I have symptoms/things are further progressed! Anyway I would be interested to know the reason behind that - I’m sure there is one.

“The UK National Screening Committee doesn’t currently recommend screening for prostate cancer. This is because the PSA test is not reliable enough to detect prostate cancer that needs treatment”, Cancer Research website

I’m very pleased I’m not a man!

My comments about there being no prostate screening program were in response to the numerous comments on here arguing that men have just as bad as women when it comes to invasive tests.

Obviously you still have to do something.

But I have trauma due to being raped and I am also autistic. Smear tests are always scream inducing for me. They really are that painful. Why would I put myself through that when there is an alternative test?

"Does not hurt, "

Why do posters write such shit? Just because some find it mildly uncomfortable. For some it's much more than that.

FFS

These threads never end well. I am in my sixties and I have never had a smear. Cervical screening is optional. Every person with a cervix makes a choice to screen or not to screen. It's their decision and theirs alone. Having a test might save your life or it may send you down the road of unnecessary interventions for a few "dodgy" cells (that may never advance to cancer) with - in my view -violating exams and painful biopsies where requests for all female care is ignored.

But they do have it just as bad when it comes to invasive tests? Us women have the same tests for HPV and STI’s. Men have swabs down their urethra which I’m sure is rather uncomfortable.

Just because it isn’t routine doesn’t mean a man hasn’t gone through uncomfortable invasive tests.

I love my beautiful friend to cervical cancer at 46 years old. I miss her but so do the 4 children she left behind. Please have some sort of therapy to deal with your fears x

I had one today, and have done so regularly without fail since having most of my cervix removed aged 30 due to early cancer cells - detected by smear. I went from a normal one at my 6 week check with my youngest to 3 years later having an aggressive early cancer.

I personally think that the NHS should be able to charge for treatment if routine screening is declined though. It's a form of health neglect.

Well, of course you have the right to refuse.

But as someone who lost a friend, leaving two small children behind, because they didn't go for a smear test...I think YABU.

If you had abnormal cells/cancer, believe me the subsequent treatment would be a LOT more invasive...