Womens Gynae is still barbaric

[ellie09]

Recently got referred to a colopscopy for a biopsy after an abnormal smear.

I have had biopsies before, on my skin etc and I assumed there would be local anesthesia of some sort for this one.

But no.

Two biopsies taken from my cervix with no local anesthesia or pain relief provided. It was painful, it was burning and I burst into tears afterwards in the car.

I wasnt expecting to have a screen of my cervix directly beside me, showing the procedure. I wasnt expecting to get up from the chair and blood to be below me on a paper towel on the floor (I thought they would have removed this before I got up)

I like to think I have a really high pain threshold - I have been through birth, tattoos, piercings, kidney stones etc without much complaint, but this seemed to really rile me up.

Not to mention, nothing was explained thereafter, I was taken into a room with wipes and a pad and told I could go home. Thats it.

Went home, took painkillers and cried some more.

Is this really womens health in 2025?

So sorry this has happened to you. It’s awful what were expected to endure as women. This has happened to me on 2 copolscopies in my 20s.

2 years ago I didn’t heal correctly after episiotomy and had excess skin; the solution was to burn off the excess skin with silver nitrate - no anaesthesia, nothing. I was screaming in pain - and scolded by the consultant saying ‘it didn’t hurt’.

2 x hysteroscopies no meds.

ivf egg retrieval - 2 paracetamol; was awake and felt everything.

Took them 12 hours of me asking before I got an epidural during labour; lucky they did as no one would have noticed how ill I was with sepsis if I hadn’t calmed down.

I’ve been utterly traumatised by all this but they act as if it’s all normal and we should just bare the pain as women.

A bit of a derail - but can I ask which insurance company you are with? We have had the exact opposite experience (Bupa) with them refusing to fund anaesthesia for a procedure because it is 'generally well tolerated' without. Ended up waiting for the NHS referral to come through.

I had a Mirena fitted in 2003. Even back then I found smear tests excruciatingly painful and told the doctor this - he immediately said "We can sedate you". They did, it knocked me out completely and I felt nothing

My advice to ALL women - even if gynae procedures have previously been painless - is to claim they're painful and insist on appropriate anaesthesia.

I do think hyping it up in your head makes it worse beforehand too! I was terrified as I had been getting some symptoms beforehand so was sort of "preparing for the worst" but luckily, it hasnt came to that

My original smear had it graded at CIN1 but the colopscopy then had it graded at CIN2. I thought a "wait and see" approach was the norm in the UK also, but he said he would send samples off to "be sure" then I will be scheduled in for an LLETZ.

I was told at the time that it didnt look sinister and nothing to really worry about

I will be doing this in the future for definite.

I was depending on being ok after so I could work the rest of the day and look after DS and dog. I ended up needing to take the rest of the day off - lesson learned there also!

Yes it’s barbaric. I can’t think of one medical intervention specific to females that isn’t brutal if I’m honest.

If you want the real rage, read Invisible Women.

Ladies we need to start asking too.

i am having biopsy soon and was offered awake or GA, but i would have asked anyway.
Ive had numerous hysteroscopies under GA, also mirena fitted under GA.

its barbaric I agree but we also have to stand up and ask for what we want / deserve

Oh OP, this nonsense is still going on, it is terrible. I am sorry you've endured this.

There are similar posts on mumsnet - so have a read of them. I would, at the very least, put in a formal complaint. This shit has to stop.

Have a look at the facebook page "campaign against painful hysteroscopy". It is very enlightening and they should routinely be undergoing these procedures under anaesthesia or localised pain relief.

So many testimonials that the actual biopsies are insufficient as women are undergoing agonising pain, so the procedure, without pain relief, is a waste of time. Should you have to repeat it, insist on proper pain relief.

I hope you are OK. It is all so unnecessary and misogyny at it's finest.

I agree the not offering pain relief is not acceptable.

I was quite fascinated by the screen showing what was happening though!

I had a very similar experience and barbaric was exactly how I described it

You will find quite a few threads on here and experiences do vary, but women really need to be aware of what happens and advocate for pain relief

Per pp, there is an ongoing campaign, so if you feel able, please complete their survey and hopefully this does not need to keep happening

https://www.hysteroscopyaction.org.uk/

Sometimes procedures can vary because of who's doing them. I used to have a lovely GP, he really was marvellous unless you were having bloods taken and then the was like the chief torturer in the inquisition. I was thinking how weird it was when I had blood taken twice last month and I was amazed at how painless it was.

Totally agreed.

Has to have several internal scans due to retained products after a missed miscarriage.

Cost cutting means they no longer provide a gown, so you have to strip naked on your bottom half and wrap yourself in a strip of paper towel.

On one occasion, the sonographer dislodged some blood/clots when taking the wand out and it just went all over the floor.

Not painful like your experience with the colposcopy, but so undignified and embarrassing.

I had an angiogram and shortly after I had a colonoscopy. I found the screens interesting but I feel I've probably seen more of my insides than ideal.

Put up and shut up women. Don't you dare try and change things and scare them.

This is exactly why I'm having a hysteroscopy under GA in the next few weeks.

If I hadn't of read the horror stories on here I wouldn't have even known i could request a GA.

It's bloody barbaric what women are expected to suffer.

I'm so sorry yours was such an awful experience. It's absolutely shit that there's a denial that these procedures can be painful.

Again, to reassure others and not to deny your experience:

I had a colposcopy recently and had a fantastic caring team of 3 looking after me, and a 40 minute appointment that included good explanations before, during and after. I was given a spray of lidocaine on my cervix before the biopsies, and the Dr did the cough technique which sounds bonkers but is proven in studies to reduce the pain too. From what I read before I went, local anaesthetic injections into the cervix are generally more painful than the procedure with spray/cough.

I was asked to sit in the waiting room for 15 minutes afterwards and checked for bleeding and whether I felt okay before I left. It was an unpleasant procedure but bearable, uncomfortable rather than outright painful, although one biopsy made me jump for a second. They showed me the screen for most of it but turned it away for the biopsies.

Saying that, my mate in USA was knocked out for hers.

I found it quite interesting too - to a point

I had seen almost black areas and got alarmed but he told me this was actually the normal areas? And the lighter parts were the abnormal parts.

It was when they actually did the biopsy and seeing someone effectively take a chunk from there, plus the blood.

I'm not squeamish at all, but it was a bit unsettling. I just got told to "look away" instead of screen being moved. Bit odd

I was posting to say the same thing. Several abnormal smears, several subsequent colposcopy’s and biopsies. I quite enjoyed being able to see the what she was doing on the screen, but i know it’s not for everyone.

Was it totally painless…no, but I feel very lucky that we have access to good gynaecologist care.

Just a note that the doctor and 2 nurses I had were lovely - the whole procedure just felt very rushed - e.g. there was already another woman waiting in a gown in the room next to mine as I was leaving

They brought her in, in the 2 minutes it took me to get dressed

I'm sorry OP, it really is awful. DW had to have a biopsy and said it was a horrible experience.

I have issues with these kind of appointments due to previous SA and need a smear test, but can't do it as I find them extremely painful and have really bad panic attacks. Spoke to the doctors about it who said they can't help me, I just had to get it over and done with. I've had 3 failed smears and have begged for something - anything - to make it easier but they've said they don't do that.

So sorry to hear about your sister. Sedation is not pain management; it's to treat anxiety. So unless she is actually anxious about the procedure rather than knowing it's going to hurt, she should decline sedation and ask for the pain medication that works for her (if there is any).

Shocking isnt it

I told DP about my experience and he was absolutely dumbfounded why women dont get pain relief for such invasive procedures.

Luckily, I have a good one, who looked after me the rest of the day and went out for chocolate and wine - lol

I was told as I had 3 children the colposcopy would be absolutely fine, just a little uncomfortable like a smear. I said all of mine were csections and apparently didn’t make a difference.

The pain was unbelievable and like you I left crying and felt judged for being dramatic. I’ve now been referred back again for another and have asked for at least gas and air for it. I was told absolutely not 😞

I had a hideous experience. I have a high pain threshold but screamed involuntarily when a Dr tried to perform a hysteroscopy without any warning. As my cervix had refused to dilate when I was in labour and through 3 failed inductions it was hardly likely to miraculously open now! The procedure was begrudgingly abandoned and I was told I’d need a GA next time.

Im so sorry you had such an awful experience OP. It’s an absolute disgrace how women are treated. I don’t know any man who’d be happy with a procedure on their penis with zero pain relief.

Yanbu at all, and I'm sorry you had to deal with that 😔 x