Smear test - is it normal to find leaves and twigs?

[User748937744]

Ok, clickbait title - for a reason!

I am in my 40s and had my first smear test today. It was so fine and so quick and so painless and so straightforward and I wish I’d been brave enough to go for all the many years I’ve ignored the invitations!

Aibu to tell as many people as I can who might also never have gone to just do it?

I’ll happily go back next time I’m called.

I only went today because I’ve had some symptoms that were concerning.

It was so built up as something embarrassing and possibly painful in my head and it just wasn’t either.

Please, please go. You can always say you’re nervous and would like to be seen by someone really understanding.

Smear tests can hurt: I agree.

Smear tests are some sort of useless scam: not according to Cancer Research and the NHS, both of whose word I'll take over any number of anonymous strangers on the internet

Very helpful post, OP. People put their head in the sand.

Thank you for typing this out, its so refreshing to read.

TIM? Tiny immature man? Tremendously irate mother? Terrifically insipid mammal? What?

Yes, only women have smears. Quite agree.

(I’m a woman btw. In every cell of my body. Cervix included 🫣. No idea why you’d think I was a man, but hey ho.)

I had mine this afternoon.
they gave me two tablets of diazepam to take an hour before.

it still hurt but it was manageable.

Cervical cancer is much more common than brain cancer
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/cervical-cancer#:~:text=Key%20facts,350%20000%20deaths%20in%202022.

I asked for a smaller sized speculum as I find them
really traumatic and the nurse seemed shocked and advised me not to because I had wide hips! She managed the test and said actually the smaller one may have been better as my cervix hadn’t moved much as I hadn’t given birth vaginally. She does several a day. It shows how unsympathetic and ignorant some hcp’s can be.

I hear you. It was the trivialisation and mocking of other women's pain that I was objecting to.

The classic false dichotomy; having cancer is not ‘the alternative’ to having a smear.

Well done OP for your thread it makes people look and think atleast. I had my second smear last year at nearly 40. My first was ok I guess, i only had it because we were on the cusp of deciding to try for a baby - lucky for me it was clear. then I lost my grandma, and aunts from cervical cancer. I lived in absolute fear of having it done, not because of the process, but the result. I ignored the next couple of calls because I then went on to have two more babies ❤️ but after my last bagy the letter came again. I was shaking when I went, and sobbed when the nurse spoke to me. I didn't care about the procedure, I had had a terrible birth with one of my dc so id be pulled and prodded beyond imagining, but I was terrified of the result. The nurse listened and sympathised then put the swab down for quick turn around. Within a couple of days I had a clear result. I was so relieved, but also so proud of myself. I doubt next time will be any easier but I will do it again because I have seen the other side and I want to have the best chance to beat it if I need to.

I have had dodgy experiences in the past, so I don't go any more, but glad yours was all good op.

What exactly does a smear detect anyway?
I'm nearing 40 and have never been and will probably never
Just the idea of it makes me feel physically sick
When I was 36 weeks pregnant with my first, I went to the maternity unit to check for suspected fluid leaking
And I dunno if they were short staffed that day but the doctor was rough and kept telling me calm down it's just like a smear test.
Well that was painful!
Then they said well your cervix is closed, bye
Yeah no thanks
And I pray for good health

Please ladies. I used to work in Colposcopy. This is where ladies with pre cancerous cells on the cervix are removed..Cervical cancer is one of the few preventable cancers but only if you have a smear test to see if any pre cancerous cells are present. A lot of these pre cancerous cells are caused by a few strains of Human Paplioma Virus. Some women contract it and their immune systems sort it out but with other it can cause cervical cancer if left untreated. It is mainly passed on through intercourse but according to the consultant I worked with even nuns can get it!. A few moments of being uncomfortable could save your life! Incidentally the consultants stopped using the smear method a long time ago using a wooden spatula to scape cells of the surface of the cervix (which pretty much looks like the end of a mans penis). The consultants started using a shaped brush where the bristles were longer in the middle to sweep just inside the os (the hole in the cervix where your periods come through and if you have a vaginal birth, your baby. I am not so sure how accurate doing it yourself with a swab is? However I guess they are accurate enough so if anything shows up make sure you follow it up.

The fact they literally gave you a TRANQUILISER before the procedure, tells women all they need to know about how painful smears can be...

For a lot of women it’s more than a few moments of being uncomfortable - vaginismus, past trauma etc. If we are trying to reach women who don’t go for screening, I think we need to move away from the message that it’s a simple, easy test and have a more nuanced approach. And kinder conversations that don’t include shaming and scaring the shit out of women with emotional manipulation - not that you were doing that.

Lors and lots of women attend their smear tests routinely, I count myself amongst them. Your experience is simply unique to you. As some women have said they have had terrible experiences and other women have other anxieties different to your own. Congratulations and well done on facing up to something which has caused you anxiety. I do hope the results are okay. I don't think you need to be one the banner waver for women having smear tests. It's obvious they are good to have, but some women will still struggle with this and in all honesty I very much doubt that hearing your story, even though it is genuinely lovely to hear that it went so well, is likely to make any difference to other women. The NHS run campaigns and often women support each other with this. Go and celebrate your acheievement and leave it at that.

It’s not simple for a lot of people - some find it painful, others very traumatic, like survivors of sexual violence.

Same

and you can do a self test, if you can afford it

I thought that information was filtering through, but you wouldn't know from this thread

Yeah, but it was funny 😁

Smear tests aren’t nice we all know that. But by god you will wish you had gotten tested if you develop cervical cancer which then can spread

Well I’m sorry but I think I trust published research over “a nurse who does them”. Why would she be in any way qualified or knowledgeable about the causes of cervical cancer?
People like to scaremonger with stuff like this but there are very good reasons why further testing is only done on those with HPV due to huge amounts of unnecessary invasive treatment in the past.

Has this thread addressed the real issue of the fact they aren't even done properly these days, because of Moneytry cutbacks? That really pisses me off.

I find them incredibly painful and hate them. With a passion. I'm inverted and they invariably can't find it, then hurt me and we have to stop. Most come back as failed. I've even had the expert come in, whilst I'm legs in air mid stirrup, with hands under bottom, having taken pain killers prior, and admit 'this is a tricky one'. Most times it's so awful. Funnily enough I'm tough as old boots and no other medical procedure bothers me, mammograms are fine. I hate smears more than I hate just about anything else.

plus the resentment that I felt, when I later found out it wasn't being tested properly. 😡😡😡😡😡 we are 50% of the population us women, and we deserve better than for them to now only test for HPV which never used to be the case. In 2019 this changed, testing for HPV first.

I can do whatever I like with my story. You didn’t need to comment if you think it’s so irrelevant to anyone but me.

The point is that there are as many reasons for women not to go as there are women not going. Everyone has their own reason.

But there will be many women who don’t go because of embarrassment, awkwardness, shame, fear of the unknown. Like me.

I was so amazed by how fast and straightforward it was - I just wanted to post to encourage anyone. And a few people have said they are booking tests and that’s really all I wanted to achieve.

I don’t think smear tests are the most important thing ever and (as my GP has always said to me) it’s personal choice not to have one done. However, I AM proud of myself for going and it was fine FOR ME but will probably also be fine for SOME OTHER WOMEN who have been avoiding it for a long time. Probably.

Personal choice, right? That’s important. I’m just sharing my story. Which is allowed.

Congratulations on your achievement however don't underestimate the power of a smear, have a read up on the many women in Ireland whose smear test was read incorrectly, 9 women died from false negative screenings farmed out to an American lab for processing.

I don’t think smear tests are the most important thing ever and (as my GP has always said to me) it’s personal choice not to have one done.

Also to add, if anyone has concerns don't rely solely on the smear results.

I’ve genuinely never experienced even a twinge of pain during mine, I didn’t feel my coil being inserted either. Well done for going x