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.

You really need to educate yourself on what HPV is and how it works because you're wrong to the point of putting your life at risk.

If your cervix is tilted you tend to have a more painful smear. Mine is tilted back and my smears have always been painful as the nurse takes ages to find it.

Without wanting to TMI you, in some cases it can be a case of a penis being painful as well, if penetration is attempted too soon. Especially if someone's never given birth.

My breast cancer was found at 33 on MRI. Had I not had it then it wouldn't have been found for a while. Nobody even senior consultants could feel anything. I always encourage anyone to go for any screening offered male or female. My husband is eligible for PSA testing, he was initially unsure until I reminded him of how my routine screening saved my life. It was him that reminded me that I was overdue on the annual MRI. So if I can support him for his male related screening then job done.

I think you need to advocate for yourself next time Calypso and ask for your smear to be done by a gynaecologist or a colposcopy nurse/practitioner given the pain and bleeding you experienced last time. Just say I won't have another one unless it's done by an expert. The GP/practice nurse is a jack of all trades master of none. I'm sorry that happened to you though it sounds truly awful.
I've been back and forth to colposcopy since my 20s so unfortunately I'm a pro at having smears done. I had to have one every year for 10 years at one point so my fanny has been stretched to buggery. 😂
Thanks @User748937744 for highlighting this for others. Maybe if I'd not had preventative treatment on my cervix when I was in my twenties I'd not be here to tell the tale of my stretched out fanny. 😂

Same, but for some reason I was 50 before anyone had actually told me this! (I don't have kids, so it had never come up in that context.) Nurse advised me to do the 'make fists and put them under you' thing and it was bearable then. Just.

Do you know, it’s the word “scrape” that put me off many times. That word really scared me. It wasn’t a scrape though - it was much more like a brush (and that’s the word that was used by the nurse). “Scrape” really, really, really made me run for the hills. Among other reasons for putting it off/not going!!!

This thread has been a bit of an eye opener. Really sorry to read the traumatic experiences some have had. My tests have always been slightly painful but over quickly and better than having cancer. I had precancerous cells removed 10 years ago in my mid 30s and have had regular tests since then. Next one is due next year and hope it’s no worse now I’m in perimenopause.

You usually have sex with someone you know and is familiar with your body.
Totally different to a nurse you have never met.

I’ve only had sex with one man, definitely no opportunity or inclination for cheating, but I have had HPV. I’ve had lots of transvaginal ultrasounds in the past and gyne surgery/c-section in the past so it’s my view that one of those is the most likely cause.

Agreed. It can still be painful for some people.

Here's the thing, though. Well, two things. One - a smear can tell you you have HPV and many posters would say you should disclose that to future sex partners and this basically means it would undermine your sex life for potentially years. (I don't subscribe to that view).

Two - if you were diagnosed, would you want to be treated? Not everybody would, treatment can be traumatic.

I've never been for a smear and I'm happy with that. If you would want treatment and the HPV issue doesn't bother you then absolutely go for it. I don't like the patronising COME ON LADIES, GET YOUR FLOWER LOOKED AT stuff.

True, and a lot of people think a smear checks all sorts. One of the mums at school came from America and assumed they'd do all kinds of gynae checks/asking questions etc, and in my experience, they don't. It's good you've posted this as one woman I know of was convinced she couldn't have a serious illness (despite symptoms) because "they'd have told her at the test if there was an issue".
I really wish they would ask a few questions about pain/bleeding etc, and tell women if anything looks wrong, because it could improve quality of life if she has a "minor" issue, and if they pick up on a serious issue by extending appointments by a minute or two, lives would be saved.

You're absolutely right. Tell them all. I'd just like to add that ALL women should go, even if they think there's no way they can have HPV. Despite what we're told, there are non sexual ways in which the virus can be transmitted.

THIS THREAD HAS BEEN DONE A BILLION TIMES BEFORE SO DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT.

WHY ARE WE USING CAPS HERE? 🤭

I once had a smear so bad they couldn't even complete it, physically could not get the speculum inside me (told me they couldn't use lubricant) and it was agony.

For my next I took a friend. This was then not allowed for the next appointment due to COVID rules so I skipped it. The one after was really traumatic and painful and honestly I'm over it. I'm not having another. I've had much better experiences at the local sexual health clinic and I wish I could have a smear there where they actually know what they are doing unlike my GP office.

Once the self testing kits get sent out I'll use that quite happily but I'm also sick of being told to go and how it's absolutely fine and nothing to worry about. That's just not true and at this point it feels dismissive and insulting, not encouraging. I would like to hear practical steps being taken to improve the smear, not the same old rhetoric of how it's a little uncomfy but painless and it's silly to fear them.

And maybe that’s the difference for some women, for me it very much feels like a scrape rather than a brush! For me it is the worst sensation, even thinking of it now makes me nauseous, and that’s after two children - childbirth was a breeze in comparison. My last one was thankfully done under general anaesthetic while my ovaries were removed (which frankly I’d rather have than a smear!).

Well turnout for smear tests is incredibly low so clearly women aren’t convinced…..

@OttersAreMySpiritAnimal I've tested pos for HPV, no abnormal cells. Five yrs ago tested neg, and before that they only tested for abnormal cells, which I never had. I've been married 38 yrs. Neither of us had other partners. No cheating. There are other ways for the virus to spread, despite what we're told. Best to have your smear.

It's just gross, isn't it?

I don't live in the UK and while my last test had to be at the surgery I was offered the option to do it myself, which I did - not that the nurse doing it bothers me, and I've never suffered any pain from it.

Being someone who wasn't bothered about having a smear as i hadn't had sex for a long time and never had any issues. I went for a smear and needed a hysterectomy at the age of 40. Im so glad I didn't put it off any longer.

I can’t vouch for how true it is but there’s some theory that you can catch it at birth from your mother .

I had one yesterday, it was uncomfortable, painful, made me bleed and I was upset afterwards.

I go because I have to - but it’s not painless or easy :(

I don’t think it’s helpful to preach about it or say ‘just do it’. It’s not easy for everyone

This is a really interesting thread in that it has shown lots of women are done with smears and happy to accept the risk. NHS needs to get on with the self testing for HPV asap for prevention