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.

What a ridiculously patronising post.

Sorry to read about all the horrendous experiences. Just wondering - are your smears done on a gynae chair? I have never had one done in the UK but have the impression that the GPs dont have the gynae chair?

Where I am women see a gynae dr every year, who has obviously a proper gynae chair and havent heard horror stories like you are describing.

Well done 👏 I have been going for years since the first invitation but...the practice nurse has to use the teeny tiniest speculum 😬 I am so anxious each time. But so far it's come back no concerns. Hopefully yours is the same OP🤞

I'm about to go under general anesthetic for a coil fitting and smear test (as I've never had either before.) Apparently my cervix is very sensitive because the midwife only had to go near it last year and it hurt so much I begged her to stop and I ended up having a c section. (Ended up being fortuitous really.)

And use the smallest size of speculum.
And approach at the right angle, AND go in slowly

I really don't understand why women don't go because of the pain. I have a tilted cervix so its always more painful and longer for me. But it's a few minutes or so and then done. Childbirth is a lot longer and more painful!

Same with hysteroscopies. Better to get it done soon and checked out than wait to go under GA.

In both cases, you can buy over the counter Cocodamol to take beforehand, but it really is better to suffer a few minutes of pain than months or years of cancer, surely.

No. If it's done at the GP's it will just be on a couch. You are asked to put the soles of your feet together and let your knees fall apart. Not on a proper gynae chair

If you cant understand then you are lucky. Have you felt pain and then get told by the nurse to grow up and put up with it? Because that was what happened to me. Then get told that if you dont have a smear then you WILL get cancer and die.

I don't think it's patronising. The OP has taken time to try to help others who would like to have their smears but are too scared. She was once like them and now just wants to reassure others. Entirely altruistic.

Really? So when you go for your smear test you are sexually aroused? Fully open and just waiting for it?

Agree, I used to find them a bit uncomfortable but now post menopause and never having giving birth and not being sexually active they are agony. I’ve just been summoned for smear, I am absolutely dreading it and keep putting it off but I have to push through because last time the doctor saw what she thought was a polyp which I had to have removed and tested and I’m worried it might have grown back, if it wasn’t for that growth I wouldn’t go for it and would just do the HPV test myself.

I'm 63 and mine have got progressively painful over the years. I had my last one done before Christmas and the nurse tried three times before she was successful. She said I wouldn't get called again as they only do automatic invites up to age 65, although I could request one. I was 62 when I had it done so would be due for another at 66. I said I may request one then and make that my last one.

I used to find that they were uncomfortable and agree with those who have said that, post menopause, smears have become far more painful and in some cases, agonising. This has certainly been my experience.

No PTSD but otherwise the same. I hate hate hate having them done

I hate them and have had a couple of horrible experiences (the first one managed to scratch my cervix, another put me on a bed squashed against the wall so that I couldn't get into a position that opened up my cervix, was incredibly rough and clumsy, obviously inexperienced, and then when I said it was really uncomfortable just said "yeah, they're not exactly my favourite thing to do either", and yes I had told her about my previous experiences of smears and how anxious I was beforehand).

I have also had pain-free smears and would say that the confidence and experience of the person doing them is key. My advice to anyone anxious would be to go somewhere like a GUM clinic where they do smears and vaginal examinations all the time and feel confident and prepared to take their time with women who have had previous traumatic experiences.

I understand your good intentions, OP, but a lot of women don't go because they've had one and it was a difficult experience. I was told they were painless and I would have done much better if I had been warned that they can be uncomfortable and prepared myself for that.

I was so confused. But you reminded me I have to get mine done so job done. Thanks.

I find it amazing how even women are ridiculously paternalistic about having our 'smears', yet they'd never start posting about how alcohol, smoking, obesity come with health risks including a very real increase in cancer risk, and people are just silly to do/have them.

Me? Also very painful smears. Probably due to a violent rape. Yes, it was years ago so maybe I'm being silly by being bothered by it. But bothered I am, even by the letters inviting me. So I opted put and feel alot better.

Thank you for explaing. That sounds even less practical than I had imagined /with feet apart/. I cant help thinking that the position they do it in may have to do with how easy it is to get in which in turn will affect how un/pleasant or un/painfull it is for a woman.

Can I ask? Why haven’t you had one before?! I’m not having a dig- and know it’s common, but this is something that could potentially save your life. Just interested!

Because it can lay dormant for years regardless if you’re in a long term monogamous relationship.

what a ridiculously pointless post.

It is called a sweep, and I’m due to have one tomorrow. If you don’t mind me asking, how uncomfortable/painful did you find it?

Different reasons. It’s been 25+ years of not going! Two children in that time - before children it was much more about embarrassment and not thinking it was that important. After children it felt more important (as I got older) but I still put it off. Gear of the unknown was huge which is why I wanted to try to reassure anyone in my position that it might be worth a try. Tbh, as others have said, even if it’s painful it could still save your life. Worth noting that they didn’t just check for HPV but also visually checked my cervix - very much worth it for my peace of mind today.

The scraping of the cervix is a very very weird sensation. For me, it’s not exactly painful but still very unpleasant

Nothing awful. It was uncomfortable but tbh at that stage of being hugely pregnant, I was generally a bit uncomfortable anyway! Ask them to be gentle with you and best of luck with your new baby soon xx

Sorry to hear that- can I ask why you had most your cervix removed for cin 2- did you have lettz?
I had an abnormal smear last year but no cell charges- waiting for my next brush and sweep smear, it’s always a worry though! Had high grade HPV in 2016 with lettz treatment