Are smear tests genuinely meant to be just uncomfortable or are they painful?

[Badum]

I've only had 2 in my life and both were outright painful. Not shout out loud pain but past what I would describe as discomfort.

I keep seeing posts about people not finding them painful, some talking about discomfort etc. Is that genuinely how they feel for others or are they just being stoic?

I generally consider myself to have a good pain tolerance but am worried about the ivf process if Im finding something that's not meant to be painful painful. Its made me wonder if I have a tilted uterus or endo issues that actually i should be thinking about rather than just thinking it's normal

Never found them painful or uncomfortable.

I'm in my 60s. Only two have been pain free.

I spent more than twenty years enduring increasingly painful smears. I have a retroverted uterus and they had to use bigger and bigger speculums whilst pressing down hard externally to try to tilt it forward. I actually passed out during one of them. The GP told me that when I had children it would get better, but if anything, it got worse.

Then I moved from the UK to Australia and met a doctor who said all that was completely unnecessary. If you have a retroverted uterus, she makes you lie on your side on the table with your knees tucked up to your chest, which tilts your uterus forward. It was the first painless smear I had ever had! If anyone else is having painful smears because of a retroverted uterus, please ask your doctor to do the next one like this. It felt like an absolute miracle!

I don't know about the UK, but it's less relevant now here in Australia because we administer our own routine smears with a do-it-yourself kit.

I’ve had some that are fine and some that feel like a sharp pinch I think it depends on skill of the nurse

I find them painful and I know a lot of my friends feel the same.

I don’t remember it being offered tbh or I’m sure I would have jumped at it!

I don’t find them painful except for momentarily if they accidentally pinch but that’s over in a a split second and doesn’t linger. I find them awkward and weird but not painful, not really even uncomfortable.

I find them painful and I feel shaky all day afterwards. I was sick once after one. Thank I only have to have one more.

They changed from being uncomfortable to terribly painful for me past menopause

A real mixture of meh to really uncomfortable with at least one causing bleeding.
Some are better at putting you at ease which at least makes you feel better.

It is a spectrum. I am a midwife who does vaginal exams and speculums and I always explain to women before, for some women it will be really painful, for others it will be painless. I use the same technique on everyone and have some people using gas and air to cope and still can't cope and others who are shocked it is over. Even the same woman can experience different feeling at different points depending on hormone levels at the time as that can make the tissues more relaxed and moisture in the vagina different. Mood can matter, if tense it will be worse, being relaxed tends to be better.

I've had one smear (uncomfortable) and was referred for further investigations after which required a biopsy and that was uncomfortable verging on painful as the Dr was twisting the speculum.

Both times I found it very distressing. I did not want to be there but had then done because of perimenopausal mid cycle bleeding. I could handle the pain, it was just so, so upsetting for me, the biopsy in particular. I don't think it was exactly a walk in the park for the medical professionals because of that.

Always painful. Always bleed.
That advert about it not even hurting was a big fat lie and should not have been allowed to be shown.

Thank you all
This is really helpful!
Other than smears I've never had reason for people to look down there so was wondering if I should be concerned

Interesting how different it is for everyone

Mine have been at best uncomfortable and at worst painful. I think it depends on the nurse doing it. My ‘better’ experiences have been when they are patient. The last one I had was pretty awful and has made me dread going again tbh.

Also I don’t understand why they seem to use larger speculums by default. Is it due to the age of the woman? Just because someone is a certain age doesn’t mean they need a large speculum, especially if she’s never given birth.

No I've never found them painful. I think they are different for everyone though so very hard to give a blanket statement about whether they are painful or not

Always been painful for me. Very happy having fingers and penises in me when I’m turned on but an instrument in a dry vagina fucking hurts.

I’ve never found a smear test painful. I was also ok having a hysteroscopy which was a bit painful but not awful & I know some women find them terrible.
I hated having a coil fitted though so I guess you just never know, maybe it depends on the person who is doing it?