Smear test-Insufficient cells?

[Beauregard]

The last smear i had came back as insufficient cells so today i went for another and the nurse said that nowadays it was unusual to have tests come back as insufficient.She said she would give my cervix an extra sweep round to make sure there was plenty of cells on the (for lack of scientific name)cotton bud thing/swab.
Anyway it hurt

When she had finished she told me that if this one comes back the same then i was to ask another nurse to repeat it and if that one comes back the same then i have to be referred to a Gynacologist.

I enquired why and she just said that it was unusual and would need further investgation

So instead of coming away from the test feeling relief that i have had it done (takes me time to psych myself up to it),i just feel worried

Anyone else had this?

oh meant to say that when she looked at the swab she said that it didn't look like there was many cells on this one.

I have had this a couple of times I think. Repeat smears have been fine. I wasn't told it was uncommon.

It is unusual now as the way the sample are taken is much better now, some times theres not enough of the right type of cells, the lab have to see a certain amount of certain cell types that are all normal to give a negative result.

Chances are it will be fine this time!

This is incredibly common, I have had this.

Out of your curiosity before smear did you have a bath? If so this can affect the amount of cells retrieved!!!

oh thanks for the reassurance .
To be honest i have never heard this before so i was quite suprised when she mentioned it.
I can't help wondering though when she mentioned the Gynacologist what 'they'would be investigating for?

oh and in anwer to your question KD73 no i didn't have a bath before hand.

should I be shocked at someone acting like they can see 'cells' on a smear swab? I think maybe I should

my smears always hurt (in the last few years) which is an arse because I have them ever 6 farkin' months

don't worry Pelvic .. think nurse was being a bit of a prat

Please don't worry - it is quite common. The rules are very strict about adequacy in labs these days.....very often they are inadequate due to the person taking the smear .

The only reason you would be referred to the hospital for a smear is that you would get someone very experienced taking it and it would be done using a colposcope, which is just a magnifier really so they can be sure the cervix has been properly sampled - not because something is wrong.

This sort of info makes me very ....makes people so anxious when there is no need.

Thanks all

lol Twiglett.

Don't worry, it's not that unusual.

It's less common now that they use Liquid Based Cytology but some women just have awkward cervixes (I am one of them!)

When taking a smear you have to get cells from an area inside the 'channel' of the cervix called the Transformation Zone. Sometimes this area is inaccessible, or reduced, or dry, and it's harder to get the cells. Usually you can get it on the second try, but if a woman has 3 inadequates in a row they get referred to Colposcopy (gynae clinic where they can have a close up look at the cervix with a special sort of microscope thingy called a colposcope.)

This is so they can have a really good look at the cervix and see why the smears are repeatedly inadequate. With the colposcope they can see the TZ better and access it clearly.

The non-scientific side of me agrees with Twig - prat nurse

Oh and you can't see the cells so don't know what she was talking about there. You can tell if you might have a poor sample if there's lots of blood/mucus etc when you take it but you can't see the cells with a naked eye.

hi, I recently had to have my smear repeated because of insuffient sample and it was using the new type which is suppossed to lessen the chances of inadequate smears. The first smear I had was using the oldt type and that came back abnormal, so I was especially worried that the next one wasnt adequte. I just had the results back from repeat smear and all fine, so I wouldn't worry.

Thanks sidge.
I think she just worded it badly when she was looking at the swab as there did appear to be a lot of blood/mucus on it(sorry tmi)