Smear test really hurt this time

[Booksbythebed]

I am in my 40s and just had a smear test today.

TBH I always wondered why people made such fuss about them, all my previous tests didn't hurt at all. Previously they have been done by a GP, (2 different ones) however today a (lovely) nurse did it.

And it really hurt. Al those breathing exercises I learnt to prep for childbirth came in useful.

Why would it suddenly hurt so much?

Is it the practitioner, the fact that I am in perimenopause so probably a bit dryer? Something else?

(sex is fine)

Can I ask if they used a gel as lubrication, only a friend of mine said that they have been told to stop using it as it can slightly affect the accuracy of the result. She said that it was much more painful.

I know what you mean. Of the smear tests I've had, two of them were virtually painless and they were both done by a GP, both of those GPs had a background in gynaecology. As much as the practice nurses try their utmost to be careful, they still hurt. Every smear test has featured copious amounts of lube, too.

She used lubrication. I don't think it was really a dryness issue, more positioning?

Last time the GP in the practice did it. She apologised a million times for causing me discomfort and i was thinking what are you talking about, this is fine! I don't think she has any particular gynae background, just a regular GP.

Me previous GP, who didn't have such a great bedside manner, was also fine when doing it, although she once inserted my IUD and that really hurt like hell and she said there was something about the shape of my cervix or something else (it was a bajillion years ago) that made it more difficult. She did have a lot of gynae background, specialising in IUD insertion and other birth control.

I've also had various other gynacological things done - vaginal ultrasounds etc and I really don't remember them hurting at all.

Maybe there are regional differences in GP practices I don't know, I've always found them uncomfortable, but bearable. My friend had one in the last few months which she couldn't cope with so she went to the local hospital to have it done where there is a more specialist unit. She said they didn't use any lubricant but that may have just been that GP surgery.

Mine wasnt good this time. Left me feeling sore for days. Felt like i was getting a UTI for several days after

This is so unusual, because in most GP practices it is a nurse who does smears, not a GP. No GP has done my smear in 30 years, in different parts of the country. . Some nurses are better at it than others, although also some people find it more uncomfortable than others.

I have always had GP’s do mine. All were very painful bar one.

Yep I was told a GP does a smear if the nurse cannot achieve it.

My first smear at 38 was by an ex midwife, prior to this no hospital in the country could do my internal as hospitals use metal devices not plastic to hold the vagina open. My second smear was by a nurse less senior at a gp practise at 7pm at night in early 2023. A hospital has never been successful in any internal.

My last one was awful too and it was a GP. Now I think about it I must be due another soon...

I’m 52, been having smears since I was 21, and had my first difficult one this year, just before I started HRT. It might be a degree of vaginal atrophy from dropping oestrogen, which is what the nurse and I put mine down to. The delicacy of my vulval skin and the difficulty she had in getting to my normally perfectly biddable cervix meant she referred me to the GP to discuss and consider HRT. I am hoping for better things next time. Might be worth your exploring whether or not you are perimenopausal. Sorry it was unpleasant.

My last smear was painful. I was at the hospital and told the nurse so she changed the speculum to a smaller one so it was bearable.

Oh it's horrible sometimes and it depends who does them and the size of the tools or so I was told at my last appointment. I have to tell them it's the smaller one as I almost fainted once. There was a lovely nurse who never hurt me, she was the best at the practice but has now moved on. So I tell them to be careful as I've been really hurt in the past and it's very off putting. Also take a few painkillers before x

Last on I had not only was it difficult getting in, the nurse couldn’t reach the cervix, it had retreated into oblivion.

i had one from a trainee gp once. I think he was a virgin because no clue of the angle, and just kept pushing. I had to offer directions.

My last one, the nurse had to abandon the first attempt and use the smaller speculum, which helped a lot; that first try really hurt, more than other times. Think she used some kind of lubricant too.

I had to have an internal exam at the hospital recently and forgot to mention using the smaller speculum. Ow ow ow

Ask your GP to prescribe Vagifem. They are not supposed to use lubrication as it contaminates the smear.

I had the same experience with my last smear. I'm in my 50s and never had a painful one before. Last time it felt like she was using a razor blade to collect the sample. I convinced myself I was about to get a positive test but all came back normal. I think as a pp said that maybe things are less tolerant post menopause.

I had mine done privately by a gynaecologist and she used lubrication. If she hadn't I wouldn't have had it done!

The only time I've had a relatively pain free smear was when the gynaecologist used the colposcopy chair. She said she can't understand how the nurses at my GP surgery ever managed to do my smear on the bed because of the position of my cervix.

I've only ever had one, sometime in the 80s. I don't recall it hurting but I was annoyed they made me worry for a few weeks when I got a letter to say the test was abnormal only to find out it meant the test hadn't been successful at recording anything. So that was that, I won't have another one.