Painful smear

[Wishimaywishimight]

I'm just coming from having a smear test. I'm in my 50s so have had plenty of them in the past. Discomfort ranged from barely noticing it to some brief discomfort however today it really hurt. I couldn't help but groan and the nurse had to stop as she couldn't get the instrument in.

She stopped and told me I needed to relax - I found this difficult but after taking a few deep breaths and putting my hands under my bum she was able to do it and this time the discomfort was less.

Just wondering is this an age thing, that it becomes more difficult?

The nurse was very nice but the first attempt felt like it was pushed into me quite quickly and I tensed up.

I'm usually pretty stoic about things but I feel ridiculously tearful and sorry for myself right now 🫣

I am much younger than you but I have experienced this OP.
I was dreading my last one as the previous had been as you described. But this nurse was an expert, she said she was a trainer in conducting smear tests and her technique was expert. Sometimes it is more that and not you. Being too tentative doesn’t help.

Hope you are ok.

Mine is apparently high up so they always take a bit of angling to be able to reach it. I’ve had one where the nurse gave up and rebooked it so the senior nurse could try. My last one the nurse trapped my labia in the speculum and I screamed.

They do appear to have become more painful since having kids, I’m 42 now.

Thanks @FloppyearedlabI'm fine (having a cup of tea and a few biscuits!), it was just a bit of a shock. In the past I have always gone to The Well Woman Clinic (Ireland) so I guess they specialised in such matters however today was at my GP surgery.

I am 60 and have always found them painful. The last one was so bad I have not had one since 45.
I do know that they haven't looked at the cells since 2019 and only test for Hpv now so if negative they throw the sample away.
I thought this year they were going to send the simple HPV test which is just a swab to people this year who have not attended regularly. You can just get the HPV tests from Superdrug and test at home to see if you are negative or positive. They stop offering smears at 64 unless you have symptoms so it's still a good idea to test with the online ones past this age.

OP - speak to your GP and get her to prescribe vaginal estrogen. Cream and pessaries.

@IloveeverycatI knew they just test for HPV now but I didn't know there was a home swab test, that's a great idea! The cervical check programme in Ireland only goes up to 65 anyway so I would only be due 1 more (all going well).

While it only takes a couple of minutes it is such an intimate process in such a tender area. It never bothered me terribly before but today was by far my worst experience.

@BelleHathNoFurydo you mean before having my next smear?

Huge solidarity from me. I was going to start a thread saying pretty much exactly the same thing. I had one booked last week and after 3 attempts with different sized speculums they just couldn’t do it and I was right at the edge of my comfort zone so they stopped and I’ve had to rebook for next week.

The nurse - she was actually a midwife - was great but it was so sodding painful. I’ve had them regularly for about 35 years - obviously you never love them but they’ve previously pretty much just been a grin and bear it occasion. I already use Vagifem and her recommendation was to go back onto the loading dose - ie every day for 2 weeks - before she re-tries. She also kept a clear note of what she had tried and failed with, and booked a double appointment so neither of us were under any time pressure.

Ugh. Hope you are feeling better- and at least you’re done!

Thanks @HerculesMulligannnI'm sorry you had a bad experience too. I do hope next time is much better and easier for you.

I’ve always used the practice nurse at my surgery with no issues.

Last time I went for a Saturday appointment and didn’t realise it was at a different surgery (same building) with nurses that wanted to do overtime that week and weren’t necessarily used to doing lots of smears. It was awful so it could have been the nurse not you

go back to the well woman clinic next time. Hope you start to fell better about it soon

Thanks @OnTheBoardwalkI think I probably will !!

No. If you are menopausal you need to ve taking topical HRT to prevent urogenital atrophy.