Smear Test: Borderline Changes

[HPFA]

I had my smear test results today: Borderline changes and HPV negative. They're telling me just to retest in five years (I'm 53).

Is it really safe to leave it like this? I thought of getting re-tested after a year but private testing is quite expensive and presumably I'd need to keep doing it. Has anyone else been in this position and what did you do?

Many thanks

Hi OP

Private can be done for about £200 in London. And the results are in 2 days time.
It’s expensive but maybe better to know than wait 5 years?
Good luck.

Thank you. I'm just going to wait a year and then see how I feel.

I just think this current system seems to tell you something vaguely worrying along with "but we're not going to do anything about it." Would be better if they just offered a free re-test after a year to those women who wanted the reassurance.

Have you had any symptoms at all like spotting after sex etc?
I had borderline changes on one of my smears. Waited 3 years and was tested again which showed CIN2 and I had to go for a colposcopy to have pre cancerous cells removed. My smears have been fine ever since.
For peace of mind it might be worth getting tested again in a year or two as otherwise it will probably play on your mind. Borderline changes are very common though and usually don’t lead to anything sinister

Is every 5 years an English thing? I'm in Scotland and the rountine check up is every 3 years

I think it depends on how old you are. It's 3 years before 50 I think. But that could be mammograms.
The gap is calculated on the likelihood of anything being wrong at certain ages.

I had no HPV so they didn't even look at the smear test itself which seemed odd