Smear test and vaginal atrophy

[PicklePicker]

I've always found smear tests painful and distressing. Now I've got menopausal vaginal dryness (possibly vaginal atrophy) I'm really worried how I'm going to cope with the procedure. I already use Ovestin.

I use Ovestin.
If you are using ovestin, presumably you have had a diagnosis beforehand of VA? Because Ovestin should treat it and you should be okay.
My meno consultant advised me to increase the Ovestin before a smear (use it for 10 days then allow 4 days without it before the smear.)

If you feel it's not working enough anyway, regardless of your smear, then your other option is to increase it to every other day rather than 2 x a week. many drs suggest this,

I just used my ovestin every night for two weeks before my smear. It was fine much better than a previous smear.

Thanks for the advice.

Does Ovestin actually reverse the atrophy, or just stop it getting worse? I've not been examined. It was prescribed at a telephone appointment. I don't remember vaginal atrophy being mentioned, and it's reading about it afterwards that I realised I probably have it.

Ovestin reverses the changes at a cellular level. There are some very scientific papers online detailing how vaginal estrogen works.
If you stop using it, you will reverse the good its done. It really is a treatment for life. My dr tells me old ladies in their 80s and 90s use it.

Hi Op. On another thread I read that NHS smear tests now only check for HPV initially and if no HPV is found then no further checks are made so you could potentially have an HPV test instead of smear (approx £45 at Superdrug) and then book in a smear if you test positive. Obviously check this (it seemed to be confirmed on Jo's cervival cancer trust) but another poster (NHS gynae ) confirmed the changes as sometimes patients were having unnecessary treatment (were not HPV positive) on cells that were unlikely to develop into cancer.