Women failing to attend smear tests

[guardianfree]

Women generally but young women in particular - 1 in 3 not attending.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/jos-cervical-cancer-trust-charity-smear-tests-terminal-illness-health-wellbeing-hospitals-a8171011.html

I know they're unpleasant (and often feel humiliating) but what can we do to reassure women that they can be life savers?

Oh yes "try to relax". Well I am laying here naked from the waist down, holding my legs awkwardly in a position which is making my hips hurt, about to undergo a procedure which I know from experience is going to hurt. It's not really a situation in which I can relax. And then, if for some unknowable reason you're not relaxed enough, being barked at to "relax!" as if that will somehow help.

Maybe young women wouldn't be so scared if the message was more positive. Bit like childbirth, I don't know why people are constantly telling other women how awful it is.

If you don't tell the truth and lie to women it can be distressing when their experience doesn't match the reality.

Also re childbirth, dont belittle women for being anxious about it. Its deeply unhelpful and sets up the bollocks of 'if only id relaxed more I wouldn't have had x intervention or suffer from trauma now'.

Stop the infantilising women as if the cant handle the truth or are too stupid to cope with it.

My Body Back is the organisation who run a sexual health clinic in London for women survivors. They have also just opened one in Glasgow and are looking to run them elsewhere in the country.

Thank you to the people who sent supportive messages.

On 24 Hours in A&E last week, they were barking at a woman who'd been stabbed in the chest to 'relax' and 'take a deep breath' as she had a chest tube inserted to drain blood from one of her lungs. Yeah, that's really possible. Poor gal kept saying she felt faint and was told to relax and take a deep breath. She fainted.

As asthmatic mate was told this when having an attack. Impossible because the body thinks it's dying. Duh.

oh the "try to relax" thing. Batshit. I have a flu jab every year and I really notice they are much kinder about that - I've said I don't have needle phobia or anything but even then, there's a very kind approach....

I wonder if it's a mindset - there are people of all ages and both sexes going for a flu jab, so they have a gentle approach, but they just see women as baby machines...?

I would much rather expect something to be bad and then find out it's ok after all (how wonderful, what a lovely surprise) than expect something to be great and then find out it's awful and that people lied to me. Or even better, see that there are a range of experiences from great to awful and know that I am likely to experience something on that range, then keep my fingers crossed that for me it will be ok. But there is no need to lie or deceive women (or men, as described with other procedures) that something doesn't hurt, with all the implications that if it does, it's because the patient has Been A Bad Patient.

If I'm feeling stressed I just ask my husband to shout repeatedly into my face "RELAX". It works wonders, you should all try it. Perhaps I'll suggest it gets rolled out as a national programme. It would save a fortune on mental health care.

Why is it that national screening programs are only for breast and cervical cancer, what about all the other female cancers we could get, why no screening for those? more women die of heart disease than breast cancer but there is no national screening for that. Maybe someone with better knowledge can enlighten me?

"more women die of heart disease than breast cancer but there is no national screening for that"

The over-40 national screening covers heart disease risk factors. Well, that's the case for England, no idea if the devolved regions do the same.

This is a beautifully written blog on the matter.

Smear tests and being a survivor

The fact of it is that society doesn’t want to admit the true scale of sexual violence against women, and how that relates to medical care.

Very few HCPs care in my experience.

You'd think with all the #MeToo stuff and everything that people would be able to get their heads round the fact that enormous numbers of women have been victims of sexual violence, wouldn't you?

'If I'm feeling stressed I just ask my husband to shout repeatedly into my face "RELAX". It works wonders, you should all try it. Perhaps I'll suggest it gets rolled out as a national programme. It would save a fortune on mental health care.'

Works wonders on flashbacks, when, like the person can't even hear you because they're not their in their mind. Or when you've been stabbed in the chest like that poor woman and your lungs are full of blood. Deffo.

I don't mind smear tests. ln my view a small price to pay for the sake of my health and to be around for my children. I've also had abnornal cells in the past so I would never ever turn down an appointment. I've had other internal examinations related to pregnancies and a smear test was not much different.

I think HCPs know Xeno. I just don’t think they care.

'I don't mind smear tests. ln my view a small price to pay for the sake of my health and to be around for my children. I've also had abnornal cells in the past so I would never ever turn down an appointment. I've had other internal examinations related to pregnancies and a smear test was not much different.'

I don't, either, but you know, I realise they might be very painful and traumatic for others. That requires ability to realise that one's personal experience is just that, and does not define universal experience.

I was reading this yesterday on Facebook and ladies were commenting but it's just sooo embarrassing and I've even had kids, but I just can't get over the embarrassment" - your an adult pull up your big girl pants and just get over the uncomfortable 30 seconds or so it takes.

I'm 26 and have had my smears done since I was 20.

I urge everyone to get this done it's literally a life saving procedure that takes literally around 30 seconds.

My aunt had cervical cancer and to save her life he had to have everything removed she was only late 20s and she didn't have a chance to have kids ect, she was just planning them them.

My mum then had same problem and had everything removed around 3 years ago now.

Please please please have these done ladies its literally saved 2 of my family members lives.

In the past, over zealous screening led to lots of women having investigations and ? treatments that they didn't need

My understanding is that if your cervix has been mucked around with (had bits cut out etc) you are more at risk of "incompetent cervix) which is in turn a risk for miscarriage

So, that's not trivial, at all.

I might google to try and find some more.

Also, incompetent cervix? Is any part of a man's body called incompetent like this?

'I was reading this yesterday on Facebook and ladies were commenting but it's just sooo embarrassing and I've even had kids, but I just can't get over the embarrassment" - your an adult pull up your big girl pants and just get over the uncomfortable 30 seconds or so it takes.'

You do realise that it's more than just embarrassing for many women, having read this thread, surely, given that plenty of women have shared how painful they find smears and/or hard to attend because they are survivors of rape/sexual abuse?

If women could keep our big girl pants pulled up then there probably wouldn't be so much of an issue

I don't know

People read it all and say you must

There is no exception etc just you must

Almost sounds like they want women restrained and have it done to them if they won't stop being so silly oh and won't you think of the children?

Meanwhile as PP mentioned women are dying due to hopeless treatment of heart attack as we don't show the "proper" symptoms ie like a man, and not a squeak.

I am not sure why the procedure is described by a pp as taking literally 30 seconds, or by the NHS as usually not camusing any pain. Don't get me wrong, a longer procedure and pain are not good reasons not to go, but they are reality for many surely.

Mine have always taken ages and been very painful both during and to a lesser extent afterwards. They have taken ages with nurses fetching alternative speculums, and one time going to fetch a doctor as she just could not do it. Even the doctor struggled. I don't know why but it is always the same. And it really hurts!

It has never taken less than 10 minutes for me and the worse was about 25 whilst she went off for different speculums and eventually a more experienced nurse. Your experience is not universal.

your an adult pull up your big girl pants

Could you be a little more patronising, condescending, unsympathetic and just generally dismissive please?

I think you might have missed the rest of the thread and the comments of lots of big girls who have pants but just don't want to do as they are told and drop them.

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