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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

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Original poster

Women failing to attend smear tests

656 replies

guardianfree · 22/01/2018 13:34

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?

OP posts:
43percentburnt · 23/01/2018 19:12

Redtoothbrush - I complained about coercive behaviour and lack of consent. I was given incorrect information to force me to do something the hcp's knew I did not want to do. I researched after the event and realised They failed to follow medical procedure and policy (I had proof in the form of notes that both they and I took at the time). Yet apart from a bit of retraining they got off scot free!

It's really made me question if medical professionals really care about consent? I have been ultra vigilant since the above. But I notice rarely am I asked to consent (or even given correct and full info to enable informed consent). It's pretty shit really.

I'm not surprised women are threatened to be struck off for misbehaving!

The poster who mentioned women and heart attacks, I totally agree. Did you hear the R4 interview? The interviewee (a doctor I think) said something along the lines of most women don't have typical symptoms. Err yes they do they have typical symptoms for women! It's just no-one has bothered to research women!

Is it true that until recently medicines etc were only really tested on men?

Walkingdead11 · 23/01/2018 19:16

RedToothBrush

But it is not less painful or less invasive..its legs akimbo with your vagina out having hot wax poured on you and then pulled out....I can assure you it IS very painful and embarrassing. And the majority of younger women ARE having all their pubic hair removed....there have been MANY threads on this exact subject, along the lines of pubic hair is dirty and unhygenic.

arousingcheer · 23/01/2018 19:19

PollyPerky with respect loads of women here - including me - are saying they did tell/ask/express various things which were ignored, denied, laughed at etc. I understand this is a long thread so rtft isn't always practical but really, I've been literally asking every person who needs to insert a speculum to use a long one (having been told to do so by a nurse) and they've only used one once in approx 25yrs of smears. I'm not asking for one at the animal shelter or the chippie, I'm asking at a place where a speculum is required for each and every patient. It is the tool of the trade. Why don't they have and/or use the appropriate equipment?

And to whoever suggested smear at colp, that is one of the places they did not have a long speculum and the last place I was told to say something 'if it becomes intolerable'. I do not think it is acceptable to expect that a routine screen might cause someone intolerable discomfort. And while I tolerated it because I didn't fancy having to come back and have it done again (I assume the same way again) it could have been easily avoided.

UpABitLate · 23/01/2018 19:20

How do you know what levels of pain individual women feel when being waxed or having a smear?

One is on the vulva, the other the cervix. They're different parts of the body.

I'm also not sure that saying well because you do X you must have to do Y is a good approach. Women on here being told it can't hurt it's not like you've never had sex... It's not on.

UpABitLate · 23/01/2018 19:21

"Is it true that until recently medicines etc were only really tested on men?"

Yes so the effects and dosages of lots of common medications are not appropriate.

They assumed that our bodies would react the same as men's only difference needed is to dose as we are a bit smaller....

DenPerry · 23/01/2018 19:21

I'm 32 and never had one, not due to embarrassment at all but due to fear of invasive pain that I can't control. I even requested my babies be born by c-section due to this. I wish I could have one under general... I really hope the less invasive method they say is starting in 2020 is true!

PeacefulBlessing · 23/01/2018 19:22

its legs akimbo with your vagina out having hot wax poured on you and then pulled out

You have your vagina out? What literally? They actually pull your vagina out of your body..?

Oh

Hang on...

You mean vulva don't you?

Sorry, but it is rather funny that you're trying to shame women for not having smear tests...

Oh and you might not find it less painful or invasive. That doesn't mean other women don't. You don't seem to understand that your personal experience cannot be extrapolated to that of all women.

UpABitLate · 23/01/2018 19:22

pain

UpABitLate · 23/01/2018 19:23

more on pain

UpABitLate · 23/01/2018 19:23

"One reason for this gender disparity may be that doctors wrongly perceive women are being more irrational and emotional than men, and therefore dismiss their complaints about pain as being all in the mind rather than having a physical basis. Clinical studies have also found that doctors are more likely to think women’s pain is caused by emotional issues rather than physical causes, even in the presence of clinical tests which show their pain is real. Similarly, researchers J.Crook and E.Tunks found in their study ‘Women With Pain’ that women with chronic pain conditions are more likely to be wrongly diagnosed with mental health conditions than men and prescribed psychotropic drugs, as doctors dismiss their symptoms as hysterics."

grannytomine · 23/01/2018 19:24

Oh dear too many year with the police and black humour then. It is odd that on here it is all how terrible that women are treated so much worse than men but you don't really like to know that men are treated just the same. Spoils the woe is me thread doesn't it.

LettuceWrap, I think genetic testing will be a revolution. The thing that worries me about 23andme is if people think it is 100% and then maybe don't get the diagnosis/treatment they need. False sense of security I suppose. I'm not happy that I qualify for screening but given my family history I am glad it is there, more for my DD and GDs than me. My only problem is I don't know how long the wait will be.

UpABitLate · 23/01/2018 19:25

Oh wow read the rest of that piece (second one) it's awful!

I didn't post an older one from the BBC where women are described as "wimps"... because it irritated me Smile

Batteriesallgone · 23/01/2018 19:26

something I think I’m confused over your use of the word ‘normal’

If many women complain of pain, isn’t that normal?

I’ve been for a colposcopy and had LLETZ. The people were lovely, I was given local anaesthetic and it was fine. I would love to go there for my smears but really, I don’t need to. I just need a nurse who is gentle.

Hospital clinic time should not be eaten up by me just because some practice nurse thinks the best way to insert a speculum is to ram it in hard.

RogueBiscuit · 23/01/2018 19:26

Margaret McCartney book The patient paradox is an excellent read for more information about this, along with the dangers of other screening tests.

If I remember correctly a woman's lifetime risk of unnecessary further treatment following a smear test is around 70 per cent.

grannytomine · 23/01/2018 19:27

UpABitLate does that vary with male/female doctors?

I know certain ethnic minorities are more likely to get diagnosed with mental health issues as well.

UpABitLate · 23/01/2018 19:27

Men aren't treated just the same.

Read the links.

I have never heard of a man going in for a routine op to remove a cyst on a bollock and coming out to find his entire reproductive system has been removed. For example. Although I think that happens less now... Still the idea there is equity is laughable and also disputed more and more frequently as research into it continues.

UpABitLate · 23/01/2018 19:29

granny I don't know

my personal experience has been mixed from both.

somethingfromnothing · 23/01/2018 19:29

expatinscotland im sorry you have had such a horrendous experience. If a nurse can’t locate a woman’s cervix she will be referred to Colp or Gyn where they will try and perform a smear test. I look at smears every week where the woman is sent to a colp/gyn just for a smear test, no biopsy involved.

grannytomine · 23/01/2018 19:33

UpABitLate, I've never heard of someone having their entire reproductive system being removed without consent. I do remember back when women with a breast lump would go into theatre not knowing if they would wake up with a mastectomy or not. I remember someone having this done, she was told it wasn't a good idea to have a second anaesthetic so better to do it all in one go if they found cancer. They did get consent though, they didn't just do it without the woman knowing. I always thought that must be really traumatic. I don't know if the doctors really thought it was better or if it was just cheaper to do one op instead of two.

UpABitLate · 23/01/2018 19:35

It used to happen a lot.

They'd see something iffy and "whip it all out" while they were in there.

Walkingdead11 · 23/01/2018 19:35

UpABitLate

Oh please but it's perfectly okay to listen to tales of smear hell but not beauty hell.......tad convenient! Oh and I know women find waxing painful because a) I'm a woman who's been waxed and B) other women have told me.

AssassinatedBeauty · 23/01/2018 19:36

@Walkingdead11 why are you determined to make light of a serious issue and laugh at women recounting their painful experiences here? How does this help increase the uptake of smear tests?

Batteriesallgone · 23/01/2018 19:37

Why is waxing the vulva relevant to a procedure on your cervix?

UpABitLate · 23/01/2018 19:37

It's going back a while but was not uncommon.

Batteriesallgone · 23/01/2018 19:37

I’ve never had an intimate wax but I’ve never heard of it involving inserting things into the vagina?