Pap smears and other gynaecological concerns

[LaMaestra]

I told my (female) doctor that I am an asexual virgin with absolutely no chance whatsoever of having sex and she was cool with it, even wrote on my behalf to get me taken off the list of women eligible for the test. Which has been done and I'm no longer pestered.

[ZOMBIEFLUFFBALL]

They don't just do Pap smears to test for STD'S but also for CANCER and other such issues, regardless if someone is a Virgin or not I highly suggest that you go and get this test done, it could save your life!

[Guest]

So many people in this thread don't know what pap smears are for. :(

Pap smears test for abnormal cells that can indicate cancer, NOT infections, cysts, or any other kind of disease or problem. Cervical cancer is nearly always caused by HPV, which is contracted through sexual activity. If you are a virgin, you are extremely low risk. It's one of the rarest cancers you could possibly get. Making pap smears a requirement is just another example of women being deemed not intelligent enough to have control of their own health. :(

[Cleegan]

While HPV is a major cause of cervical cancer, it is not the only cause.

When I was doing my nursing training at the Royal Women's Hospital in Melbourne (Australia), I spent time in theatre watching women have abnormal cells basically burnt off their cervix. The surgeon explained to me that the uterus is made up of a particular type of cell, and the vagina is made up of a particular type of cell. Where these two cell types meet at the cervix, abnormal changes often occur because, for lack of a better way to put it, the two cells types don't get along. The react to each other or some such. It is these abnormal cell changes that can turn into cervical cancer. Luckily for the women (and most of them were young - 20-40ish), having regular pap smears (every two years if over the age of 18 and sexually active in Australia) caught the cell changes before they became cancer, and therefore their prognosis was magnificent.

I hate getting pap smears as much as the rest of you. I haven't experienced the extreme agony and downright torture some of you have described, but it was far from pleasant, and I know that when I move back to the city in a month that I will be just about due for another one. Hoorah.

But please ladies, think of your health. And think of the family/friends/loved ones who will be so greatly affected if you end up sick with an insidious cancer that is often discovered too late.

[helana12_03]

What about the CSA blood test, is that not a good enough alternative?

http://www.asexuality.org/en/index.php?/topic/70367-byebye-pap-smear-pelvic-exam/

http://www.onconix.net/new_data_confirms_CSA_blood_test_detects_early_stage_cervical_cancer.htm

http://forums.webmd.com/3/gynecology-exchange/forum/17893/2

[hotlips4000]

OH yes, i have had the annoying letters and tend to just ignore them :/

I think here in the UK its every three years from you're early twenties upwards.

I'm 32 and i have had a few of these letters and tend to bin them, or if they won't leave me alone i MIGHT ring up and tell them i don't want/need it done. They will put a note on you're file not to send out further requests.

I remember going to one years ago (10 years approx) at my doctors surgery, as they just wouldn't leave me alone.

Got undressed and the examination started and i felt like.......

The Nurse soon realised that i was still a virgin and the smear wasn't needed, (something i was trying to tell her before i dropped my pants but she was too deaf to listen to a word i had said!.)

Then she went on about why i wasn't sexually active?!:/ and i replied; "Being clinically depressed pretty much kills my libido" when in fact i wanted to say; i HATE Sex and never want to sleep with ANYONE, and prefer to keep my legs closed because i am not a slag! :-) I can live without sex, unlike most people.

Maybe i should of said my true feelings then i wouldn't of had to be embarrassed, and feel like trash just cause she didn't listen to me.

And i still wouldn't keep getting letters since then including this year! :/

[Frigid Pink]

HPV is the main cause of cervical cancer, however, it is not the only way cervical cancer develops. Cervical cancer can certainly develop spontaneously in someone who hasn't been exposed to HPV via sexual contact.

According to this (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22873781), half the females diagnosed with cervical cancer have never had a Pap test. I can't access the full text, so I don't know the details, but I wonder what the characteristics of these females are, such as whether any of them have never had sexual contact.

I wonder if cervical cancer is a health concern for those who identify as asexual and if those who identify as asexual fall into a high risk category because of lack of early detection and the increased mortality rate that goes along with that.

I think it would be useful if someone did a study on the asexual community's risk for cervical cancer, and compared that risk to the average population's risk.

Just a thought.

[Empty Chairs & Tables]

The incidence rate of lung cancer in non-smokers is approximately 10-15%. The incidence rate of cervical cancer in virgins is approximately 7% (though some have argued that that is actually high and the rate is more like 3%). I suppose we all should be getting chest x-rays yearly as well. Also, false positives are fairly common for pap tests AND HPV runs its course normally, without causing cancer, more often than it actually causes cancer.

And as I am not in the mood to post a bunch of links, search google and you will find the above numbers (assuming you know how to search google).

[RisingManes]

I am in my late 40's. Pretty soon, they won't be insisting I take a test to prove I'm not pregnant... my thing is that I look very young for my age.

"Are you pregnant?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I'm sure."

"Are you sure you're sure?"

"I'm too old."

"You can't be more than 29."

"But my driver's license says I was born in 1964."

So they give me a test to make sure my driver's license is authentic.

This is actually pretty funny. Have you posted this in Not Always Working?

That said... Is there a female equivalent for "shrinking balls"? Because I didn't think anything about pap smears until this.

Now I'm gonna step awaaaaaaay.

[hotlips4000]

HPV is the main cause of cervical cancer, however, it is not the only way cervical cancer develops. Cervical cancer can certainly develop spontaneously in someone who hasn't been exposed to HPV via sexual contact.

According to this (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22873781), half the females diagnosed with cervical cancer have never had a Pap test. I can't access the full text, so I don't know the details, but I wonder what the characteristics of these females are, such as whether any of them have never had sexual contact.

I wonder if cervical cancer is a health concern for those who identify as asexual and if those who identify as asexual fall into a high risk category because of lack of early detection and the increased mortality rate that goes along with that.

I think it would be useful if someone did a study on the asexual community's risk for cervical cancer, and compared that risk to the average population's risk.

Just a thought.

Yeah, thats a good idea, that would be facinating study to read.

[TheUniverse]

what most bothers me about gynecology is that they don't think twice about taking a virgin's hymen in a painful procedure checking for stuff that is probably not there if you are not sexually active. There are other methods and less invasive for virgins but they just don't care. According to this research

A study done in 1950 found that woman who married before the age of 20 had twice the risk of developing cervical cancer than those who married later. Another study done in 1952 of 13,000 nuns found no cases of cervical cancer. These studies and other much more recent studies, all indicate that women are more at risk of developing cervical cancer once they have become sexually active.

The reason for this increased risk is mainly because you can catch a virus called HPV during sex with someone who is infected. HPV stands for human papilloma virus. HPV is the main cause of cervical cancer. It is hardly ever found in the cervix of women who have never had sex.

Also I don't know what the obsession with this check up is , why aren't I urged to do a heart check up too? (which seems very important too) More than a health or prevention procedure, it seems like the government has gotten in the way of everything and women must be almost forced to comply...very disgusting...

[Batman's Ace]

A study done in 1950 found that woman who married before the age of 20 had twice the risk of developing cervical cancer than those who married later. Another study done in 1952 of 13,000 nuns found no cases of cervical cancer. These studies and other much more recent studies, all indicate that women are more at risk of developing cervical cancer once they have become sexually active.

...

Also I don't know what the obsession with this check up is , why aren't I urged to do a heart check up too? (which seems very important too) More than a health or prevention procedure, it seems like the government has gotten in the way of everything and women must be almost forced to comply...very disgusting...

Yeah, it's illogical. Heart problems run in my family, and my dad has a condition that's assumed to be hereditary. Have I been checked for that? Once. Years ago. No one's mentioned it since. And I worry a lot more about that, for various reasons.

How on earth does someone do a study of nuns? Seems like it would be hard to get permission from the Catholic church, and from the nuns themselves, to let people poke around down there for science.

[Akabara86]

Also I don't know what the obsession with this check up is , why aren't I urged to do a heart check up too? (which seems very important too) More than a health or prevention procedure, it seems like the government has gotten in the way of everything and women must be almost forced to comply...very disgusting...

that depends on a few things I guess. I've been asthmatic for 23 years (I'm 25), so I always have my lungs and heart listened to when I go to the doctor's, if I'm overly raspy or have a bad cough, I get a chest x-ray to check for pneumonia. The amount of radiation I've been exposed to I'm amazed I don't glow in the dark. I also go for a fasting glucose test once a year because diabetes runs in my family (both parents and my grandmother), and my doctor likes to be thorough. Any inheritable family conditions that I've brought to his attention, I get checked over with a fine toothed comb for each time I see him. I have acid reflux and my Dad had esophagus cancer, so my doctor always does an external probe of my esophagus and stomach to see if I'm tender anywhere, if I am, lucky me! Upper GI series!!

Family history of breast cancer: I have to start getting mammograms when I'm 30.

Family history of endometriosis and uterine fibroids, I saw a ob/gyn when I was 17 before i was a virgin for a pap, ultrasound and laproscopy. Got diangosed with endometriosis, ovarian cysts and told I'm high risk for fibroids as well as ovarian cancer. Whoop whoop!!

So yeah, it all really depends on your doctor and how closely they decide to monitor your health.

[MerePeasant]

Eurgh. This thread makes me fear it more again! Do not want. D: The fact I've kind of had sex means I can't really get out of it 'just in case', but god when I get that letter - next year it sounds?? - I will be too embarrassed to do anything about it, least of all tell mum. :/ I shall really struggle to take my pants down for a nurse and I just know it will kill, as other penetrations aren't exactly getting easier. Feaaaah.

[Miss Behavin']

Two things I'd highly suggest for people who find pap smears to be painful but are still concerned about the state of their cervix are to go to an ob/gyn, not just a GP or family doctor, and to ask if the doctor can use a pediatric speculum. And for me something that helped was not being afraid to clearly communicate to the doctor if there was pain and where it was, so then she'd move something to make it less uncomfortable. Although, I unfortunately don't think there's any way to make the actual 'smear' part hurt less.

So although the first two I had done, by different family doctors, hurt a lot, the one I had done by a doctor at Planned Parenthood was mostly just uncomfortable. (And yes, the people at Planned Parenthood will give you birth control without an exam).

Also, my doctors have agreed that although pap smears are regular checks that I should get, they have agreed that since I'm not sexually active then it's only necessary every two or three years.

[rh1985]

My doctor believes me that I have never been sexually active, so she hasn't made me have a pap smear (since even the attempt was painful and got nowhere) and says I don't really need it. She also said I could stop pelvic exams after I had a couple of normal ones. It will be interesting to see her reaction when I turn up pregnant (hopefully!) from my IVF next year though!

[In_Omnia_Paratus]

so I guess I'm more curious as to whether anyone has ever had any awkward/humorous moments involving medical staff and asexuality?

I'm diabetic so I have rather frequent visits to the doctor. One day, I had an appointment with my dietitian (Who looks a lot like Judy Greer, something I find amusing, though irrelevant) My clinic is extremely inefficient and I find myself waiting for a very long time so I pass the time by reading the "Diabetes and..." pamphlets. After reading through six or seven of them, my dietitian walked in as I looked up from "Diabetes and Pregnancy." I have to point out I was seventeen at the time so her face looked something like this.

I then had to sit through a very hilarious appointment where she thought it

"a very interesting fact" that if I was ever looking to have children, that my long term insulin levemir would have to be changed over. and "Isn't that something interesting?" To which I simply replied "Well, Alison, you learn something new every day." When I returned four months later she was visibly relieved that I wasn't showing any... symptoms. haha

[Neree]

I'm 27, turning 28 in December, and I've never been to a gynecologist. I've known for years that I should go, and that it'd be good for me to go, and that I really need to go. Well-meaning people tell me stories of 20 year olds dying from [insert reproductive organ here] cancer because they were too embarrassed to go for their check-ups, thinking it'll encourage me to go. But all it does is add to the pile of overwhelming fears that I'm already experiencing, overloads me, makes me shut down, and then I just forget it exists for a few months.

I have very severe medical phobias. Just the thought of sitting in a doctor's waiting room for something harmless will give me panic attacks for weeks before the appointment. A tiny little TB test in the arm makes me pass out, if I don't pass out before they even do it. I'm incapable of getting my throat swabbed due to my gag reflex, taking my blood pressure hurts and I flip out at feeling confined by it being wrapped around a part of my body... I could go on and list things forever. I'm the same way with the dentist, I can't even get a cleaning - heck I can't even get dental x-rays. The staff gets sick of trying to work with me for an hour and then asks me to leave. I got x-rays with some thing that I stood at and it went around my head instead, but the cleaning I was told I'd need anesthesia for because they couldn't even touch me without making me jump. I never did go, I chickened out.

My mom didn't really do much to help this as a kid, she always made it worse. She refused to leave the room when I wanted her to, even when I was a young adult still living at home. And when I was jumpy or afraid or started shaking, she'd chide me for being immature and tell me how much of an embarrassment I was to her - right in front of the doctors. One time when I passed out after a TB test, I came to and the first thing I heard was her saying in a condescending tone of voice, "You want a lollipop for that?"

So, yeah, it's no wonder that I'm avoiding all sorts of medical care now. I know my first step is therapy, because I need to do something to make all of these fears manageable. I can't just jump into the deep end, I need baby steps and a plan and help to do it. But therapy is its own ballpark of fears and avoidance. Sigh. So the order is probably something like therapy -> something harmless like a dermatologist for my acne -> other steps up, and a gynecological visit is last on the list since it's the most involved. But it's always in the back of my head, "avoiding it could kill you." I'm my own worst enemy sometimes.

Sorry for the rant. I've made huge improvements with my panic/anxiety over the past few years. But not in the medical area.

My question is: With all the medical and technological advances out there, why are gynos still using a speculum?!

I feel this way about needles. Why are we still using needles for injections? Can't we come up with anything better? I've heard about a pen-shaped thing that pushes the stuff through the skin, rather than puncturing the skin... but I forget the name of it now. I had looked into it at the time and found no doctors near me that used it.

[bostongirl10y]

My doctor and gynaecologist both advice me to take the test, even though they know about my (let's say) "not being like most women what concerns sexual behaviour". They also say that you can get the HPV from both heterosexual and homosexual contact, even if there is / was no penetration.

My gynaecologist does the test and he is very careful not to hurt me. And I can say: it really does not hurt.

Gynaecologists have a lot of equipment and they can use the smallest speculum thay have so to make it more comfortable for you.

My doctor and my gynaecologist said some "stupid" things, before they knew about "my being not standard", but now, they don't anymore. They try to say things / ask questions that are relevant to me. It was difficult to make this clear to them (since I don't like talking about it directly), but they finally understood and now, I'm happy they know. I don't feel pressured anymore by their questions that are irrelevant to me.

If you have a doctor that doesn't try to make it as comfortable as possible, look for someone else. There exist doctors that are really understanding and are willing to adjust to your personal situation.

[pygmygirl]

I was wondering the other day about how old you had to be before they began calling you for smear tests- because it's something I've been dreading and I know on me at least would hurt like hell. Luckily it's not really terribly urgent for sexually inactive women- but it got me thinking as to whether my asexuality would bring up any other odd moments like this.

They already ask about three times if you could be pregnant when I get a jab even when I say 'no way' - so I guess I'm more curious as to whether anyone has ever had any awkward/humorous moments involving medical staff and asexuality?

Hi, I just wanted to let you know that a pap smear is an OPTIONAL cancer screening tool. It only checks for cell changes (which all of us have). The pap smear is very unreliable, with a shockingly high rate of false positives and negatives. Women are almost universally coerced/bullied/forced into having this OPTIONAL screening, we are not given informed consent and told ALL of the negatives of this screening. Cervical cancer is a very rare disease, about as common as mouth cancer, yet we are led to believe it's rampant and killing us in our thousands. Any cell changes up to CIN 3 will generally heal and resolve on their own, it's what healthy bodies do. The Finns and Netherlands do not screen women under the age of 25 - 30, as young women throw up too many false positives, due to their maturing bodies. Depending on where you are in your cycle can cause a false positive, as can stress, having sex, using tampons, the list goes on. They also only screen women who feel they are high risk and/or have symptoms once every FIVE YEARS. They are moving to a HPV test, and ONLY pap testing women from this very small group anyway IF THEY TEST POSITIVE FOR HPV.

Women who are virgins, in monogamous relationships, not having sex, or who have had a hysterectomy due to a benign condition do not "need" a pap smear. In fact no one "needs" a pap smear. How can you possibly "need" or be "overdue" for an OPTIONAL screening program? Prostate cancer is ridiculously more common than cervical cancer (as is lung, skin, bowel, stomach, almost any other kind, yet how often do doctors care about testing the rest of our bodies??????), yet men are given ALL of the details of the positive AND negative sides to this screening, and simply left to make the decision that they feel comfortable with. No letters or phone calls to them, basically demanding they get themselves to the doctor's for a screening test. No medication with held from them if they choose not to screen, yet women everywhere are threatened that if they don't have a pap smear they won't be getting their birth control pills (or any other medication they may actually NEED for good health). This is illegal. This is paternalistic. This is unethical. If you don't want to have a pap smear, tell your doctor you know your rights, you have done your research, and as a low risk woman you choose to decline pap smears. Also advise that if they wish to drop you as a patient, or withhold medication until you submit to OPTIONAL screening that you will be reporting them to the relevant medical authority, and also finding legal advice.

There is a lot of research coming out about this stuff now, research Dr. Angela Raffle, she is a UK EXPERT on cervical cancer, and is against mass population screening due to the unnecessary rate of further damage to perfectly healthy women who are referred on to more and more invasive tests such as colposcopy, LEEP, cone biopsy etc etc, on the basis of nothing more than a highly dubious abnormal cell result. Margaret Davy, a gynae/oncologist in Australia put out a paper stating that "no country in the world has shown any benefit in screening women under 30 for cervical cancer". Also check out Dr. Carolyn Westhoff, an American specialist, she too is speaking out about mass cervical cancer screening, and Dr. Joel Sherman, an American who has a website dedicated to patient informed consent, and patient privacy and modesty issues. Don't listen to the glossy brochures and bullshit from screening bodies and the government, never ever trust the percentages they quote. 90% of not many ACTUAL cases of cervical cancer is not much at all, so they never give numbers, and they never contain all of the facts, just the crap they want you to hear. Also, ask your doctor what they are receiving as an incentive to screen from the government. In Australia you can research that by googling Medicare PIP incentive payments. Our doctors must reach a target of 70% to get very healthy payments for pap screening women, and they are ENCOURAGED to do opportunistic screening on women that have presented for any sort of reason. Got a broken arm? That's great, let's just get you up on the table for a quick smear before we look at that arm, shall we? The list goes on.

I am not anti screening, but I am certainly anti bullying and lying to women, please go to the doctor to get checked if you have any symptoms or if you feel you should, but at the same time, research all of this, and don't let doctors bully you into a test that you don't want or necessarily need just because screening bodies like spreading mass hysteria. Good luck, and I hope you can work out something that suits you, not the medical bean counters.

[rh1985]

So, I have avoided pap smears until now because I am not sexually active. I am STILL not sexually active, but will be doing an IVF/donor sperm cycle in the summer. Unfortunately, one of the required tests before is a pap smear. The fertility specialist agrees - technically, I have zero use for the test, it's going to come back negative, I have zero risk for cervical cancer. Unfortunately, it's a medical regulation (state regulation I think?) that he can't get around. He did have sympathy for me and said he'll give me Valium for it. So for anyone who had to have a pap smear without having had sex before, did you take any medication before and if so did it help?

[Sleighr]

I was wondering the other day about how old you had to be before they began calling you for smear tests- because it's something I've been dreading and I know on me at least would hurt like hell. Luckily it's not really terribly urgent for sexually inactive women- but it got me thinking as to whether my asexuality would bring up any other odd moments like this.

They already ask about three times if you could be pregnant when I get a jab even when I say 'no way' - so I guess I'm more curious as to whether anyone has ever had any awkward/humorous moments involving medical staff and asexuality?

21 here if you are still a virgin. If you're having sex and younger, though, they suggest getting pap smears. And I just turned 21. I'm dreading it x.x. Anyway, when I told my new doc that I was still a virgin, she said, "Well, we really need to know if your sexually active or if there's a possibility that you could be pregnant because we don't want to do anything that would interfere with that." And she gave me this look ._. Like I was lying. I insisted that if I was pregnant, it would have to be by immaculate conception, but she still seemed skeptical <_<

[Junebug03]

So, I have avoided pap smears until now because I am not sexually active. I am STILL not sexually active, but will be doing an IVF/donor sperm cycle in the summer. Unfortunately, one of the required tests before is a pap smear. The fertility specialist agrees - technically, I have zero use for the test, it's going to come back negative, I have zero risk for cervical cancer. Unfortunately, it's a medical regulation (state regulation I think?) that he can't get around. He did have sympathy for me and said he'll give me Valium for it. So for anyone who had to have a pap smear without having had sex before, did you take any medication before and if so did it help?

I tried an anti anxiety pill, 2 to be exact and they did not work for me. I think I took it to close to the exam that it didn't have time to make it work because about 2 hours later I was out and they probably could have performed the stupid test, well maybe. So, I insisted on a local anesthesia and they were able to do the exam then. The doctor told me since I have never been sexually active and since I do not plan to, (and unless I have issues) I won't have to come back for another 3 years. There is no way I will be going back ever, unless I am under anesthesia or if they come up with a better exam (like drawing blood from my arm)

Good Luck and good luck with the IVF. :)

[pygmygirl]

I am not sure how to do links to other sites on here, so forgive me if this is unwieldy or doesn't work. I have found an article by Richard De May that you may wish to print and take to your doctor, supporting your reasons for declining a pap smear.

My link

[rh1985]

So, I have avoided pap smears until now because I am not sexually active. I am STILL not sexually active, but will be doing an IVF/donor sperm cycle in the summer. Unfortunately, one of the required tests before is a pap smear. The fertility specialist agrees - technically, I have zero use for the test, it's going to come back negative, I have zero risk for cervical cancer. Unfortunately, it's a medical regulation (state regulation I think?) that he can't get around. He did have sympathy for me and said he'll give me Valium for it. So for anyone who had to have a pap smear without having had sex before, did you take any medication before and if so did it help?

I tried an anti anxiety pill, 2 to be exact and they did not work for me. I think I took it to close to the exam that it didn't have time to make it work because about 2 hours later I was out and they probably could have performed the stupid test, well maybe. So, I insisted on a local anesthesia and they were able to do the exam then. The doctor told me since I have never been sexually active and since I do not plan to, (and unless I have issues) I won't have to come back for another 3 years. There is no way I will be going back ever, unless I am under anesthesia or if they come up with a better exam (like drawing blood from my arm)

Good Luck and good luck with the IVF. :)

Yeah, general anesthesia isn't really an option, I also will need a lot of internal ultrasounds. Yuck. The doctor actually stopped the one he did at the consult visit early because he could tell it hurt and he didn't want to finish it unless I took medication - I mean honestly, it did REALLY, REALLY hurt, but the pain level was about the same as the stabbing menstrual cramps I used to get before I was on the pill, so I would have let it finish if he had wanted to. I just hope the pap smear is no worse. :(

On the bright side, since I'm doing IVF which doesn't expose me to anything, he said I will never need another pap smear again after the IVF if it works within 1 year of the test. Hooray? Although I'd think after having a baby it would no longer hurt so much.

[pygmygirl]

I don't think my two cents will really matter or help anyone, but for what it might be worth -

This is a topic that has caused me severe angst in the past, especially as a teenager. But when it comes down to it, I think that if someone feels like they should have such a test done, it should be their call and no one else's. I don't think it's ever a good idea to go simply because someone is bullying you into it or making you feel like you have to. I'm 21, have never been, and I don't plan on going unless I deem it necessary, not because Doctor [Name Here] says so. It is, however, a bit disturbing to think that people will submit to sedation in order to have the test done. If it causes you such intense pain/anxiety/whatever that you would have to be drugged for the procedure, what does that tell you? And to be honest, so what if the medical community swears up and down that it's something that MUST be done at x age, x times a year? If doctors were telling you that you had to have your appendix removed because it's possible you'll have an appendicitis one day, even though the risk is very low, would you do it?

I think it's most important to listen to yourself and make your own decisions based on what you think is right instead of letting other people, strangers even, make decisions for you, especially if you don't agree with what they're telling you or if it makes you upset.

That was a really lovely post. It's really nice when people are able to listen to their own inner voice, and not be bullied into doing things that are not necessarily the right thing for them. Square pegs and round holes and all that. (Sorry for the mental pic!)

[pygmygirl]

So many people in this thread don't know what pap smears are for. :(

Pap smears test for abnormal cells that can indicate cancer, NOT infections, cysts, or any other kind of disease or problem. Cervical cancer is nearly always caused by HPV, which is contracted through sexual activity. If you are a virgin, you are extremely low risk. It's one of the rarest cancers you could possibly get. Making pap smears a requirement is just another example of women being deemed not intelligent enough to have control of their own health. :(

I wish all women knew exactly what the pap test is for. So many women are conned (usually by doctors or medical staff) into thinking a pap test checks for everything. It's nice to see more and more women know what they are actually for. I am also glad that I am not the only one who feels this way about hating paps.

[Junebug03]

So, I have avoided pap smears until now because I am not sexually active. I am STILL not sexually active, but will be doing an IVF/donor sperm cycle in the summer. Unfortunately, one of the required tests before is a pap smear. The fertility specialist agrees - technically, I have zero use for the test, it's going to come back negative, I have zero risk for cervical cancer. Unfortunately, it's a medical regulation (state regulation I think?) that he can't get around. He did have sympathy for me and said he'll give me Valium for it. So for anyone who had to have a pap smear without having had sex before, did you take any medication before and if so did it help?

I tried an anti anxiety pill, 2 to be exact and they did not work for me. I think I took it to close to the exam that it didn't have time to make it work because about 2 hours later I was out and they probably could have performed the stupid test, well maybe. So, I insisted on a local anesthesia and they were able to do the exam then. The doctor told me since I have never been sexually active and since I do not plan to, (and unless I have issues) I won't have to come back for another 3 years. There is no way I will be going back ever, unless I am under anesthesia or if they come up with a better exam (like drawing blood from my arm)

Good Luck and good luck with the IVF. :)

Yeah, general anesthesia isn't really an option, I also will need a lot of internal ultrasounds. Yuck. The doctor actually stopped the one he did at the consult visit early because he could tell it hurt and he didn't want to finish it unless I took medication - I mean honestly, it did REALLY, REALLY hurt, but the pain level was about the same as the stabbing menstrual cramps I used to get before I was on the pill, so I would have let it finish if he had wanted to. I just hope the pap smear is no worse. :(

On the bright side, since I'm doing IVF which doesn't expose me to anything, he said I will never need another pap smear again after the IVF if it works within 1 year of the test. Hooray? Although I'd think after having a baby it would no longer hurt so much.

That sucks, I am so sorry general anesthesia can't happen. :( But heck, I think it is a plus side never having another pap smear after having a baby. Congratulations on that. Best of luck in this journey for you. :)

[Marquis25]

I'm so confused about how HPV even gets transmitted (I know it's an STD but a lot of the information stresses if you have sex with men or sex with women who've had sex with men...so women who'd only had lesbian sex their whole lives would be okay? I don't know...).

If both me and my bf are virgins what's the risk of my getting HPV from sex with him? That's basically what the point of my confusion boils down to.

Does anyone have any idea? The literature is very confusing on this point.

[Guest]

I was wondering the other day about how old you had to be before they began calling you for smear tests- because it's something I've been dreading and I know on me at least would hurt like hell. Luckily it's not really terribly urgent for sexually inactive women- but it got me thinking as to whether my asexuality would bring up any other odd moments like this.

They already ask about three times if you could be pregnant when I get a jab even when I say 'no way' - so I guess I'm more curious as to whether anyone has ever had any awkward/humorous moments involving medical staff and asexuality?

From what I understand you have to be 21 or sexually active. No one called me, I was told once that I should get it and no one bothered me about it until I decided it was time, thank god. They asked me once if I was sexually active (because they wanted to know if I was using contraception) but I knew that question was coming so I was ready for it. There was no shaming going on thank god, because that kind of concerned me.

The first time I had a pap smear it was slightly uncomfortable but not painful and since then it hasn´t hurt at all. The last time I had a pap smear Iḿ pretty sure they didn´t even use a speculum, they did use what looked like lube, which I think helped a lot.

This link discusses what pap smears are but I´ll add a **Trigger warning** for gendered language http://www.feroniaproject.org/what-is-a-pap-smear/ and if I come across any more useful links Iĺl drop by and add them!

Good luck and best of health to everyone. Also Hi everyone new here, I promise I´ll make an intro post soon!