Cervical screenings can be extremely painful for some (Picture: Getty)
This might feel a bit uncomfortable. A quick pinch, then we’re all done. That wasn’t so bad was it?
These are some of the comments that most people receiving a smear test will have heard at least once.
Everyone with a cervix is invited by the NHS to get their first smear test done aged 25, and then again every three years until the age of 50 and every five years after that, to test for abnormal cells which could be a sign of cervical cancer.
Messaging from the health service about the procedure is usually along the same lines: it’s over quickly, it’s extremely important, if you’ve had penetrative sex before, it’ll be fine.
But this ignores the reality that for significant numbers of women, a smear test can be excruciatingly uncomfortable.
This Cervical Screening Awareness Week, Metro.co.uk speaks to two women who had difficult or painful experiences during their smear tests about how they dealt with them – and what’s changed to make them more comfortable.
Smear tests shouldn’t be excruciatingly painful – but they can be (Picture: Getty Images)
Clara* tells Metro that she felt ambushed into having a smear test when she went to the GP for a routine asthma check-up. While there, the nurse mentioned she was due her first smear and suggested she could quickly have it done there and then.
As she’d never had penetrative sex, Clara explained she wasn’t sure she really needed one, but the nurse convinced her to get it done.
Her experience, however,was excruciatingly painful.
‘Cue me screaming because basically she takes my virginity,’ Clara, now aged 33, recalls.
I know it’s a social construct but it bled and bled – maybe because my hymen had been broken. My nurse went to speak to a colleague and brought her in because she didn’t know what to do about it.
‘I remember them saying “almost there” and I couldn’t help but scream with pain. At no point did they tell me to stop yelling, even when I was saying “stop stop stop” – which they didn’t.
‘Whether that was because they’d got where they were and couldn’t stop, or maybe they were so close to finishing, I don’t remember. I just recall getting home and phoning my mum in tears. It was awful.
‘Despite that, it didn’t put me off going for another as I understand the importance of them. It just wasn’t the nicest experience for my first one.
‘Since then, I’ve booked my smears and have felt more prepared. They’re still uncomfortable, but I haven’t bled since – or needed to scream – so they have got easier over the years.
‘I don’t know if it’s because I’ve now had penetrative sex, but I’m also more ready for it.I know it might hurt and feel like the longest few seconds of my life, but I’ve learned to breathe through it.’
Discussing the messaging around getting a smear test done, Clara explains: ‘We all know it’s worth it. And it’s easy …read more
Source:: Metro
