A
female
age
36-40,
anonymous
writes:Hello ladies, im due to go for a smear test soon and im really scared as ive never had one before. What exactly happens? Is it painful? Im very shy anyway and the thought of having this done makes me nervous.Any general info and advice would be nice please.Thanks X
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female
reader, birdynumnums  +, writes (20 January 2008):
 If you have a male doctor, a female nurse should accompany him during the exam. The metal clamp, the speculum, should be run under warm water so that it doesn't give you a startle! It just opens your vagina so the doctor can see your cervix, that's the thing inside your vagina that feels like the tip of your nose. The doctor will use a little wooden "scraper", don't know what that's called but it looks like a wooden stir stick from Starbuck's that is slightly wider at the tip and a bit kidney shaped, to remove a few cells from the tip of your cervix. It might make you cramp a little bit, probably not, and like dearkelja said, it's uncomfortable, but not painful. It's still the best way to care for your health by screening for pre-cancerous cells, so it's worth going every year, starting from the first year that you are sexually active, or beginning at age 18. In years to come, the doctor may also give you a pelvic exam, to check for lumps or the position of your internal organs by inserting gloved fingers into the vagina using lots of lubrication and he might in also slip two fingers inside of the rectum if he is checking to see if your uterus is in the right position or has any fibroids. Again, not pleasant, but not painful. Hope this wasn't too much information, but forewarned is forearmed! Make sure to schedule these test for a time when you have no menstrual flow. Hope this helped.
A
female
reader, anonymous, writes (20 January 2008): They put a small device in to your vagina to keep itopen and then they palce a small smear inside you and lightly scratch the inside. It isn't painful - just a ltitle bit uncomfortable because it feels a bit strange. If you are feeling shy, just remember that the drs who do this, do it every single day - it's normal to them. If you still feel shy you can ask for a female dr.
Truat me, I had my first one a few months back and i was really scared too. And then it was over in a few minutes and i just thought "is that it?".
Hope it goes ok.
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A
female
reader, anonymous, writes (20 January 2008): Okay, I'm not going to lie, it's not one of the most pleasant things we ladies have to go through in life; but it is very important to get it done, so please don't let the description below put you off, as this thing saves lives you know.
Firstly, I find it better wearing a skirt to get it done. You will be asked to remove your lower garments which includes your knickers then to lie on the bed. They usually give you a towel to place over so your not too exposed, but wearing a skirt does that anyway.
They then take an instrument (called a speculum-you can wiki it) and place it in your vagina. They usually run this under a warm tap to heat it up as it's metal so can be quite cold up there!
This device opens up, very much like a clamp, which opens up the walls of your vagina, so the nurse can use a cotton bud to take a swab from inside. And that's it, it's usually over in less than 5 minutes.
The swab isn't uncomfortable, I find the only bit that is, is when the speculum is opening up the vagina. Although the vagina can naturally stretch (think having babies) it is still a little painful. They only stretch it open by a few centimeters, not all the way or anything. But this may not be the case for you, as everyone is different with these things.
The results come back to you within a few weeks; and it's important not to panic if it comes back abnormal and you have to go in for another- sometimes it's because they just didn't get an accurate swab the first time.
Being your first smear, the nurse will be quite good in reassuring you (they were for me) and will probably tell you all of what's going to happen before she does it. That's another thing as well- if you prefer to have a female do it rather than a man, then just ask at the doctors; as far as I'm aware they have to respect your wishes.
That's all the advice I can give on this, apart from just try and relax, because if you hold your breath and tense up it really will make it worse. And like I said before, it is very important that you do this. Best of Luck :-)
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A
female
reader, dearkelja  +, writes (20 January 2008):
 This would be a pap-smear which is used to test for pre-cancerous cells in your pelvic area. What will happen is they will put a metal like clamp into your vagina to open the area and they will then take a swab of the cells and put it in a lab container. It isn't painful so much as it is uncomfortable. If I were going to have my first one I would ask for a female doctor or nurse practioner. It will help with the anxiety. Good luck.
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