You should still get regular Pap smears based on your age, regardless of your sexual activity status. These recommendations only apply to women who have a cervix. Women who have had a hysterectomy with removal of the cervix and no history of cervical cancer do not need screening. Recommendations vary and should be individualized for women with compromised immune systems or a history of precancerous, or cancerous lesions.
You can schedule a Pap smear with your annual gynecological examination or request a separate appointment with your gynecologist. Pap smears are covered by most insurance plans, though you may be required to pay a co-pay. Try to avoid having sexual intercourse, douching, or using spermicidal products the day before your test because these may interfere with your results. After that, the test may be more painful. You should also wait until 12 weeks after giving birth to increase the accuracy of your results.
Your doctor will slowly insert a device called a speculum into your vagina. This device keeps the vaginal walls open and provides access to the cervix. Your doctor will scrape a small sample of cells from your cervix. There are a few ways your doctor can take this sample:.
The sample of cells from your cervix will be preserved and sent to a lab to be tested for the presence of abnormal cells. After the test, you might feel mild discomfort from the scraping or a bit of cramping.
You could also experience very light vaginal bleeding immediately following the test. Tell your doctor if discomfort or bleeding continues after the day of the test. If your results are normal, that means that no abnormal cells were identified. Normal results are sometimes also referred to as negative.
It simply means that there are abnormal cells on your cervix, some of which could be precancerous. There are several levels of abnormal cells:. During a colposcopy exam, your doctor will use light and magnification to see vaginal and cervical tissues more clearly. In some cases, they may also take a sample of your cervical tissue in a procedure called a biopsy.
Pap tests are very accurate. Regular Pap screenings reduce cervical cancer rates and mortality by at least 80 percent. Women under age 30 are not tested for the virus because 80 percent of sexually active women will have this virus. Most women clear it once they are in their 30s. Once we confirm that the virus is not present, that patient can extend the duration between her Pap smears even further, to every five years though she should still have an annual gynecological exam.
We strongly recommend that both girls and boys be vaccinated against HPV at age We can make cervical cancer much less common in just one generation! If so, she no longer needs Pap smears unless it is done to test for cervical or endometrial cancer. At that point, if a patient has had two normal Pap smears in the past 10 years and she has not had any seriously precancerous cells in the past 20 years, she can stop screening altogether.
Contact us or find a patient care location. Privacy Statement. A Pap smear is performed in your doctor's office and takes only a few minutes. You may be asked to undress completely or only from the waist down. You'll lie down on your back on an exam table with your knees bent. Your heels rest in supports called stirrups. Your doctor will gently insert an instrument called a speculum into your vagina.
The speculum holds the walls of your vagina apart so that your doctor can easily see your cervix. Inserting the speculum may cause a sensation of pressure in your pelvic area.
Then your doctor will take samples of your cervical cells using a soft brush and a flat scraping device called a spatula. This usually doesn't hurt. Depending on the type of Pap testing you're undergoing, your doctor transfers the cell sample collected from your cervix into a container holding a special liquid to preserve the sample liquid-based Pap test or onto a glass slide conventional Pap smear. The samples are transferred to a laboratory where they're examined under a microscope to look for characteristics in the cells that indicate cancer or a precancerous condition.
If only normal cervical cells were discovered during your Pap smear, you're said to have a negative result.
You won't need any further treatment or testing until you're due for your next Pap smear and pelvic exam. If abnormal or unusual cells were discovered during your Pap smear, you're said to have a positive result.
A positive result doesn't mean you have cervical cancer. What a positive result means depends on the type of cells discovered in your test. Squamous cells are thin and flat and grow on the surface of a healthy cervix. In the case of ASCUS, the Pap smear reveals slightly abnormal squamous cells, but the changes don't clearly suggest that precancerous cells are present. With the liquid-based test, your doctor can reanalyze the sample to check for the presence of viruses known to promote the development of cancer, such as some types of human papillomavirus HPV.
If no high-risk viruses are present, the abnormal cells found as a result of the test aren't of great concern. If worrisome viruses are present, you'll need further testing. Squamous intraepithelial lesion. This term is used to indicate that the cells collected from the Pap smear may be precancerous. If the changes are low grade, it means the size, shape and other characteristics of the cells suggest that if a precancerous lesion is present, it's likely to be years away from becoming a cancer.
If the changes are high grade, there's a greater chance that the lesion may develop into cancer much sooner. Additional diagnostic testing is necessary. Atypical glandular cells. Glandular cells produce mucus and grow in the opening of your cervix and within your uterus. Atypical glandular cells may appear to be slightly abnormal, but it's unclear whether they're cancerous. Squamous cell cancer or adenocarcinoma cells. This result means the cells collected for the Pap smear appear so abnormal that the pathologist is almost certain a cancer is present.
If such cells are found, your doctor will recommend prompt evaluation.
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