smear test?

Question

how often are you supposed to go for a smear test and how do you know when your supposed to go? where do you go and what happens? i have no idea about smear tests. so please give me lots of info

Answer 1

According to the NHS Cervical Screening Programme....

"All women between the ages of 25 and 64 are eligible for a free cervical screening test every three to five years. In the light of evidence published in 2003, the NHS Cervical Screening Programme now offers screening at different intervals depending on age. This means that women are provided with a more targeted and effective screening programme."

If you go to their website it will also answer the following questions... (http://www.cancerscreening.nhs.uk/cervical/)

What is cervical screening?
What is a smear test?
What is LBC?
Possible future developments
What does the NHS Cervical Screening Programme do?
Who is eligible for cervical screening?
Why are women under 25 and women over 65 not invited?
What about women who are not sexually active?
When was the NHS Cervical Screening Programme set up?
How many women are screened?
How is the programme organised?
How much does the programme cost and how is it funded?
Is cervical screening effective?
Coverage of the target population


I'm a student nurse and have worked in a clinic and found it good to know that, it is usually the female nurses who perform your cervical screening (smear test) and it is done very quickly and privately.

I hope this helps *s*

Answer 2

You should have a smear test evey five years. If you are registered with a doctor the surgery should automatically send you a letter when your next test is due.

A smear test involves a nurse or a doctor taking a cell sample from your cervix, which is then sent off and analysed for any signs of cervial cancer.

The first time you have one it is terribly embarassing, but remember that the doctors and nurses do hundreds every week. It can be a little uncomfortable and you may experience some spotting the day after but this is nothing to worry about.

If you have any concerns you can always make an appointment and speak to the nurse at your local doctors surgery.

Answer 3

You are supposed to get the every 3 years over the age of 25 though in some cases younger, if you have had a baby b4 this age.
The sample for the test is taken by a doctor or nurse, who examines you internally. Sometimes this will involve you lying on your back, with your legs bent up and apart, and sometimes lying on your side with your legs bent up.

The doctor or nurse may examine you internally, with a hand, but the smear test involves inserting a plastic or metal instrument (speculum) into the vagina, which holds the walls of the vagina open, so that they can see the neck of the womb (cervix). A wooden or plastic device (spatula), which is usually little more than a specially shaped lolly/popsicle stick, and/or a specially shaped brush is then stroked round the opening in the neck of the womb.

You do not usually feel this, although the speculum may cause some discomfort, occasionally. The spatula or brush is left with some cells from the surface of the cervix attached to it. These are smeared on to a glass slide, which is treated with alcohol to preserve the cells, and sent off to a special cytology laboratory to be examined under a microscope
Examination of the slide is fairly quick, but involves great expertise. Most laboratories will have some backlog, and your doctor or nurse should be able to tell you how soon the results will be back.

Make sure you know how you will find out the results, and if you do not hear, it is worth checking back on the result with your doctor.

The majority of smears come back normal. Some are normal, but show evidence of other things such as a thrush infection, which are chance findings, not what the smear is designed to detect. You should discuss with your doctor whether and how to act on such chance findings.

On some occasions there are not enough of the right sort of cells on the slide (a "scanty" smear) for the laboratory to reliably comment. On these occasions they ask for a repeat smear. As a woman gets older the cells of the cervix come away less easily, and sometimes, after a few scanty results, we have to give up on trying to get a smear.

Blood obscures the view of the cells, and the test is not usually performed if you are bleeding. If it has inadvertently been done at the beginning or end of a period, this may be another reason that the laboratory asks for a repeat.

If the cells look inflamed, or unusual, suspicious, or actually cancerous, the lab will suggest a repeat smear after a few months, or possibly referral to a specialist (gynaecologist) for a closer look at the cervix using a sort of microscope (colposcopy).

http://www.cancerscreening.nhs.uk/cervical/
Have a look at this web page lots of info on there

Answer 4

Hi if you have never had a smear test before and you are having sex then you can make an appointment at your GP's (the nurse there will do the smear),
Its quite a smiple procedure they insert a cold smooth instrument into you (it doesn't hurt) its just to open you up so the nurse can see your cervix then she will take a sample from you cervix using an extra long cotton bud or what looks like a lolly pop stick (if she uses this you will feel a slight scratch in your belly)
then the nurse will release the instrument and you can get dressed it's totally painless, just a tad imbarrassing as you have to lie there for 5 mins with your legs wide open.
The results normally take a couple of weeks.
If it is clear you wont have to have another one for 2 years, if it comes back abnormal they will ask you in for a repeat in 6 months, (abnormal smears are normally nothing to worry about)
But it is always best to get the smear done as it could save your life.
I had my first smear when I was 17 and it was abnormal but they found pre cancerous cells in me which had to be lazered out, im 27 now and been clear ever since, but im glad I went for that first one so soon as it could have got a lot worse.
Take Care chick, and dont worry you'll be fine. xx

Answer 5

Smear test are a requirment to have every three years from the age of 21 and you practice nurse at the doctors does them not a gynaecologist you will only see them if the result is abnormal. Smear tests are an embarssing thing to have do but book an appointment first thing in the morning and take your time returning to work or what ever you have to do after it.

Answer 6

Presuming you are in the UK there is an automatic recall system which is usually three years, however in Lincolnshire it is 5 years. If you have never had one you could go to see your GP. The practice nurse at your surgery will be able to do your smear test. It is a routine test, quick and painless. Always best to get checked. Good luck.

Answer 7

I'm in Scotland too and have had 2 smear tests both came back ok - I always keep up to date with them, even if you do leave your dignity at the door but they are so worth it in the long run. I do think the age should be lowered in England to the same as Scotland, Jade Goody has brought cervical cancer into the public eye and made women more aware of what can happen if you do not go for cervical smears. It's very sad that Jade died so young and left two beautiful boys behind without their mother but she has done a lot for women regarding this sometimes taboo subject, because as you said everybody thinks "It will never happen to me". xxx

Answer 8

If you are registered with a GP, then you should be reminded about a smear test. Are you 25 or over? This is the age when they start smear tests.

This website should give you some more info....

Answer 9

I have a smear test every 3 yrs.Possibly more often depending on age (im 26).You will see th nurse and do explain to her if you are nervous (makes the gentler) and basically you will be asked to remove ur underwear and get on a couch with ur legs wide apart.The nurse will insert a metal rod into your vagina and this will scrape a tiny cell from the lining of your womb...to give the a cell to test for canserous cells etc.I can asure you its is a little uncomfortable but not painfukl but its needed.It more embrassing than anything! it will be over in 10 mins!!

Answer 10

1st smear test is age 25 +, then its every 5 years, but if you go for a check up at a sexual health clinic they may give u one there earlier than age 25. as for the actual test, basically you lie on a bed with ur legs apart, youre told to relax they put something in the vagina, that pulls your cervix open, so that they can get a swab test from the cervix. thats basically it.it can be uncomfortable and if you are not relaxed then it can be a tad painful to.

hope this helps