1st obs/gyn visit?

Question

What happens at your 1st obs/gyn visit? What do you have to do?

Answer 1

Depends on the reason a lady is going. Some ladies go to a gynecologist to get treated for infections that primary care physicians aren't comfortable with dealing.

If it's to have a first annual exam and pap smear here's what happens.

When you first come in you will sign the check in sheet. They will have you fill out some paperwork that asks about your health and any medical problems you may have, the reason you are there, your family's medical history such as if different cancers like breast cancer run in your family.

If you have an infection going on at the same time (just giving an example here) they may ask you to give a urine sample to see if the infection is coming from your bladder which can mean a urinary tract infection.

After you sit down for a bit the Medical Assistant will call you back to take your weight and blood pressure and ask how you are feeling.

They will ask some other questions about yourself so that information can be put in to the computer (if the doctor's office is using computerized recordkeeping to help them). Then they will take you to a room.

You will be asked to undress from top to bottom. You will be given a robe for the top half of your body and a drape for the second half.

Then you wait for the doctor. They will ask you how things are doing and about any symptoms you notice such as pain before starting the exam.

Then after that is done they will move the table so that you are lying back. They will ask you to lift one arm so that they can feel that breast to see if there are any lumps or masses seem out of the ordinary. After that side is done it is repeated on the opposite side.

When they are done with that they will readjust the table back to its prior position and set up for the pelvic exam. You will be asked to put your feet in a special instrument called stirrups (these look kind of similar to what you might see on a saddle for horseriding) and then to scoot down til you are almost off the table (but not all the way off where you can fall) and then lean back.

Then the doctor will take an instrument called a speculum. The speculum looks like the bill of a duck. They will insert a light (if they have a portable light, otherwise they will bring a big lamp over that allows them to be able to see inside). If they find any signs of infection they will take some of the vaginal discharge at this time for sending off to a lab for further analysis. At this time the doctor will then take a special brush that goes in to the opening of your cervix to take some of the cells from there. The cells are then put on to a slide that gets sent to a lab for further analysis to make sure nothing looks out of the ordinary. This test is called a pap smear and is used to screen for cervical cancer. The results come back in about a week or two. If you notice any spotting for a day or two after the exam this is normal because of the irritation caused by the use of the brush on your cervix.

If the bleeding continues past that please let your doctor know so that they can evaluate the situation further.

After the pap smear is done the doctor will insert the fingers of his/her one hand and feel the uterus and ovaries. This is called the pelvic exam. They feel the uterus and ovaries to check to make sure there is nothing wrong with their size and shape and also to make sure there are no masses such as a cyst on them. After that part of the pelvic exam (it is done in two parts) the doctor will then take his/her free hand and put it on your abdomen and press down. This is another way to check for anything out of the ordinary when it comes to shape and size of the uterus and ovaries.

If the exam hurts at all please let the doctor know.

A really good doctor will explain everything they are doing as they are doing it and also telling you which step is coming next so that there are no surprises.

Because it is your first time I would recommend seeing a female physician because it's less intimidating that way and many women feel more comfortable with talking to a female doctor about very sensitive issues such as pain in that area.