Overdue smear test
Posted , 5 users are following.
hi there signed up to this forum to ask some advice. I am 4 years overdue for a smear test as I have been avoiding it as I feel I don't need one as I have never been sexually active before, and I just feel a bit embarrassed to go to doctors and tell them I have never been sexually active before as I am 24 years old.
Now i hadn't been to doctors for many years and today I was there (nothing to do with smear test) and the doctor mentioned to me that I haven't been for a smear test and I should book an appointment. But I never said to her that I have never been sexually active before.
I do plan to book an appointment for a smear but I just feel nervous when I say to her I have never been sexually active before. So it's really just to see if anyone been for a smear test who never been sexually active before and if it was a problem and still able to get smear test. Sorry for long message thanks
0 likes, 11 replies
liscur1 Smith24
Posted
My moto is eyes, teeth and min - always keep these in check!!!
Informed Smith24
Posted
You are under no obligation to have smears, as screening is entirely an option and a choice on your part. Your doctor is wrong to tell you, this must be carried out on your body, when you have not given consent for the procedure. The leaflet which is sent out to UK women says quite clearly, it is your choice whether to take up your invitation or not. Neither is it any of your doctors business, whether you are a virgin or not.
In the UK GPs get incentives to pressurise women into having smears, which I think is wrong, as it is not putting patients first.
My last smear was in 1997!
Smith24
Posted
Informed Smith24
Posted
It's a pity you have been caught out by 1 year.
liscur1 Smith24
Posted
Informed liscur1
Posted
In a very small number of cases the virus persists, and can develop into something more serious, and for reasons we don't quite know why, cervical cancer may develop. The smear test is used to monitor these changes, before they get serious, but it isn't entirely accurate. In women in their 20's it is less than 50% accurate, as women experience a lot of infections for the first time at this age. For this reason some countries like the Netherlands don't think it is right to smear test women under 30 and don't offer it until that age, so a lot of women end up getting treatment for something which would have cleared up by itself.
Hence the reason for raising the screening age.
There are different types of cervical cancer, and some are more dangerous than others. Adenocarcinomas are an aggressive, but rare type, and grow below the surface where the cells are scraped for the smear test, so some women with adenocarcinomas will have a normal smear test, but still have cancer. The accuracy of the smear test, gets more accurate as women get older but only gets about 70% accurate for women in their 50's. Because the test is so inaccurate, they keep repeating it, throughout a woman's life to get a better idea of a woman's risk of getting the disease.
Testing women for the HPV virus after age 30 would be a much better test. HPV tests can be done at home with a self test kit, and those who test negative can forget about having to have smear tests, as they cannot get cervical cancer all the while they are negative. They are rolling this programme out in the Netherlands next January, and this is what we should be doing here in the UK right now, IMHO.
eliz52 Smith24
Posted
Please be careful agreeing to smear tests, if you've never been sexually active you're only risking your health. The risks are fairly high too, false positives are more likely in women under 30....that can lead to colposcopy and biopsy. (or over-treatment)
No need to tell the doctor you're a virgin, none of her business, just say you've considered the matter and decided not to have them. You understand the Medical Council have said screening is a choice, we're free to accept or refuse it as we see fit...and that informed consent is necessary for all testing.
The mention of the Medical Council should work well.
Unfortunately, many GPs pressure women to screen, this is wrong and should be challenged, (I'd also, report a doctor acting this way) also, they receive target payments for smear tests, this is unethical IMO, this potential conflict of interest should be mentioned to women.
I can go one better than informed...I've just turned 57 and have never had a smear test, an informed decision.
Smith24
Posted
vickya Smith24
Posted
I was in a simular situation to you, due a smear but never been sexually active. I took the approach of ignoring the situation and hoping it would go away at first, and just ignored the letters, but constantly worried if I was risking my health because of it (I've always taken every possible screening test or precaution as they're there for a reason), but then I read up on the smears and HPV, and realised if you've never been sexually active you cannot have HPV, and almost all cervical cancers are caused by HPV, and infact a lot of places now just test the smear for HPV, and if that is negative don't even look at the cells anymore, cervical cancer without HPV is just that uncommon! I therefore opted not to have smears, partly because it seems completely unnecessary, and partly because if you've never been sexually active I bet the speculum things hurt like anything!! If I ever get any irregular abnormal bleeding, and when I become sexually active I will be straight down to the surgery for my smear, but until then I have taken the informed decision that it will not add anything to reducing my risk of cancer.
That is the main thing. It needs to be your decision, and you need to be comfortable with that decision. I personally would definately say anyone who has been sexually active should have it.
Hope that is of some help. :-)
Smith24
Posted
Smith24
Posted