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The cervical smear testWomen's health & fitness guideThe cervical smear test is known as the Pap test or smear test and is a test which every woman who is sexually active up to the age of 65 should have on a regular basis. It is a screening measure to try and catch the early signs of cancer of the womb, it is a test which the majority of women hate going for but is one that should never be put off no matter how uncomfortable or embarrassing the procedure is as cancer of the neck of the womb is one of the most virulent forms of cancer in women. How is the procedure performed? The test will usually be performed in your doctor's surgery by a doctor or one of the qualified nurses that now perform some minor duties, you will normally be asked to lie on your back on the examining couch and let your legs fall open while bringing the soles of the feet together. The doctor or nurse will then proceed to examine you internally to feel for changes or irregularities to the neck of the womb. The actual smear test will then be performed by inserting an instrument which is called a speculum into the vagina; this will hold the walls of the vagina open so that the doctor or nurse can see the neck of the womb. A spatula is then used to take a sample of mucus from the neck of the womb, while this is often very uncomfortable the procedure doesn't take long to accomplish. The sample will then normally be transferred to a lab where they will be examined underneath a microscope and the results will be returned to your doctor's surgery. The results of your test Results can take about a week for the lab to get them back to your doctor though some cases can be longer; this doesn't mean there is anything wrong other than sometimes there can be a backlog of cases. The majority of smears do come back normal or they can pick up infections such as thrush, if this is the case then your doctor will want to see you to give you treatment for it. Sometimes if the test didn't show clearly you might have to repeat it, this is usually due to there not being enough cells on the slide which can occur in older women. If the cells do show signs of something amiss then the lab will probably want another test taken in a few months time or they might suggest that you make an appointment to see a gynaecologist who can make a further examination of the neck of the womb using a microscope, this is usually called a colposcopy. |
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