My daughter had a smear 10 days ago and I am terrified some thing will be wrong.
Incredible there is so much hysteria about cc that women worry about it more than real risks to our health. Cc has always been fairly rare in the developed world, very rare before 30. We don't worry about other rare cancers, do we?
The evidence does not support screening before 30, it doesn't help but leads to lots of false positives, excess colposcopy, excess biopsy and over- treatment.
Now we know only about 5% of women aged 30 to 60 have a small chance of benefiting from a 5 yearly smear, those Hpv+....and you can test yourself for hpv, no need for a speculum exam.
Those HPV- and no longer sexually active or confidently monogamous can forget about further testing, unless they take a new partner.
i watch the Dutch, they have an evidence based program, women are offered 5 HPV tests or HPV self-testing at ages 30,35,40,50 and 60 and only the roughly 5% who test HPV+ are offered a smear test...every five years until they test hpv-
i don't have smear tests, hpv- cannot benefit but can be harmed by false positives and over- treatment.
The UK will move to hpv primary in the next few years but like Australia, is likely to stay with excessive and unnecessary testing, it's a great source of revenue for vested interests.
How old is your daughter Claire? and is there a specific reason you are worried?
Hi Marina
My daughter is 30 I suffer with really bad anxiety and get worried about the silliest of things. Just don't know how I would cope if it was bad new xx
There is rarely anything critically wrong for someone who gets tested once every 3-5 years. In the worst case cervical cancer is easily caught and treated. The second worst scenario is need for removal of the area, which is expendable...like our thyroids are too. And very worst is lymph system involvement which requires follow up. Adenoid cases like that are also the least common. So overall the risk of anything being wrong and on top of that being really serious threat are miniscule. Try to rest your head. And get on top of your anxiety which is exhausting you of your own life force needlessly. Hang in there.
Did you know that adenocarcinoma of the cervix is usually missed by smear tests? Women tend to get a false negative, this can falsely reassure leading to a later diagnosis and poorer prognosis.
it's important to see a doctor with persistent and unusual symptoms or worsening symptoms, even If you recently had a normal smear test, in these cases you don't need a smear or another smear, but a proper investigation.
When I hear of a young woman with actual cervical cancer, it's usually an adenocarcima. Women are rarely told that this type of cc is usually missed by smear tests but the move to hpv testing should pick up more of these rare cancers.
Absolutely. This is because the chances in picking up adenoid cells off a superficial scrape are next to nil unless cancer has advanced and taken up notable surface of the cervix. Adenocarcinoma can be confirmed by colposcopy so any higher grade changes are usually referred so and adenoids are so usually discovered. HPV testing is the best way forward along with pap screens yes. For the poster to ease her anxiety she can enquire about HPV screen. However adenocarcinoma is not common overall and it is important to keep some perspective for the sake of her anxiety.
However there are rarely symptoms until advanced grades. So testing remains the only point of reference...
Many women are diagnosed with abnormal cells due to smear tests and LLETZ treatment is common. It is not a benign treatment, being associated with premature rupture of membranes in pregnancy, increased rates of C section, bleeding, infection etc. Approximately 80% of treatment for CIN2/3 comprises overtreatment as most of these women never go on to develop Ca cervix. It is the 13th most common cancer in the UK although most women believe it is a major killer. Disease mongering is necessary to make us all have those smear tests. Women need all the information about the potential for harm when undergoing any screening test.