Simple question really as everything can get mind boggling, I accepted from the first smear that it can be dorment many years and they only started testing after a certain year anyway.
My question is more if you have high risk HPV, which is not clearing, can it still clear after further years or is there always that risk it will turn into abnormal cells. Can you have high risk and it not get worse? Or is it something to be worried about? I have the next booked in, but all smears come back as High risk HPV no abnormal cells so far.
I don’t smoke and I actually have a pretty good immune system in general!
I think it’s more likely, but by no means guaranteed, that HPV could cause abnormal cells after years of not clearing. I had three years of HPV positive, no abnormal cells results, so they sent me for colposcopy to check. They did find an area of CIN2, so had treatment for that.
I don’t personally worry about it, as it’s very common to have cell changes and treatment. If this is your third smear and it comes back HPV positive again, you’ll have a colposcopy to check your cervix more closely.
Hi yes that’s what I am booked in for at the beginning of March, from what I understand it can take many years and like you say if they do find anything it can be treated early. That’s good to hear you got yours treated, do you still have to have yearly smear tests to keep an eye on things?
They said that I’ll have a smear in 6 months. If it comes back still HPV present (which the Colposcopist reckons is likely as 6 months isn’t always enough time to clear the virus after treatment), then I’ll have another colposcopy. If that shows no abnormal cells then apparently I’d go back to normal smears. But I’m not sure if that means yearly if still HPV present, or whether that will go to 5-yearly, here in Wales. Guess I’ll find out in 6 months!
