I have been for my first smear today - I thought it would be uncomfortable as I am unable to use tampax (I think I tense up).
However, the nurse was ok, and took her time but I had to ask her to stop because it was painful. She tried again, but I had to ask her to stop again.
TI then started to cry (and am still crying now!), I found a post here where some people said it was painful but it was from last year, so thought I would do a new post.
Has anyone else had a similar experience?
I am booked in on mon to try with a nurse who I know - but I feel anxious already :/
If it again is too painful, and I end up in a state, I don't know what I can do :( :(
Smear tests can be awkward, painful and humiliating. In my experience, you're dealing with nurses who don't do them on a daily basis, so sometimes there's a lot of fumbling going on! I recently had one as a follow up, and I bled. This has never happened before so of course I panicked. But the nurse told me it's really common,a nd looking on here, it does seem to be - lots of ladies have experienced painful smears/bleeding but it hasn't led to bad news.
Also, the thought of the whole procedure can fill you with fear and make your muscles tense up - even if you're ordering yourself to relax! That can make it very painful.
There's a lot of advice on here about relaxation techniques. I'd say, try and do what makes you feel relaxed, whether that's taking a partner/friend with you to chat to and distract you in the waiting room, listening to your favourite music or reading a good book. Make sure you sit down with the nurse and tell her exactly how you feel, if she's a professional she will do her best to put you at ease.
Have you tried maybe taking some ibuprofen about half an hour before? My mum came with me to my lletz treatment and it really helped having her there with me. She stroked my hair and made me giggle, really took my mind away from what was happening.
i was so tense when I had my colposcopy that I started pushing the speculum out!
The trick is not to think about what they are doing talk sing do whatever it takes to take your mind off it when I had biopsies taken I bit my hand so it distracted me from what they were doing I say my hand my scarf was wrapped around it didn't hurt but my mind was thinking about it, distractions are the best technique I can give my sister came with me and she chatted to me and kept making me laugh the nurse talked to me about everything and anything under the sun, but please do try to relax once you are in there as it'll make the whole thing pass very quickly and easily xxx
Yes my smear hurt a lot and I bled. The nurse wasn't friendly and I felt awkward trying to talk to her! And she was really heavy handed. Im hoping when I have my colposcopy tomorrow they will be much nicer than the previous woman! Xxx
Hi all, just been reading your posts around painful smears and although its terrible that it's been such an ordeal for you, I am a little reassured that it's not just me that finds them painful. My first 2 smears were very painful, the nurse told me to relax but didn't give me any time to do this and just kept going, which didn't help me relax at all. The first time I had one I bled quite a bit also to the point where I had to wear a pad. I've been sent a reminder for my next one but am dreading it. I feel a bit silly also as I thought I was quite good at dealing with pain but I'm beginning to feel like a bit of a wimp now.
Yes I’ve had 2 painful ones. One was pretty bad but only with the brushing part, and the other was completely traumatically painful and in all ways and I point blank refused to go back. Ever. No HPV so I didn’t get the cells tested so no idea if anything was wrong or not but the first painful one was over 10 years ago and was my first one.
I am not sure what causes it but the one that went well for me and wasn’t painful was done by a very nice nurse and the 2 bad experiences were with horrible staff members. This seems to be a theme so maybe it is as simple as the nasty nurses being rough with us.
Mentally being relaxed is irrelevant for me. Naturally when you look at what they are doing it is bound to be painful at least for some of us or some of the time. It’s an invasive test.
