Hi all
I'm a 26 year old female from Australia. I had a cervical screen in January this year which showed LSIL and positive for HPV but not 16/18 . My course of action was to wait one year and repeat test .
I started having pain during sex so I saw a gynaecologist about 6 months ago all normal and swabs taken all normal. I was told to use different positions to help with pain.
I also had lump on my cervix which doctors said was a cyst it has since dissapeared
Well tomorrow is my test and I am so scared it is going to be positive again and I will need a colposcopy. I dont have children yet and am terrified something will happen to me. Can anyone tell me there experience with the second smear and what happened after if results were positive again?
Thankyou
Hi There, I’m from Australia too and now living in the UK. I can understand how worried you must be feeling and well done for attending cervical screening, as being examined isn’t that pleasant for any of us!
LSIL is not CIN or cancer, but the beginnings of abnormal changes to the cervical cells, caused by HPV. This is a fairly common result for smears, with or without the presence of HPV. 20 years ago, I had LSIL (but wasn’t tested for HPV) and my next smear was back to normal after 6 months!
There’s a high chance with you that they will revert to normal by themselves, especially since you don’t have HPV strains 16 or 18. As these strains are 70% more likely to develop CIN and possibly later, cancer. This progression of CIN may take 10-15 years and must go through several levels before it may become sinister. So these abnormalities are very slow progressing, have a high chance of reverting and don’t always become sinister.
I know it’s difficult, but try not to worry about the result of your smear tomorrow. It might be good news. If and I mean if, the results are still positive and you need a colposcopy, it’s just like smear, but takes a little longer and you soon won‘t feel the speculum after a while. The nurses will be there to reassure you and everything will be explained beforehand. But it may not get this far, as tomorrow’s smear result might be normal. The positive thing is that you’re now being kept an eye on and if it were to remain persistent and progress to CIN, they’ve caught it very early and early treatment shouldn’t affect your fertility and is highly curable.
On another note; have you had the HPV vaccine? If you haven’t, then I think you would benefit, especially with Gardasil 9, as this will protect you from 9 of the high risk strains of HPV. The FDA in the US have licenced it for women up to the age of 45 and I believe Australia is of the same mindset. Ask your gynaecologist tomorrow.
All the best and good luck!
Hello Im interested in what you are saying, I thought that CIN1 and LSIL is the same, isn't it?
CIN1 amd LSIL in a way mean the same thing, as these terms appear to be interchangeable, although CIN1 stands for ‘cervical intraepithelial neoplasia level 1’; whereas ‘LSIL‘ stands for ‘low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion’.
I‘ve noticed these terms are used slightly differently in each country, which may account for some confusion. Here in the UK, we tend to use ‘CIN‘ for both Pap smears and colposcopy results; whereas in the US, ‘LSIL’ is used only for pap smear results and ‘CIN’ is used for colposcopy results (https://obgyn.med.uky.edu/sites/default/files/HPV%20and%20PAPS.pdf ) I believe in Australia, both can be used for either test, though ‘LSIL’, can often be referred as ‘possible non specific minor changes‘ (http://www.cancerscreening.gov.au/internet/screening/publishing.nsf/Content/58DF4427540FCF4ACA257D7100828595/$File/Cervical-Screening-Essentials.pdf ).
To be honest, I didn’t know this variable and interchangeable of terms. So am pleased its been brought up!
Hi guys
Thankyou so much for your response it has certainly helped put my mind to ease. Unfortunately I was unable to get my screen as my pesky period decided to show up the day before 
I am now booked in the next avaiable appointment next week so will keep you all posted on how this goes.
I am mostly worried about having to get a colposcopy and if there is pain associated. I'm also a nurse and think I make a terrible patient haha.
Thanks for your reassurance
And yes I had the HPV vaccine when i was about 16
