And the "when done correctly" is so important to remember with younger patients. I got my first pap at 16 at our student medical center and the woman who performed it made sure I was well and properly traumatized and didn't go again until I was 19. She didn't use any lubricant for the speculum and not sure what else she did wrong, but it hurt like hell and I bled for hours after. Not heavy bleeding obviously, but enough to make me feel like I went through some horrific medical situation. I've had very lovely gynos since, but that is now forever etched in my memory. I do have a slightly lower pain tolerance than average and I'm prone to getting cuts etc, so maybe she also wasn't as rough as I think she was... But she also didn't explain the exam at all and her bedside manner needed some tuning for sure.
All I know is that for me, the gyne exam is consistently one of the most painful procedures I've experienced. I've had multiple over my lifetime but won't ever get another unless they decide to offer moderate sedation or something. I've been told it shouldn't hurt but damn, it definitely does!
Ugh I had to have a colposcopy done with no pain med or sedation at all. It was excruciating!! I cramped for days too. I would rather get another iud put in a million times before having to go through that again!! 😵😵😵
It's always uncomfortable but i appreciate when the gyno apologizes for needing to switch to a different speculum. Also, Ladies it's important to be hydrated before a pap. Otherwise the swab will hurt really bad. Of course have an empty bladder too. 😆
I have seen undigested food I ate the night before the next morning or afternoon. especially if it's veggies. will see pretty much the same thing that went in in same colours even when I haven't eaten those foods like bean sprouts or carrots in months.
i've gotten exactly one pap and one pelvic in my life time, and I will avoid them as much as possible. "shouldn't be an invasion" tf else do you call sticking a metal instrument barely small enough to fit inside someone and poking around? both times have been painful, have resulted in crying on the way home. and I'm lucky enough that my providers were kind, understanding, and as gentle as possible about the entire thing. it still fucking hurt.
Absolutely correct. All men should be grateful that they do not have to endure these exams. Also true is that fact that awareness saves lives. Physicians irrespective of gender go to work every day and with the singular purpose of saving lives.
@@DoctorRich not saying they don’t, however it’s also true that women go undiagnosed more often because male dr’s don’t take their pain seriously enough.
@@laurajaneluvsbeauty9596 Medical gaslighting is certainly a problem. Some male and female doctors don't take their patient's problems seriously. We appreciate you sharing your personal experience. It is our experience in over two decades of practice with the honor of serving tens of thousands of women that our patient specifically come to our clinic precisely because they feel heard and their problems are taken seriously by our male and female providers. Generally speaking most physicians are good and caring. It is completely inaccurate to say that male doctors don't take their patients seriously. and it dangerously targets and disenfranchises an entire population of physicians who offer excellent care. Bad doctoring needs to be addressed- but it needs to be done in an honest and analytic fashion.
Pap smears have always been painful for me. The scraping hurt and I had painful cramping for about a half hour, every time and I felt dizzy and nauseated. But I had them done on the schedule that Planned Parenthood recommended. One did reveal a precancerous lession on my cervix. The biopsy was extremely painful. The was given local anesthetic for the procedure to remove the lession. So that didn't hurt as bad. Having an IUD placed left me dizzy and shaking for at least 2 hours. Speculums have always felt uncomfortably too big and hurt. When I was 43 my periods became extremely painful. I would experience the same pain as the early stages of childbirth for 3 days every month and the bleeding was so heavy that it was a challenge to keep up with the flow using the highest capacity menstruation products. I would bleed for two weeks out of every month. Climaxing became extremely painful after that. I was diagnosed with endometriosis. DEPO shots eventually stopped me from having periods. I still have mild pain on the lower left side of my abdomen. Doctors haven't been able to tell me why that pain is there, but I trust that they did everything that they could do to determine the cause of the pain and have ruled out causes that would endanger my health. Climaxing can still be painful. I do have a high pain tolerance. I was able to have childbirth without pain medicine or complaining, making noise or crying. I am a survivor of repeated sexual assaults. From 18 months old to 8 or nine years old. It was usually by my father. I wasn't allowed to display any signs of distress while it was happening or after he was done. He taught me to believe that anything other than being completely stoic was a defect. A weakness on my part and a reason to be embarrassed and think less of myself if I allowed any outward signs of distress to show, even when I was a small child. I didn't know that pap smears shouldn't hurt. It didn't occur to me to tell any medical professional about it. 🤔
Thank you for sharing your story. There needs to be open communication between the doctor and patient. We are sorry to hear of your experience and hope that you will be able to voice your experience with your provider. Thank you for starting this important conversation.
And the "when done correctly" is so important to remember with younger patients. I got my first pap at 16 at our student medical center and the woman who performed it made sure I was well and properly traumatized and didn't go again until I was 19. She didn't use any lubricant for the speculum and not sure what else she did wrong, but it hurt like hell and I bled for hours after. Not heavy bleeding obviously, but enough to make me feel like I went through some horrific medical situation. I've had very lovely gynos since, but that is now forever etched in my memory. I do have a slightly lower pain tolerance than average and I'm prone to getting cuts etc, so maybe she also wasn't as rough as I think she was... But she also didn't explain the exam at all and her bedside manner needed some tuning for sure.
All I know is that for me, the gyne exam is consistently one of the most painful procedures I've experienced. I've had multiple over my lifetime but won't ever get another unless they decide to offer moderate sedation or something. I've been told it shouldn't hurt but damn, it definitely does!
Ugh I had to have a colposcopy done with no pain med or sedation at all. It was excruciating!! I cramped for days too. I would rather get another iud put in a million times before having to go through that again!! 😵😵😵
I’ve had one Pap smear that didn’t hurt, I was so surprised because I didn’t feel it at all. Every other time has been extremely painful.
It's always uncomfortable but i appreciate when the gyno apologizes for needing to switch to a different speculum. Also, Ladies it's important to be hydrated before a pap. Otherwise the swab will hurt really bad. Of course have an empty bladder too. 😆
I have seen undigested food I ate the night before the next morning or afternoon. especially if it's veggies. will see pretty much the same thing that went in in same colours even when I haven't eaten those foods like bean sprouts or carrots in months.
That sounds like it could potentially be bad? Have you talked to your doctor about it?
i've gotten exactly one pap and one pelvic in my life time, and I will avoid them as much as possible. "shouldn't be an invasion" tf else do you call sticking a metal instrument barely small enough to fit inside someone and poking around? both times have been painful, have resulted in crying on the way home. and I'm lucky enough that my providers were kind, understanding, and as gentle as possible about the entire thing. it still fucking hurt.
😂😂😂😂😂
✊
Sorry, you’re a guy. You will NEVER know what this actually feels like
Absolutely correct. All men should be grateful that they do not have to endure these exams. Also true is that fact that awareness saves lives. Physicians irrespective of gender go to work every day and with the singular purpose of saving lives.
@@DoctorRich not saying they don’t, however it’s also true that women go undiagnosed more often because male dr’s don’t take their pain seriously enough.
@@laurajaneluvsbeauty9596 Medical gaslighting is certainly a problem. Some male and female doctors don't take their patient's problems seriously. We appreciate you sharing your personal experience.
It is our experience in over two decades of practice with the honor of serving tens of thousands of women that our patient specifically come to our clinic precisely because they feel heard and their problems are taken seriously by our male and female providers.
Generally speaking most physicians are good and caring. It is completely inaccurate to say that male doctors don't take their patients seriously. and it dangerously targets and disenfranchises an entire population of physicians who offer excellent care. Bad doctoring needs to be addressed- but it needs to be done in an honest and analytic fashion.
Pap smears have always been painful for me. The scraping hurt and I had painful cramping for about a half hour, every time and I felt dizzy and nauseated. But I had them done on the schedule that Planned Parenthood recommended. One did reveal a precancerous lession on my cervix. The biopsy was extremely painful. The was given local anesthetic for the procedure to remove the lession. So that didn't hurt as bad. Having an IUD placed left me dizzy and shaking for at least 2 hours. Speculums have always felt uncomfortably too big and hurt.
When I was 43 my periods became extremely painful. I would experience the same pain as the early stages of childbirth for 3 days every month and the bleeding was so heavy that it was a challenge to keep up with the flow using the highest capacity menstruation products. I would bleed for two weeks out of every month. Climaxing became extremely painful after that. I was diagnosed with endometriosis. DEPO shots eventually stopped me from having periods. I still have mild pain on the lower left side of my abdomen. Doctors haven't been able to tell me why that pain is there, but I trust that they did everything that they could do to determine the cause of the pain and have ruled out causes that would endanger my health. Climaxing can still be painful.
I do have a high pain tolerance. I was able to have childbirth without pain medicine or complaining, making noise or crying. I am a survivor of repeated sexual assaults. From 18 months old to 8 or nine years old. It was usually by my father. I wasn't allowed to display any signs of distress while it was happening or after he was done. He taught me to believe that anything other than being completely stoic was a defect. A weakness on my part and a reason to be embarrassed and think less of myself if I allowed any outward signs of distress to show, even when I was a small child.
I didn't know that pap smears shouldn't hurt. It didn't occur to me to tell any medical professional about it. 🤔
Thank you for sharing your story. There needs to be open communication between the doctor and patient. We are sorry to hear of your experience and hope that you will be able to voice your experience with your provider. Thank you for starting this important conversation.