Pap Test and Pelvic Exam

Pap Test

A pap test or pap smear is a procedure used to collect cells from the cervix. After the cells are collected, a health care professional will look at those cells under a microscope. The pap test has been the most successful screening test ever in preventing cancer.

Pap Test Procedure

When you go to a clinic or doctor’s office for a pap test, here’s what will happen:

• You will remove your clothing from the waist down.
• Your health care professional will ask you to lie on your back on the examination table.
• You’ll bend your knees and rest your feet in two stirrups.
• Then your health care professional will insert a speculum into your vagina. A speculum is a metal or plastic instrument that keeps the vagina open so that the cervix can be seen clearly.
• Next the health care professional will collect a sample of cells and mucus by lightly scraping one part of your cervix with a small spatula.
• In another part of your cervix, your health care professional will use a small brush or cotton-tipped swab to collect another sample.

These samples are sent to the laboratory where specially trained technologists and doctors examine the samples under a microscope.

Pelvic Exam

Another part of your exam should include a pelvic exam. Many people confuse pelvic exams and pap tests.

During a pelvic exam, the health care provider looks at and feels your reproductive organs, including the uterus and the ovaries, and may test for sexually transmitted illnesses.

A pelvic exam will not find cervical cancer at an early stage and cannot find abnormal cells of the cervix. That is why the pap test is conducted just before the pelvic exam. Pelvic exams may help find other types of cancers and reproductive problems, but only pap tests can give information on early cervical cancer or precancers.

To Help Make the Tests More Accurate

There are several things you can do to increase the accuracy of your tests.

• Try not to schedule an appointment for a time during your menstrual period.
• Do not douche for 48 hours before the test.
• Do not have sexual intercourse for 48 hours before the test.
• Do not use tampons, birth control foams, jellies or other vaginal creams or vaginal medications for 48 hours before the test.

How Often Should You Get a Pap Test and Pelvic Exam?

You might be wondering how often you should get a pap test and pelvic exam. The American Cancer Society recommends that all women should begin cervical cancer testing about 3 years after they begin having vaginal intercourse, but no later than 21 years old. After that, a woman should have a pap test and pelvic exam every year.

Women who are 30 years old or older and have had three normal pap test results in a row may get tested every 2 to 3 years.

However, if you have certain risk factors such as DES exposure before birth, HIV or a weakened immune system because of an organ transplant, chemotherapy or chronic steroid use, you should continue to be tested yearly.

You Can Stop Testing If…

If you are over 70 years old and have had three or more normal pap tests in a row and no abnormal pap results in the past 10 years, you may choose to stop having cervical cancer testing.

Women with a history of cervical cancer, DES exposure before birth, HIV or a weakened immune system should continue to have testing as long as they are in good health.

If you’ve had a total hysterectomy (removal of the uterus and cervix), you may also choose to stop having cervical cancer testing unless the surgery was done as a treatment for cervical cancer or precancer. Women who have had a hysterectomy without removal of the cervix should continue to follow the guidelines recommended by the American Cancer Society.

Next: What if Something’s Amiss?