All women at some point in their life will have to have a cervical smear as a part of a health checkup. But do you know exactly what a cervical smear is, and how it can affect, diagnose or treat women’s ailments? Read on for more information about this common procedure.

 What is the purpose of a Cervical Smear?
A cervical smear is a test used on women to tell if there are any changes in the health of the cervix. This is helpful to diagnose the early stages of cancer. Early stages of cervical cancer are curable. However, cervical smear also tells about other aspects of the health of the cervix such as bacterial infection, fungal infection, sexually transmitted diseases and inflammation. All these medical conditions are treatable.

 Why Have a Cervical Smear?
The main reason to have a cervical smear is to monitor the health of the cervix, and to reduce the number of women who contract cervical cancer. The smear is targeted to detect early strains of potentially cancerous cells. If discovered in time, the medical condition is treatable. However, a cervical smear is just a screening process. Hence,  it may fail to detect some cases.

 Who Needs a Cervical Smear?
Women who are sexually active, or who are 18 or older (whatever comes first) should take their health in their own hands and have regular cervical smears until the age of 70. A regular smear would be every three years for most women, depending on their health and the results of the last smear. Also, women who are not healthy should have annual smears, such as those with HIV. Women who have had a hysterectomy who have had abnormal pap smears in the past should get themselves checked every year by a health practitioner; there is still a risk of abnormal cell growth at the top of the vaginal canal.

How is a Cervical Smear Done?
A cervical smear is only taken when women are in good health, and are not bleeding. Any blood that appears during the testing can skew the results unnecessarily.

The procedure is performed with women on their backs, and their legs held up in the air by a health practitioner or stirrups. A speculum is placed inside the vagina, so that the health practitioner can view women’s cervix closely. Then a brush-like instrument is placed over the cervix, and cells are wiped onto the brush, and then placed onto a glass slide for histopathological report.

Women’s cervical smears can be done by a health practitioner, such as a doctor or nurse. The procedure usually only takes a couple of minutes, at the most, and isn’t painful, although it may be a bit uncomfortable.



If you have questions related to this article you may e-mail me at doctor@soontongkiong.com quoting the contents of the article.