Of all the joys that come with leaving your teens and entering into your fun-filled twenties, receiving a letter telling you your time has come to go for your first cervical screening (or smear test) is not one of them! But it’s just another one of the many things us girls have to deal with when it comes to our bodies.
Because it’s routine and we all have to face it, we assume everything will be fine and we can go back to our lives as normal. But for so many girls (many more than we realise) this is not always the case, and it wasn’t the case for me. Unknown to me at the time, it is very common for us girls in our early twenties to be asked to go back for another test six months later – as opposed to five years later. So, naturally, I panicked when I got my result and thought the worst. I began calling all the nurse and doctor contacts I had – my GP, my friend who studies to be a nurse, my friend’s parents – to reassure me that I was not dying and to put my anxiety to rest.
It turns out it is very normal for young women to not be 100% perfect down there. Our bodies are still changing and other factors, such as the pill, have more of an effect on us than we realise. If I had known this beforehand then maybe I wouldn’t have panicked so much when I got my result. Although it doesn’t mean there is anything seriously wrong with me (just very minor abnormalities), it’s all the more comforting to learn that this is also the case for many other young women just like me.
We’re also incredibly lucky in Scotland for it to be routine to be called for your smear test every 3 years from the age of 20. Sadly, in other countries and even in other places in the U.K. women are usually not checked until they are 25 years old and sadly, sometimes this can be too late. Speaking honestly, the Smear Test itself isn’t the most comfortable of things, but it’s far more awkward that it is sore! You’re basically lying in front of the nurse pretty exposed. However, as soon as the embarrassment wears off and you remember the nurse probably does these multiple times a week the test is over. It’s incredibly quick and even more vitally important.
So girls as soon as you get that letter through the door, take the opportunity that some other women and girls don’t have and get tested asap – it really is worth the embarrassment to keep yourself healthy.
Take care of yourselves, girls! HCXO <3