Pap Smear

What is a Pap smear?
A Pap smear is a test your doctor does to check for signs of cancer of the cervix. The cervix is part of your uterus (womb). During a Pap smear, your doctor takes a sample of cells from your cervix to be tested and examined.

To take the sample, your doctor will put a special instrument called a speculum into your vagina. This helps open your vagina so the sample can be taken. Your doctor will gently clean your cervix with a cotton swab and then collect a sample of cells with a small brush, a tiny spatula or a cotton swab. This sample is put on a glass slide and sent to a lab to be checked under a microscope.
The sample checked for the cells on the slide are checked for signs that they're changing from normal to abnormal. Cells go through a series of changes before they turn into cancer. A Pap smear can show if your cells are going through these changes long before you actually have cancer. If caught and treated early, cervical cancer is not life-threatening. This is why getting regular Pap smears is so important.

What do the results mean?
A normal Pap smear means that all the cells in your cervix are normal and healthy.

An abnormal Pap smear can be a sign of a number of changes in the cells on your cervix:

* Inflammation (irritation). This can be caused by an infection of the cervix, including a yeast infection, infection with the human papillomavirus (HPV) the herpes virus or many other infections.
* Abnormal cells. These changes are called cervical dysplasia. The cells are not cancer cells, but may be precancerous (which means they could eventually turn into cancer).
* More serious signs of cancer. These changes affect the top layers of the cervix but don't go beyond the cervix.
* More advanced cancer.

You should have your first Pap smear when you start having sex or by age 18.

Continue having a Pap smear once a year until you've had at least 3 normal ones. After this, you should have a Pap smear at least every 3 years, unless your doctor thinks you need them more often. Keep having Pap smears throughout your life, even after you've gone through menopause.

Certain things put you at higher risk of cervical cancer. Your doctor will consider these when recommending how often you should have a Pap smear.

If you're older than 65, talk with your doctor about how often you need a Pap smear. If you've been having Pap smears regularly and they've been normal, you may not need to keep having them.
s there anything I can do to avoid getting cervical cancer?
You may be able to reduce your risk of cervical cancer if you:

* Delay sexual intercourse until you're 18 years of age or older.
* Make sure both you and your partner are tested for STIs.
* Limit your number of sex partners.
* Always use latex condoms to protect against sexually transmitted infections (STIs). (Remember condoms aren't 100% effective.)
* Avoid smoking.