Abnormal Pap Smear (Colposcopy) – What It Means and What To Do?

Nearly every woman will be informed she has an abnormal Pap smear at any point in her life. It is not something that you want to hear; however, it is not always severe. Following your physician takes that enormous Q-tip and swabs your cervix, the cells on the Q-tip are rubbed off onto a sheet of glass called a”slide” Then, a thin plastic piece is put on top to help keep it all together. The tests are looked at by people who have been educated to look at them, but they miss something because they do not look at the entire slide. Other times they are not entirely sure what they view, so they flag it as possibly abnormal.

You may hear your Pap revealed”ASCUS,” which means atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance. In other words, they found something that wasn’t ordinary but not entirely unnatural either, so they don’t understand for sure.

Many physicians will have you come back in a couple of weeks for another Pap smear to find out if it shifted into regular, or if there was inflammation, they may treat you with antibiotics to clean up the cervical infection.

If the Pap is also revealed positive for HPV, but then ASCUS means just a tiny bit more. Since HPV is the primary cause of cervical cancer, being positive for HPV using an ASCUS Pap result will usually make your doctor want to do some more testing.

What is a Pap Smear?

A pap smear can be done in an annual examination when you visit the gynecologist; The biopsy is done with a metal tool that pinches off a sheet of tissue. This can be done relatively quickly and can be painless times. However, you might undergo a menstrual type cramp while the physician gets the sample. The physician can use a small, soft brush to obtain the sample out of your cervix. That biopsy can be sent to a pathologist who looks at it for abnormal fluctuations. If there’s mild dysplasia, they likely won’t do anything yet but have you come back in a month or two and assess again.

Another portion of a yearly exam is that the bimanual pelvic exam. This exam usually follows the collection of the samples to the pap smear. The doctor will insert two hands, usually with lubrication. One hand will probably be inside the rectal canal to sense for the ovaries and uterus, whereas the flip side is in addition to the stomach to feel outside.

However, when there’s severe or moderate dysplasia in conjunction with HPV, they will most likely want to do something such as a LEEP or cone biopsy to remove the tissue. The reason is that HPV plus moderate/severe dysplasia is a recipe for cervical cancer in the future.

Results in the pap smear generally take 2-3 weeks to get. Based upon the office you visit, the physician or nurse may or may not contact you. When they do not contact you, that typically means that it came back normal. If you haven’t heard back in the office in over a month and are still curious about the outcome, it is possible to call and request the results.

In case your results came back negative, yearly pap smears must be done. Some doctors would do every other year or every 2-3 years if the tests came back average several years in a row. Check with your doctor for your particular directions.

I have learned about women who refused a LEEP or cone biopsy because they did not want surgery. They believed they would take their chance that it would get better by itself. That can happen sometimes, but what if it doesn’t–what should it gets worse and spreads? Then your surgery isn’t just to eliminate some of your cervices. You may lose your uterus, also.

Think carefully if your doctor recommends a LEEP or cone biopsy. Early therapy is much better than later therapy, and early therapy usually will not impact your ability to have children later.