how to make a pap smear less painful

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Try torelax your body with breathing exercises or music. 鈥淭he biggest thing that a woman can do to make a Pap smear easier is to relax during the speculum exam,if she can,鈥?says Dr. Christianson. A slow,deep breathing exercise鈥攍ike one you would do during meditation 鈥攎ay help.

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Ob/Gyns Share 11 Ways to Make a Pap Smear Easier on You and Your Vagina 1 Make sure you understand what a Pap smear is and entails. 2 Try to pee before your Pap smear. 3 Request the smallest, narrowest speculum that can work for your body. 4 Request a plastic speculum. 5 Ask your ob/gyn to warm up the speculum. More items…

If you have either condition, you might find Pap smear tests painful. With vaginismus, you fear penetration and any attempt at it causes you severe anxiety. As a result your vaginal muscles can clamp shut involuntarily, making penetration difficult or painful.

What to Do for Painful Pap Tests 1 Poor technique in performing the test. Solution: Talk it over with your doctor… 2 Not enough lubrication when inserting the speculum. 3 Too large a speculum. Solution: Use a child-sized or adolescent-sized speculum. 4 Vaginal muscle spasm due to anxiety or calcium and magnesium deficiency.

During a Pap smear, a medical provider uses a long device called a speculum to hold the walls of your vagina apart, then uses one or two brushes to collect cells from your cervix. A lab will test these cells for abnormalities that could indicate cervical cancer.