which is worse: a dental exam or a gynecological exam?

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I think the first problem with that is that (I believe) when they do a Pap smear, they swab your cervix, not just the vaginal wall. I don't know about you, but I don't think I could find my cervix with a swab, unaided.

I haven't had a pap smear yet, and I'm going to have to get one soon. I'm a virgin, and really anxious about the whole thing. Do you think it'll be less painful if they use a smaller swab? My gyno showed me she had a really long swab about the size of q-tip. If that even.

The gynecologist is definitly worse. I'm not saying the dentist isn't bad, especially if you have to have drilling done. The smell of the drilled tooth especially. But the gynecologist is a lot more invasive, even though it is over faster than a dentist appointment. It's not the size of the swab, it's the invasion and the metal implements, and yes, it feels like a metal toothbrush. I always bleed afterwards and have some cramping. Luckily my doctor is very nice and was understanding, especially my first time. I cannot imagine going to a male doctor... I simply wouldn't go. The best thing is just to close your eyes and grit your teeth and remind yourself that it will be a year before you have to do it again.

The gyn exam has to be the worst. I am still traumatized from early exams by numerous drs when I was a young child because they tried to say I was intersexed. One guy dr even fisted me when I was a child and took photos! I finally had my first adult gyn exam at age 32. Even though it was a female doc and she was nice it still was incredibly painful and I bled and cramped for days. My personal opinion is gyn exams are a form of rape at least for me because I don't want them touching or penetrating me. Its just a legalized form of rape is all. My friend overheard on her police scanner some women that work at a gyn office gossiping about patients over the phone so another good reason not to trust those places.

The length isn't really an issue. It has to be long though, because they need to swab your cervix, which is all the way at the "end" of the vaginal canal. They need a long q-tip to reach up there since the depth of the average vaginal canal is something like 6 inches.

Make sure you tell them up front that this is your first exam though. The thing that you you should be concerned about the "size" of though, is the speculum. This is a speculum:

http://www.aly-abbara.com/livre_gyn_obs ... _laser.jpg

It's a metal or plastic device that goes inside the vagina to hold it open so that the doctor can look inside and reach the stuff he needs to swab. The doctors generally have several sizes of speculum on hand. They don't typically advertise that information though, so you would need to say ahead of time "Can you use a very small speculum on me?"

If you don't mind my asking, was there a reason that they thought you were intersexed, or were they just totally nutty?

Because I had whats called Prococious Puberty starting at age 4. From what I know prococious puberty is common in intersexed and especially with CAH. Basically I had something start a surge of androgens in the body that start converting to estrogens. Upon examination they found I have an extra apendage and going to male doctors of course I became their new toy to show off to other drs. They wanted to do exploratory surgery to look for an ova-teste. I begged my mom not to let them do surgery so between her being half Native American therefore hating western medicine and my dad being a cheapskate and not wanting to incur more bills I was saved from having the surgery.

Now in my 30's drs have started discovering I'm different again. They still can't explain my raging hormone levels. I don't test positive for CAH or ovarian cysts or a pituitary tumor which are all the possibilities they can come up with other than I may have testicular tissue somewhere that is producing the androgens. In fact I'm scheduled for another MRI to look again for the tumor that apparently doesn't exist. Yeah I just love to keep them guessing. The drs won't listen to me, but I think I am a chimera because I was suppose to have a stillborn twin brother according to my mom. So I think I absorbed some of his DNA. I mean that's what I look like with the extra tissue and not like the classic intersexed pictures I've seen. Though chimerism is now considered a form of intersexed. Chimerism would also explain my having autoimmune diseases which no one else in family has ever had. From what I understand my mom was given DES to conceive so that's probably why I ended up like this.

BTW- I noticed even though it says this is a women's only forum that men often visit here. Guys for some reason are entralled with the idea of intersex and for the record I am not interested guys and no you can't get a photo. I've had offers from men all over the world who troll intersex boards; its kinda pathetic. I'm only interested in women and very few of them at that.

No way will I have another Pap smear. The first two were traumatic for me, they even gave me Valium for the second time and it didn't work. The third time I was having a laparoscopy, so they did the pap smear while I was under general anaesthetic.
I am thankful that here in Australia I haven't been made to have a pap smear just to get my quarterly injection. Last time my GP spoke about me having a pap smear, I said that I would have to be knocked out first.

Does it seem drs are not upfront with why women need Paps? It seems all females are pressured into having them after age 16 just because of their age. But isn't it true cervical cancer is what they are looking for and that is caused by HPV virus (which few people seem to know about). HPV is sexually transmitted so if a person is not sexually active then the drs are just preying on them to get more money. Most of the women I know on birth control pills are on it for period regulation and not as protection yet they still are required to undergo the exam.

i can understand that this can be frighting when you are a virgin.. but its not as bad as your think.. i think the uncomfortable part is the speclum they use to open the area to take the swab.. but over all its not that bad..

that is horribe.. but please do not think all places are like this.. if you are on the spectrum I would ask your dr(therapist) to refer you to someone who works with patients who have challanges. please do not think this way.. it can cost you your life.. AS horrible as you been treated there are dr's out there who care about your well being.. i care about your well being.. do you have a close friend/family who you can take with you to help you thru this experience? please do not neglect this.. breast cancer killed my good friend at the age of 42 with 2 young boys.. please do not put yourself at risk...

cervial cancer does not just come from sexual activity.. cancer is cancer. if you are pre disposed then you can see the early cells in a pap.. I was diagnosised at a very early age with displasia which is abnormal cell formation in the cervix.. and if you take birth control then you need to see a dr. at least every 6 months because the hormones in the pills can cause cancer. don't forget that the gyno looks for other things other than cervical cancer.. she also looks for tumors in a womans breast. its important to have this done.. it saves your life...

Thanks for the concern. I thought I had freaked everyone out about being honest about myself. I have had an exam as an adult by the dr who diagnosed me with Aspergers. It is extremely painful for me because as I explained before I am made a little different than other women and the speculum is excruciating. I'm not a virgin so its not the size of the instrument but the way the metal is shaped it hurts me because I'm different. I've had breast exams. Actually I've had mammos and a breast core biopsy because they found an adenoma. It came back inconclusive and my insurance wouldn't pay to have a lumpectomy. Between my being in debt up to my eyeballs and also nearly dying on the operating table when I was 21 due to not handling anesthesia well I decided to not get the lumpectomy. My dr knows I have Aspergers and she treats me for several things and is always running tests on me to keep me safe. So overall I'd say I am getting better care than most women. I don't have anyone to take with me to the drs office anyway. My friends are always too busy and I wouldn't want them overhearing what the dr had to say to me anyway. My family is 2000 miles away.