Does a woman who has had a hysterectomy have to have a pap smear?
408276
There is no overall medical agreement as to whether women need routine Pap smear screening after they have had a hysterectomy. Some task forces have recommended that no Pap smears are needed while others have recommended every 3-5 years or at physician discretion\n\nHow can a women have an abnormal Pap smear after hysterectomy? \nThe changes in epithelium that take place on the cervix to produce abnormal Pap smears can also take place at the end of the vagina. A woman can develop vaginal dysplasia especially if she has previously been known to have cervical dysplasia. Therefore a woman whose hysterectomy was for either cervical cancer or cervical dysplasia should continue to have regular, yearly Pap smears even after hysterectomy. \n\nIn summary, if you have never had an abnormal Pap smear and you have had a hysterectomy, it is reasonable to have a Pap smear every 5 years and some authorities would say you do not need to have them at all. If you had a very minor Pap abnormality that just had to be followed but not treated with freezing, laser, cautery. LEEP or cone cervical biopsy, then having a Pap about every 3 years after a hysterectomy would be a safe approach. If you have had treatment for an abnormal Pap or the hysterectomy was performed for abnormal Paps, then it would be safest to continue to have a Pap smear annually because the HPV virus is probably still present in the vaginal cells.
536909
It's better to wait until the bleeding has stopped.  It may interfere with Pap test results, and can make visual inspection of the cervix and vagina walls more difficult.
784591
To obtain a pap smear the doctor takes "smears" of tissue and fluid from your vaginal walls and cervix.  Those smears are stained on a glass slide and then looked at under a  microscope.  If the examiner sees any cellular irregularity, you are asked to return and retest.  It could be cancer, it could be an infection, it could be an overgrowth of yeast, it could be any number of things.  Don't jump to conclusions, just go and repeat the test.
494538
If healthy, an annual or twice yearly physical by your regular doc and gynecologic exam including a pap smear by your OBGYN should be performed.\n\nIf you have conditions that need monitoring or have warranted suspicion (i.e., high blood pressure, gynecologic conditions or disorders), obviously you will need to go more often.  But for a well-woman checkup, once or twice a year should be sufficient.\n\nBetween the physical and the gyn exams, you should be covered for all the important tests.
120775
You don't have to. Just be sure to do it safely all the time. You might want to see a doctor for a pap-smear, though. And maybe to get advice on birth control.
39803
Well when you go for a gynocology checkup, they will often do a papsmear to make sure everything is alright. If this comes back abnormally, it will be tested for cancer through what is called a colposcopy, which you can read about here: http://womenshealth.about.com/cs/cevicalconditions/a/colposcopy.htm
766560
It depends on what you are seeing the doc for.  If you are going in for a pap/pelvic exam they will do the standard blood pressure, pulse, respirations and maybe temp when the nurse takes you to the examining room.  She may ask if you can give a urine sample.  She will ask you about your periods such as are they regular, when was your last period, do have any discharge and other such questions.  She will then have you get undressed while she leave the room either from the waist down or totally undressed and give you either a gown to put on or a sheet to cover your lower body.  Once the doctor comes in they will ask a few questions and then have you lay down and put your feet up in the stirrups.  If doing a pap/pelvis they will insert a plastic speculum into your vagina to hold it open so they can visually see if things look ok ie: looks healthy no discharge or other problems.  They will then take a small wooden spatula type device and gently scrap a few of your cervical cells to place on a slide.  This does not hurt at all and if it does don't hesitate to let your doctor know that this was uncomfortable as it should not hurt.  They will then remove the speculum and insert a gloved finger while they press on your abdomen to be sure they don't feel any tumors or masses on your ovaries etc.  They may do a routine breast exam to check for any lumps or masses and that should be the end of the exam.  The doc will have you sit up and ask if you have any questions and you will be done.  If you are there for other reasons such as excessive discharge or STD testing then they will also do those things.  A pap/pelvic is NOT painful and if it is painful for you then tell your doctor so they can be aware of this.  Usually your regular doc takes care of your annual pelvic/pap but I am assuming this is what you are seeing  a GYN doc for.
1089125
abnormal pap smears really no symptons reason why it is important to get checked regularly for paps
191968
The main purpose of Paps are to find an early cervical cancer.  It does not find vaginal, ovarian, uterine or endometrial cancer, however.  \n\nWhat is a Pap smear? \nA Pap smear is a test your doctor does to check for signs of cancer of the cervix.  http://familydoctor.org/138.xml#2
430257
You might need a hysterectomy.
1019678
Women are supposed to see the gynecologist when they are 18 or sexually active, which ever is first.  Although everything seems normal to you, you should still get a yearly pap test to make sure.  There could be things that you can't detect, like cancerous cells, etc.  Its best to just play it safe and see a gynecologist.
535673
First of all it's called a PaP smear...and no doctor would examine you during your menstrual cycle unless it was an emergency...think girl...think
897285
Cervical cancer is a malignancy of the cervix. Worldwide, it is the second most common cancer of women. It may present with vaginal bleeding but symptoms may be absent until the cancer is in advanced stages, which has made cervical cancer the focus of intense screening efforts utilizing the Pap smear. Most scientific studies have found that human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is responsible for >90% of the cases of cervical cancer. There are 7 most common types of HPV - 16, 18, 31, 33, 42, 52 and 58. Types 16 and 18 being the most common cause of the cancer. Treatment is with surgery (including local excision) in early stages and chemotherapy and radiotherapy in advanced stages of the disease. An effective vaccine for the two most common strains of HPV has recently been licenced.\n\nSigns and symptoms\nThe early stages of cervical cancer may be completely asymptomatic (Canavan & Doshi, 2000). Vaginal bleeding, contact bleeding or (rarely) a vaginal mass may indicate the presence of malignancy. In advanced disease, metastases may be present in the abdomen, lungs or elsewhere.\n\nThe possibility to identify premalignant changes on a cervical smear has made screening the major cause for referral of women with possible cervical neoplasia. In many countries, women are advised to have a regular Pap smear to check for premalignant changes. Recommendations for how often a Pap smear should be done vary from once a year to once every five years. If cervical cancer is detected early, it can be treated without impairing fertility. Consistently abnormal smears may be a reason for further diagnosis despite complete absence of symptoms.\n\nCervical cancer is staged by the FIGO staging system, which is based on clinical examination, rather than surgical findings. It allows only the following diagnostic tests to be used in determining the stage: palpation, inspection, colposcopy, endocervical curettage, hysteroscopy, cystoscopy, proctoscopy, intravenous urography, and X-ray examination of the lungs and skeleton, and cervical conization.\n\nEarly stages (IB1 and IIA less than 4 cm) can be treated with radical hysterectomy with removal of the lymph nodes or radiation therapy. Radiation therapy is given as external beam radiotherapy to the pelvis and brachytherapy (internal radiation). For patients treated with surgery who have high risk features found on pathologic examination, radiation therapy with or without chemotherapy is given in order to reduce the risk of relapse.\n\nLarger early stage tumors (IB2 and IIA more than 4 cm) may be treated with radiation therapy and cisplatin-based chemotherapy, hysterectomy (which then usually requires adjuvant radiation therapy), or cisplatin chemotherapy followed by hysterectomy.\n\nAdvanced stage tumors (IIB-IVA) are treated with radiation therapy and cisplatin-based chemotherapy.\n\nThe cases should be referred immediately to an eminent Oncologist and treated as -\nCANCER IS STILL AN ENIGMA - and we can  not take chances-.
149311
YES IT CAN!  I have HPV and due to the HPV I have already had to have precancerous cells removed.  I suggest going to webmd and giving it a good read.  I learned a lot about HPV.  There are certain strands of it (yes there are MANY different kinds) that are known for causing cervical and uterine cancer.
1177380
You should have a complete physical every year, pap exam every year.  Every woman should have this done.  If you don't have insurance then visit your local free health clinic.  Better safe than sorry.  Visit the following website and it will give you more information on what the procedure is.  Educate your self. http://www.4woman.gov/
380625
Start when your period does. It's very important that you get a Pap once a year. It test for abnormalities. I hated going to the Gynecologist. I never went for my check ups. I ended up having to go because I got pregnant and found out I had Cervical Cancer. If I had not of gotten pregnant I would have been dead 2 years form now. I'm just trying to say be sure you go to a Gynecologist at least once a year. It could save your life.
1049899
Paps can come back abnormal and it's nothing or it can be cancerous cells.\n\nYour OBGYN is probably going to want to do whats called a coloscopy. They take a tiny bit of the tissue on your cervix and send it off to the lab. I have had this done twice. The first time it turned out to be cancerous cells and I had developed cervical cancer from HPV. The second time, about a year later, I had this done and it turned out to be nothing. My doctor said that having HPV can do that. It can make your paps come back abnormal, when really there is nothing wrong. I didn't even know I had HPV until my pap came back abnormal the first time. \n\nIf it does become cervical cancer then they have to do a "Leep" procedure. This is where they take a small layer of your cervix off to remove the abnormal tissue. \n\nIt's not 100% guarantee it will turn into cancer, but it might. Best thing to do is get a pap at least once a year. Now that you have had an abnormal one, your doctor is probably going to want you to come back every 3-4 months for a year, just so they can keep an eye on it. I have been going to my OBGYN for a re-pap every 4 months for the last 2 years!\n\nI hope this answered your question! Good luck to you!