SEX-ED: Pap Smears

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so i went to the doctor's today and the unfortunate question came up: have i had a pap smear yet? since i've been a non-virgin for almost 4 years now, the answer is no. OOPS. SHIT. so i will take this time to blog about this horrifying procedure (jks it's not that bad) in order to prepare myself for the invasive nature of this thing which will apparently help me prevent cancer or smth iunno.

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WHAT IS A PAP SMEAR?
The pap smear (named after the doctor who founded it,Dr Papanicolaou) is to detect changes in cells at the cervix (the neck of the womb). Since they discovered that cells change before developing into cancer cells, this helps detect early stages of possible cervical cancer forming the future.

HOW ELSE CAN THEY DETECT CERVICAL CANCER?
They can't. There's no symptoms early on. Go get a pap smear.

HOW IS SCRAPING MY VAGINA FREQUENTLY GOING TO HELP ME?
By getting it done every two years, you can avoid up to 90% of the most common type of cervical cancer. More frequently than that won't help, but every two years ensures that early stages of cancer can be treated quickly, as the most common type of cervical cancer usually takes up to 10 years to develop fully.

 WHO NEEDS TO GET PAP SMEARS?
Every woman over the age of 18 who are sexually active should get pap smears. Even if you are no longer sexually active, or are going through menopause, you should still get it just in case. What's worse: getting your vagina scraped or dying from cancer?

OKAY BUT I STILL DON'T GET WHY SEX = CANCER.
Cervical cancer is actually caused by Human Papillomavirus (HPV), a sexually transmitted infection. Most cases though, it'll be dealt with my the immune system (good ol' body) within 14 months. Pap smears can detect HPV as well, so you can get it treated before it gets worse. Also if you have repeated infections of HPV, you might get abnormalities in your vajay. Which is not good.

IT SOUNDS SCARY THOUGH??
It's not that bad apparently. Your doctor will simply insert a device which will hold open your vagina, take a swabbing of cells (which might feel weird but it doesn't hurt) and it should be over in about five minutes or so. It'll be okay. :D *hyperventilates*

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there you go. all you need to know crash course on pap smears. :3