Why it matters: The less-invasive self-swab requires less equipment, allowing health clinics that don't have speculums and stirrups to start offering screening. It's an alternative to Pap smears ...

I just want to talk about my experience on my monday with my gyane. Before this I had not had a pap smear before, I am 25, I know I should had it earlier. I am still waiting for the results. Anyway ...

Facebook X Reddit Email Save. When Noa Fleischacker had her first pap smear, she was struck by an unbearable, knife-like pain as soon as the speculum went in. “I literally was going to jump off ...

This company wants to replace your Pap smear — and promises its DIY cancer screening is less painful By . Diana Bruk. Published May 12, 2025, 2:03 p.m. ET.

In a pap smear, a gynecologist uses a speculum to open the walls of the vagina, and then uses an instrument to collect cells from the cervix. As the Mayo Clinic notes, it “may feel uncomfortable.

Getting a Pap smear isn’t high on most people’s list, but it’s the go-to test to look for cervical changes that could lead to cancer. So, most women endure it every three or so years. Now ...

M aybe you had a bad experience with your last Pap smear and you’re wary of going back to the ob-gyn. Or maybe you’ve never had one before and are scared to make the appointment. It’s ...

While these HPV self-collection tests have several upsides, ob/gyns told MedPage Today that they don't completely replace the utility of the Pap test -- and the U.S. is still behind other ...

But, as you point out in your letter, Pap smears are an important part of preventive care. It is recommended that women start getting tested for cervical cancer at age 21 and have a Pap smear ...