Pap Smear (sort of) and Vaginal Pain

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I went to my doctor and she did a vaginal exam. I didn't expect it to be so painful...well I never even got the exam done 'cause I almost jumped off the table and she said she wouldn't do it since it was obviously painful for me. The big q-tip she showed me felt like a tiny sharp stick covered in sandpaper. The texture felt so rough. I don't think I'll be able to ever have a pap smear if it feels like that. It wasn't the slight pain I expected. Ugh, thinking about it makes me cringe, the way the q-tip felt going in is equivalent to nails on a chalkboard.

I could really relax though, so maybe that was an issue. I can only really get my vagina muscles to relax if I'm completely on my back and my legs are nearly up in the air...the doctor bed and the stirrups make for an awkward position for me. Also when my ex was fingering me, it hurt when he did it, but I think it because he was aiming straight to the "wall" and not up toward my lower back. I tried it the later way on my own and it didn't hurt, but I could only get my finger in so far.... What's the big deal about penis length (other than vanity)? How deep is the vagina? Does is depend on the woman or is there a standard for depth? I heard on tv a guy really only needs 3 or 4 inches and the rest isn't going anywhere. I think I'm only as deep as my index finger, maybe less.

Are there any other vagina-friendly tools doctors can use for pap smears? I've never had sex and I have used (well tried to use) tampons before but they didn't hurt. I just couldn't get them in right and I could feel it poking me when I moved. I once tried an o.b. brand tampon, they're all cotton with no applicator. I got it in and had to take it out 'cause I could feel it poking me, but since it was cotton it soaked up everything and was hard to remove. It was kind of like the giant q-tip my doctor used. I could feel the texture of the cotton scrapping the inside of my vagina as I took it out. Ugh, it felt terrible.

Okay, so I tried to see if I could get anything (my index finger) in my vagina so maybe I can better relax (or something) for future doctor visits. The friction of my finger alone against my vagina walls hurt and I was a little red and there was slight burning. I should have used some sort of lubricant. Do doctors use lubricant in vaginal exams? Inserting a dry tool hurts. Also, doesn't the vaginal opening sort of bent/curve upward? It felt like that's the way of the path my finger was going. Those stupid giant q-tips are just straight and rigid. They don't bend and I could feel it poking/stabbing me. :frowning: If exams and sex feel this painful, I'd won't be experiencing either. I have a very, very, low threshold for pain.

Any answers, advice?

Anyone?? :frowning:

Well I'll juump in.. since I'm an expert at this.Kind of odd. What do you mean about feeling the swab going in.. She used a speculum right? That opens up your vagina and they "scrape the opening of the uterus.. I don't think they poke into the urertus at all. Odd that it hurt that much.The vagina is about 3-4 inches but elongates when aroused "during sex". It probably lengthens to 5-7 inches... The range of the average penis!!! Go figure.Anyways.. I don't understand this whole exam that was performed on you. I've gone with my wife to almost all of her exams.. (Her English is not the greatest) A Speculum is always used and it's just a open tunnel where thay can visually see the uterus and scrape for a PAP smear. Now the scraping can probably hurt but how much I don't know.

I think she might have used something to open but that hurt to, I only know that she showed me the cotton swab.Well I felt it rubbing against the walls, I could feel the texture. I could feel it poke/stab me. They're was something in the beginning she used, I don't know what, but it hurt too...then the showed me the swab and that hurt way more. Maybe she didn't used a speculum, 'cause I could feel it rubbing against the sides on the inside.I did some searches online for painful pap smears and other women say they're painful for them too. From their comments and stories I imagine if my doctor used a speculum it might have been to big.She just said she was going to examen me down there. Imagine if the examen hurt at all your wife would show it. I don't know if I should let that doctor/nurse perform another exam on me...now I don't know what she did. If you do it right and gently it's not supposed to hurt. I don't know exactly why for me and the other women that makes it hurt so bad. I do know I'm going o have to ask more question and explain my body more. Ugggghhh....

Here's a link the stories I read about painful pap smears. http://www.healthboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=582763 http://www.healthboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=582763

Don't know what to tell you. Maybe your doctor is too rough.

sigh

My wife has always said they were painful, but I think only unpleasantly so, not excruciating. It seems that being tense makes it a lot worse. Perhaps a few drinks beforehand might help?

I don't drink. I wish the tool they use to get the sample felt easier going in. I felt a poke/stab like she hit something, what, I don't know. When I insert my finger inside, there's like a little "door" or muscle and the only way to get past it is to gentle and slowly go under and up. There's no second hole down there, right? The finger is different than a swab, there's no friction or texture to irritate the walls. I don't know how other women get through it...it's like you have to have this uniform body. I feel like what position, procedure, works for so many women doesn't work for me. I can't get my opening open wide enough, comfortable or not...either way I'm going to feel the swab or whatever brush against the sides. If a speculum is used to widen the opening, wouldn't that hurt too?? It's a metal tool prying my vagina open. Do they have plastic ones for doctors to use? Ugh...I hope sex doesn't feel like I'm being stabbed. I'm already not too thrilled about doing it. I'm going to need the medical world to some up with a easier procedure, ASAP.

All the speculums I've seen have been plastic and are throw away's... The metal ones have to be put into an autoclave to sterilize it.Your whole issue is probably due to the fact that you are a virgin and are very tense and tight.

I've been doing research and I've found women (some virgins) that said their exam didn't hurt at all. If I can get my finger in, if I aim it fight...shouldn't that be enough to not have pain? I've tried tampons in past, but couldn't get them inserted properly so I had to take them right out.I read an article about a women wanting to know the difference between a vaginal swab and a pap smear. I think I might have had a vaginal swab done and not a pap smear because I never showed me a speculum. She only showed me the giant swab. I just assumed it must have been a pap smear because it hurt inside. If she didn't do a pap smear and just swabbed, why would she stick a dry q-tip inside me? Didn't she know that would hurt? Would that hurt most people?I also read that vaginal swabs are test for STIs...I wonder if she doesn't believe me that I'm 26 and a virgin. I just don't want it to be because of my virgin status. I'll probably be one for a while and I don't want to have to avoid getting exams because my virgin vagina can't take the pain. I was fine and don't remember feeling nervous. The pain caught me off guard. Everything I had previously read said it (pap smears) would be uncomfortable, but painless. Now I'm terrified.

I guess you are just extra tight... That can be a good thing too! Sounds like your vagina just needs to be put though it's paces.. Anything I can do to help???

Har, har, har That actually sounds like a bad thing...for me anyway.

Ok, you need to relax...ALOT. Pap smears are painful, but definitely not unbearable. I'm 31 and my first pap, I cried through the entire procedure and for about an hour after I left.

I think you're experience is so painful because you are too tense. Even if you think you're not, you're most likely tensing your muscles and making your vagina even tighter. I've only ever experienced the metal speculums, but I do know they make a slightly smaller size and they should always put lubrication on it. I suggest asking the doctor to use the smaller size. When your legs are in the stirrups, relax them way far out to the sides and just generally try to relax all of your girly muscles. The swab is the worst part, but it only lasts about a minute.

I hate to say it like this, but once you have sex, you kind of get used to things being shoved in your vagina. lol So it makes the pap a little more tolerable. :grin:

It's going to be even harder to relax now. I don't think I'll be able to go back to get one. I not one to take pain, like I would never be that still. I couldn't sit still through through the one I had. If felt like she hit something and that felt like a stab. I almost jumped off the table. If she has tried again. I definitely would have stopped her and got up to leave. I don't think I can do it again now. It really hurt and from what I've read it's not supposed to if done right. I don't know how to calm my nerves after that experience.They should be painless. I don't know how other women do it, especially if they've had painful ones. I'd probably die of something 'cause I'd never go back.I probably won't have had sex for the first time before I have a pap smear. The odds are pretty low on them both. I tend to avoid painful things, any amount of pain feels terrible; I don't have a very high tolerance/threshold. I may get used to having this shoved in my vagina after I have sex...maybe after several times or more, 'cause most likely I'll not feel used to that after the first time. The thing is that that pain memory has been burn into my mind, you don't understand. Ugh, that feeling was terrible, that pain sensation. I hope your pap smears were/are better than mine. The same is for sex, when it hurts the first time, the other times after are going to be even harder for me. I'll need coaching and I'll be really nervous, 'cause I'll be afraid of the pain and I'll remember that. I hope the guy I'm with better be really patient and understanding, because it's not going to be easy. Firt times at sex will not me memorable of fun. Like I said, I really not looking forward to it, even worse finding someone fitting to sleep with. I lost out on my last chance. Insensitive jerks are the masses and my psyche can only handle so much.

Get the book "When Sex Hurts" by Andrew Goldstein, MD, Caroline Pukall, PhD, and Irwin Goldstein, MD.You are not alone - a LOT of women experience this, and not a lot of OBGYNs get it (unless they have specific education in this area. The pain is real, don't listen when people say "just relax" as that doesn't always solve the problem. There are anatomical/medical reasons, and it's common (just no one ever talks about it or they try to ignore it or stop seeing the doctor). There is help. Get the book, you'll see.

I feel like she didn't do the exam properly, she went ahead even though she couldn't really see where the swab she was inserting was going. It's not a straight shot and a rigid cotton swab on a stick won't work. When I've tried to insert my finger or tampons i really have to be positioned right and aim in a certain direction. With my finger I can only get one in any more than that and they slide or I feel like I'm being stretched. Even if I am relaxed, things don't go in easily. When I have gotten fingered in the past. I could feel the stretching and that's it. It's wasn't pleasurable, it felt numb, like no sensation. I knew his finger was inside and they were moving, but it was like it was numb, I felt nothing. I only could climax/orgasm when he stimulated my clitoris.I think the big problem is doctors want to blame the patient when they are the ones doing something wrong. It doesn't matter that they went to school for years to be a doctor. People's bodies are not uniform, we're not made in a factory. We are not all the same.I'll have to find that book.

Wow, I am glad to see this topic! I never go to the gyno simply because it always feel like they are ripping me apart. I always thought I was the only one who has this problem. The doctors, both male and female, always act like it's my fault. So I just assumed that something was wrong with me and I just don't go. I have never even had sex and you don't even want to know how old I am!! The way things are going I may never find anyone.

I don't know why doctors have a hard time understanding that it can be painful for many women, especially if they've never had sex before. My vagina isn't used to having thing pushed in. I recently thought I had gotten a tampon stuck inside. The next time I go for an exam I am definitely going to explain to the doctor my past experience with pap smears and that I and NOT very wide down there so they better not shove and pry me open like I'm a cadaver instead of a live women that is sensitive to pain. How can doctors be so smart and stupid at the same time. I get frustrated every time I think about what I heard them do to their patient doing gynecological exams.

Blasphemy! LOL Just kidding. Ive read similar things on other blogs. Ill take your word for it. Stay solid! your pal.Hmm, that is some compelling information youve got going! Makes me scratch my head and think. Keep up the good writing!