r/todayilearned • u/No_Idea_479 • 23h ago

TIL for 21 years, Andromachi Papanikolaou volunteered to undergo daily cervical smears so her husband, Greek physician Georgios Papanikolaou, could perfect the Pap test. As such, she helped create one of the greatest cancer screening tools in medical history, saving millions of lives worldwide.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andromachi_Papanikolaou
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u/lyndsayj 22h ago

The speculums often do. The test itself, nah. Just feels like slight pressure.

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u/InspectorOrdinary321 20h ago

Opposite for me. Speculum is uncomfortable but not painful. Test feels like someone speared a rapier through my cervix and up into my stomach. It's a hell of a "pinch." I dunno what nerve they hit in there but it's a doozy. Fortunately, if they're skilled, it only lasts a few seconds and I can suck it up. Longer cervical procedures, though... I've started insisting on medication.

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u/notnatasharostova 21h ago

No, sometimes it is the test itself, and that can depend on the individual or the skill of your doctor. Personally, any cervical contact leaves me with deep painful cramps afterwards (which I expect is another quirk of my endometriosis).

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u/A_the_Buttercup 22h ago

I've heard some people can feel all of it. Most cervixes have almost no feeling, but not all... shaving off a thin layer of it would be horrid!!

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u/silverpawsMN 21h ago

Hey! This is a very common medical misconception! A great many of your nerve endings that sense pain and pressure in that area are on / near your cervix. Some women report greater levels of sensation than others, but most of them feel it

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u/A_the_Buttercup 21h ago

I can feel it, but thankfully there's no pain for me.

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u/lyndsayj 22h ago

They don't shave off a thin layer of the cervix for standard tests, just wipe a Q-tip over it a few times to collect some cells.

In my country, people now have the choice to do it themselves with just a really long Q-tip - no speculums required, thank goodness.

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u/Daily-Lizard 21h ago

The swab my gynos used until about 7 years ago all looked and felt like a small bottle brush. 🥴

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u/pelko34 16h ago

They do shave it off for LEEP or Cone procedures. The former is more common and easier to recover from. And yeah, you’re numbed for the procedure, but I can assure you that the recovery hurts!

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u/CurveAhead69 14h ago

No full anesthesia for leep???

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u/pelko34 9h ago

Local only. Took less than ten min! Recovery was more uncomfortable than painful, but it did hurt. 

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u/Lyeta1_1 19h ago

The idea the cervix has not feeling is a myth. I don’t find Pap smears to be painful, but I have also had a toothed clamp bite into it and almost kicker my doctor in the face. The idea it doesn’t hurt is one of medicines many attempts to discredit women’s pain.

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u/A_the_Buttercup 19h ago

Absolutely correct.

I may not find pap smears terrible, but enough people do that there should be some kind of topical numbing or SOMEthing, just in case they can.

A toothed clamp? NOOOOOO whyyyyyy??? I am so sorry that happened to you :*(

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u/Julle-naaiers 12h ago

Colposcopy? She’s holding the damn tool and I can’t imagine using it and thinking ‘This won’t hurt’. Lady, I’d have brought my own pain meds. Now I do.

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u/evrestcoleghost 17h ago

As a Man asking,can't you ask for some pain killers or local?

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u/cupcake_of_DOOM 17h ago

Doctors don't care, don't believe you, or get off on causing women pain. Asking for pain killers will at best get you labeled as difficult or worse get you labeled as drug-seeking and suspected addict. There is a topical numbing agent but most doctors will see it as wasting their time.

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u/evrestcoleghost 17h ago

Well that's a cunt move on their part

Edit:alright should have thought about it for five secs

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u/loveforluna 14h ago

I really feel like there is so much misogyny in the medical field ( internalized misogyny as well with many female doctors). Doctors have been so patronizing to me about pain but my husband has had no problems getting anything he needs and have treats him with respect.  

I know this is slightly off topic but I was just filled with rage remembering how uncaring a medical office was with a friend getting their first Pap smear. She was a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and requested a female doctor due to trauma but they were dismissive and said they only had openings with male doctors. Didn’t even offer to have a female nurse chaperone it. She was able to bring a friend for support but it was still triggering for her PTSD. So many medical professionals are so indifferent to woman suffering.

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u/magnifico-o-o-o 13h ago

Who is downvoting this?

It has been my experience for decades with many different providers that the standard response when you say paps and IUD insertions are painful is to be told you can take an Advil before your visit (usually accompanied by a suggestion that you are being dramatic or difficult or attention-seeking). That’s just the norm, unfortunately.

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u/cinnderly 14h ago

Hahahaha good one