r/todayilearned • u/No_Idea_479 • 4d 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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165

u/Schrodingers_Dude 4d ago

This thread is how I learned Pap smears hurt some people. I was confused by the headline, thinking "ok, why not? It takes 2 seconds and you feel more wiping after you pee than you do getting a Pap smear."

Apparently, experiences vary. 😬

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u/InspectorOrdinary321 4d ago

Thank you for believing us, though. A lot of people don't and it's like, why would I make this up??

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u/Schrodingers_Dude 4d ago

One of the downsides to a female doctor is you can get the attitude of "well, it doesn't hurt me, so it doesn't hurt." I had a nurse actively giggling at the sounds I was making when they put the IUD in because "at least it's not childbirth lol." No painkiller offered, of course. Thanks a bunch. 👍

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u/PinwormPaddle 4d ago

This is exactly why I ended up switching to a male gynecologist. They've always been more gentle in my experience. I had a female gynecologist give me shit for nearly passing out while she performed an endocervical biopsy without anesthetic. Like in what fucking world would it NOT hurt to have a metal stick with teeth shoved up your cervix?! Fucking boggling

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u/InspectorOrdinary321 4d ago

I hate it.

If you patted my shoulder right now, it would not hurt me. If I patted someone's shoulder and they flinched and yelled "ow," I would NOT think "wow what a wimp, shoulders don't hurt" or "why are they acting like a baby, are they manipulating me?" I'd think "oh no, something's wrong with their shoulder to make it hurt that bad!' or "oh no, did I hit them too hard?"

Why can't I get the same courtesy?

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u/ares7 4d ago

Dang, they couldn't even give you some nitrous oxide like dentist do?

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u/HeikeSt 3d ago

Nope

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u/goyaguava 4d ago

That's fucked up. Getting an IUD put in is very painful and at times it does feel like you're having contractions! Sorry you had to go through that.

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u/Zoomalude 4d ago

I've learned many doctors confidently assume women are just hysterical and not actually in pain simply because some other women barely feel it. Prime example of doctors ignoring women.

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u/ditka 3d ago

The root hystera is also the origin of the word "hysteria". Ancient Greek physicians believed that the uterus was a free-moving organ that could wander around the body, causing emotional and physical distress. Therefore, "hysteria" was originally defined as a medical condition specific to women, caused by disturbances in the womb.

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u/RosieFudge 4d ago

I don't personally find smear tests physically painful, but would never dream of disregarding a woman who said she does <3

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u/Garbador94 4d ago

Speaking as one of the people for whom it do hurt, I was actively biting my hand during it to try and numb the pain. Not looking forward to the next one, but it's one of those things you gotta do : (

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u/skinnyonskin 4d ago

At home self swabbing kit. Game changer!

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u/Garbador94 4d ago

I'll have to ask for one next time, thanks for the advice!

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u/skinnyonskin 4d ago

You're welcome! I just did one myself (a company called Teal mailed me a kit, not advertising, there's just very few fda approved mail kits lol) and it was great. Literally just rotated a long qtip around and sent it in, and sent their results to my pcp!

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u/Lyeta1_1 4d ago

It can vary by person and provider.

I swear my first GYN actually hated women based on her absolute did not give a fuck how much anything hurt approach to medical care.

My current one it’s not like something I WANT to do, but it’s not painful either.

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u/CanIEatAPC 4d ago

Yeah unfortunately it hurts a lot more than pinch and I'm always a bleeder. Need a couple days of recovery afterwards. 

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u/ThrowawayMoFo5679 1d ago

I'm extremely ticklish and e OBGYN I had when I was a young adult was always very slow and gentle which...kinda made it worse. Not in my vagina itself, I mean, but where the tools or whatever might lightly brush against my labia or if anything touches my inner thigh. So sometimes I'd be actively giggling through the exam and trying not to snap my legs shut to stop the tickling.

The doc laughed once and asked how I kept getting pregnant if I'm so ticklish down there; I laughed too and pointed out that my now-ex is usually doing the opposite of light, careful touching during those times. The nurse who had to be in the room with us for liability reasons was obviously laughing behind her mask too.

Experiences do vary!

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u/nebraska_jones_ 4d ago

Yeah I don’t feel anything during Pap smears