The Essential Pap Smear
(continued)
Pap Smear Myths and Misconceptions:
You only need a Pap smear if you're sexually active. Not true. Even though most cases of cervical cancer are associated with HPV, which is a sexually transmitted infection, there are reports of women who have never had sexual intercourse who have had cervical cancer.
You don't need a Pap smear if you've passed menopause. Not true. In fact, one in 4 cervical cancers develop in women over 65. Since Medicare began covering Pap smears in 1990, the incidence of invasive and noninvasive cervical cancer in women covered by Medicare has decreased significantly.
You don't need a Pap smear if you've had a hysterectomy. Not true. Pap smears are also useful in picking up abnormal changes in the cells of the vaginal wall.
You should douche before having a Pap smear. The opposite is true! Douching may remove some of the cells your doctor is trying to collect on the smear. In fact, there are very few medical reasons for douching at all.
If you get a call to come in for a repeat Pap test, it's got to be bad news. Not true. Many times, the sample obtained from the traditional Pap smear is simply "inadequate"; not enough cells were obtained. This is annoying and inconvenient for doctors and patients, but "better safe than sorry" applies here. One of the newer technologies, the ThinPrep® Pap test system aims to reduce the number of repeat tests needed by capturing and preserving the entire cervical sample in a preservative. This way, another smear can be prepared from the same sample if necessary, rather than having the patient return. Another technology, currently in development, will be able to collect a sample from the entire cervix.
Pap smear results are not that reliable; cervical cancers are commonly overlooked. Not true. In fact, if a woman gets her Pap smear annually, the chance of an abnormality being missed over five years is less than one-one hundredth of a percent.
Homework Assignment from DrDonnica
If you have not had a Pap smear in the past year or are due for a repeat Pap that was recommended sooner, schedule it today!
Ask your mom, sisters, daughters, loved ones, and close friends if they have had their Pap smears as scheduled.
If you have a teenager, talking about the birds and the bees includes talking about proper health maintenance and routine Pap smears. If your sexually active teen or 18+ year old daughter hasn't had her Pap smear yet, offer to make the appointment and/or go with her.
Practice safe sex.
Stop smoking.
Dr. Donnica's Recommendations for More Information:
American College of Obstetricians
and Gynecologists
Centers for
Disease Control (CDC)
College of American Pathologists
***For their free brochure about Pap Smears, call 1-800-LAB-5678
MSNBC
Cervical Cancer Page
National Cervical
Cancer Campaign
National Cervical Cancer
Coalition
Created: 2/24/2000 - Donnica Moore, M.D.
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 The Pap smear is the most important screening test to detect early evidence of cervical cancer. It can also detect many other infections and cervical abnormalities. Have you had yours in the last year? Now is the time! 
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