OBGYN EXAM POST (TMI but might help some people)
i debated whether or not to put this on here, but i figure if some people are like me and are FUCKING TERRIFIED of going in for a full exam at the gynecologists then maybe i could help?
yesterday i got my very first full exam- a Pap smear/breast exam- because you either start getting it when you become sexually active OR when you turn 21 (and i’m almost 24 and never had sex so i figured better safe than sorry).
i’m going to make this post and not bullshit you anything, because you deserve to know, and give you some tips to try and help make everything go easier for you:
what happens during a full exam:
-they palpate your breasts to check for lumps
-palpate the abdomen and groin area from the outside to check your lymph nodes (yes you do have lymph nodes down there)
-they stick a finger inside the vagina and point it towards your anus to check for things (i forget what)
-they run the finger in a circle on the inside
-they get a speculum and put it in (i have tips for this later), click it to stay open, and then they swab your cervix
-they use 2-3 fingers in afterwards to push up from the inside and use their other hand to palpate from the outside to check your ovaries
-and that’s the end of the exam unless you ask for other tests like getting tested for STDS or urine testing
first some of my own experience (please keep in mind that i also have fibromyalgia so i’m more sensitive to pain)-
-it was very uncomfortable and the speculum did hurt some, but it wasn’t completely unbearable. it probably hurt me more because i’m not used to having something so large inside of me
-the palpating (all of it) was uncomfortable but it didn’t really hurt at all, the speculum was the worst part of the whole thing
-i took my mom with me and i really needed her because i actually started crying once i got into my gown and the full realization hit me, and then i also cried again when it was time for the speculum BECAUSE I FREAKED MYSELF OUT, I DIDN’T CRY BECAUSE OF THE SPECULUM
-the actual exam was supposed to be just like 5 minutes, but because i was scared the doctor just stopped the exam and let me have some time to calm down. i was in there longer than i should have been
-i was also afraid of the swabbing, but i actually didn’t feel it. i felt a strange motion but it didn’t really feel like anything at all
-i spot afterwards. my guess is that it’s because of the same reason of not having enough lubrication during sex/the male partner being too big OR because her touching my cervix made it let go of some of the material in my uterus. it seemed like the first reason as first, but then i started having the spotting i get before my period (which isn’t just blood)
-i couldn’t sit properly afterwards, and it just felt weird inside. it went away after a few hours
-if you need someone you trust to be in the room with you to hold your hand TELL THE DOCTOR, THEY CANNOT DENY YOU THAT. just make sure that they’re standing out of the way during the exam (near the head of your table)
-if you choose a person to bring with you, tell them that they need to stay calm even if you don’t. them getting upset and freaking out will just make everything worse for everyone involved.
-try and schedule the earliest available appointment so that the doctor will be more likely to be on time and you have less waiting. less waiting means less stress build up
-it’s usually cold, so bring a sweater that you can wear before the exam and after the breast exam, the gown i got was actually pretty warm because it was cloth but a lot of places just have paper gowns. you can also keep your socks on, which helps
-YOU CAN REQUEST TO HAVE A FEMALE DOCTOR IF THAT IS WHAT YOU NEED TO BE MORE COMFORTABLE (but you need to make sure you have the right doctor before the actual appointment because if you don’t then there’s nothing they can do about that). i have always had female doctors for everything because i feel much more comfortable telling certain things to another woman, but if you don’t care then this isn’t necessary for you
-if you’re worried about if the doctor is someone you will like, you can meet with them beforehand just to talk to them. i met mine because i had an allergic reaction to something so i had to go, but i’m sure you can just request to meet them before you actually need to go in
-practice contracting and relaxing your vaginal muscles. this helped me SO SO MUCH because i could just let go and it made everything so much easier and it stopped a lot of pain i’m sure i would have felt if i had clenched up
-ask the doctor any questions about it beforehand, or even during the exam. knowing what they’re going to do helps
-also ask them to walk you through it. it helped me when she was telling me what things might feel like and what she was doing and why she was doing them
-YOU CAN ASK FOR A SMALL SPECULUM, i asked for a smaller one and it turned out to be a plastic one, and the docotor actually told me that plastic can be better most times because it doesn’t get cold like the metal ones, and they’re also self lubricated
-ASK FOR EXTRA LUBE IF YOU FEEL LIKE YOU NEED TO. i asked for extra lube for everything she was doing because i was afraid, and it did make everything go more smoothly
-bring music that will help relax you and ask to put in your headphones. i would just suggest that you only put them on one ear because you should really be able to hear your doctor too
-if you need to take a break, tell them
-ask them to tell if when they’re almost at the cervix when they use the speculum. my doctor told me that some women ask her to take it out because it hurts, but if she’s already there then it’s not going to get any worse. tell them you need to know because you don’t want them to have to take it out and then put it back in again if they don’t have to
-you will probably spot because of the reasons i said before
-it might hurt to sit down afterwards/your vagina might just feel weird. take some time and just walk around for a little bit until you can sit properly, or if you can go home, go home and lie down or sit in a chair that you can lean back in
i hope that this helps some of you, it can be a very scary experience if you don’t know what to expect, but it doesn’t have to be so bad if you know what’s coming and how to handle it. if anyone has any questions about what things felt like then feel free to message me