Pap Smear Every Year? New Cervical Cancer Screening Guidelines Say No

Women 21 and Under: No Screening Required The USPSTF does not recommend screening for women ages 21 and under. The risk of cervical cancer in this age group is too small to justify it. Women 21 to 29: Pap Smear Every Three Years Women ages 21 to 29 should have a Pap smear every three years to test for abnormal cell changes in the cervix.Women 30 to 65: Pap Smear Every Three Years; HPV Testing Optional Having a Pap smear every three years is sufficient for this age group as well, according to the USPSTF. But women also may choose to have the human papillomavirus (HPV) test or a combination of both tests every five years.

 What are the New CDC Guidelines Around Pap Smears an How Does HPV Testing Help?

These guidelines do not apply to women whose cervix has already been removed, who have a prior diagnosis of a precancerous lesion or cervical cancer, who have in utero exposure to diethylstilbestrol, or who are immunocompromised.

Abnormal Pap? Stress Less With This Simple Guide

What’s worse than getting a Pap test? Getting the news that your Pap is abnormal. That phone call from your health care provider can be disconcerting and confusing, but it shouldn’t be cause for alarm — as long as you get your Paps regularly. The vast majority of Pap abnormalities are either self-correcting or are detected so early that they can be treated easily, long before the most serious problems develop. After all, that’s why we do the test. This guide will help you understand the various types of Pap abnormalities and what sort of follow-up tests and treatments they require.

My brush with mortality was the wake-up call I needed

It was the phone call I never expected would come. Fourteen days after my annual pap smear—an exam that takes cells from a woman’s cervix to test for cancer—my gynecologist said my results had come back “abnormal.” Usually, such test results are caused by the Human Papillomavirus (about 79 million Americans are infected with HPV) or, in rare cases, cancer, according to the Center for Disease Control. But my abnormality was not HPV, as I would later learn.

OMG, My pap smear’s abnormal….Now What?!?!?

I can’t begin to tell you how many times I receive frantic phone calls from patients regarding “abnormal” pap smear results……what does it mean? Do I have cancer? Is my partner cheating on me? I didn’t have this last year…..how did this happen? Will “it” go away? What do we do?

The Pap smear isn’t used to diagnose cancer – but it could be

Doctors can find it hard to diagnose cervical cancer in young women because the same symptoms, such as bleeding between periods or after sex, are common in women with genital infections or taking contraceptives. For decades the Pap smear has been used as a screening test to prevent women from getting cervical cancer. It is not used as a screening test in women younger than 25 because it isn’t effective at preventing cancer in this age group. But what if the Pap smear could be used to diagnose cervical cancer in young women?

The Pap smear: groundbreaking, lifesaving — and obsolete?

Pap tests are one of the most familiar — and successful — cancer screening tests ever invented. Since their introduction in the 1950s, cervical cancer deaths in the US have fallen by more than 60 percent. But now, a growing number of scientists say, the Pap may be past its prime.

The Power of the Pap

We have become so used to the routine of getting regular Pap tests, that we take the power of the Pap for granted. But think about it—isn’t it amazing that this cancer screening test helps PREVENT cancer?! (The Pap test finds precancerous changes on the cervix so they can be treated before they ever turn into cancer. It can also find cervical cancer early, at a highly treatable and curable stage.) The current success of the Pap test is much different from how it was received early on.

What To Do After An Abnormal Pap Smear

The typical course of action after your first abnormal Pap is to get tested again a year later, said Dr. Ana Cepin, an assistant professor of obstetrics & gynecology at Columbia University Medical Center. Your provider may also suggest an HPV test. If this is not your first abnormal result, however, or if your Pap smear shows slightly more abnormal cells, your provider might recommend a colposcopy.

A single algorithm is phasing out the Pap smear

Can a new approach to cervical cancer screening improve diagnosis, or will it jeopardize women's health?

All the Reasons Doctors Shouldn’t Replace the Pap Smear With an HPV Test

The Food and Drug Administration recently signed off on a new approach to preventing cervical cancer in women. Instead of the Pap test, where doctors look for abnormal cells on the cervix that might turn into cancer, some doctors are instead testing women for HPV, since most types of cervical cancer develop from persistent HPV virus in the cervix. But this new method of monitoring patients for possible cervical cancer has been subject to a lot of controversy.

Are Pap Smears on the Way Out?

Women who want to be screened for cervical cancer have just received a new option — and a new quandary. The venerable Pap smear, which has been the only screening tool to look for cancer in asymptomatic women for many decades, now has a rival, a genetic test that looks for the viruses implicated in causing cervical cancer.

Do You Need a Pap Smear to Get Birth Control?

Why do many gynecologists require a pap smear be done in order to prescribe or renew prescriptions for hormonal birth control? They shouldn’t. It is not recommended that cervical cancer screening and contraception be linked.

Gynecological pelvic exams & Pap tests 101

What you can expect at the gynecologist’s office.

How to Take the Fear Out of Your Pap Smear

Sure, stirrups are cold and speculums look like medieval ducks, but you really don’t need to fear your Pap smear. After all, the test is one of the best ways to prevent and detect cervical cancer.

Is This the END of Pap Smears?

If the FDA has its way, it might be. Here's why that's not as great as it sounds.

Never had a Pap smear? Now there’s a DIY option for you

We calculated that even one round of HPV screening using a self-collected sample would reduce cervical cancer risk by around 41% over a woman’s lifetime when tested at age 30-40, compared to the risk if she remained unscreened. Even at older ages, self-collection can offer important protection compared to remaining unscreened. If unscreened women joined the routine screening program at age 30 (instead of a one-off screen at the same age), the number of cervical cancer cases and deaths that could be prevented doubles.

Not Your Mother’s Pap Smear: What Women Need to Know About Cervical Cancer Screening

“What do you mean you only want to see me every 3-5 years? I am used to coming EVERY year for my pap smear!”

Pap Tests: No longer a yearly ritual

Finally, in the mid-2000s, a DNA test detecting those critical high-risk strains of HPV became widely available for use in office practice. Knowing whether a woman has an HPV infection or not had huge implications for providers. As researchers and clinicians pooled statistics about abnormal pap results and HPV status, our understanding of how to screen for and treat cervical cell damage rapidly grew. The rules changed. New guidelines were developed that included a change in the frequency of pap testing.

Should You Get A Pap Smear Every Year?

Screening for cervical cancer is still really important, the authors write, but it should be done every three years after age 21 because of how slowly the HPV cells morph into cancer. Not only will less frequent screenings cost less in money, time, and stress, but women all over the country can breathe a sigh of relief that they don’t have to undergo the discomfort of a pap smear nearly as often.

So, Your Pap Smear Results Were Abnormal — Now What?

If you are the owner of a vagina and vulva, chances are you’re familiar with the routine Pap test, also known as a Pap smear. Pap test results are either normal or abnormal, depending on whether abnormal cells are found, and while an abnormal test result can be frightening, it doesn’t always mean you have cervical cancer. Here’s what an abnormal Pap test actually means for those who get that phone call.

The First Pap Smears Were Done on Drunk Guinea Pigs

A Greek doctor found himself unable to experiment on humans when he came to America, so he used animals instead.

When you need them—and when you don't

It’s important for women to get regular Pap tests, which check for abnormal cells in the cervix that might lead to cervical cancer. But many teenage girls and some women have the test when they don’t need it. Here’s why...

Why Your Pap Smear Is Still Important

Unless you’ve just entered your twenties, you probably remember when a Pap smear or Pap test was a required component of your annual gynecology checkup. Now, the guidelines have changed to make Pap tests something that can be done every 3 years in most women. If Pap smears aren’t needed as often, are they less important? Absolutely not. A Pap test still serves a very critical role in screening women for cervical cancer.

Demystifying pap smear and pelvic exam guidelines

Gynecological exams used to be simple: Get an annual Pap smear and pelvic exam. Current guidelines recommend Pap smears every three or five years depending on a woman’s age, as well as an HPV test after a certain age. And in March 2017, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) said there’s not enough evidence to determine whether annual pelvic exams should be routine for women who aren’t pregnant or have symptoms of disease.