Over 75% of women, at some point in their lives, will experience a pap smear test result that has comes back as irregular, abnormal, or atypical. The following information will help to answer some questions you may have when you receive that news.
Misconceptions
One popular misconception is that when a pap smear comes back irregular, it automatically means you have cancer. This is not true. There could be a number of reasons why this happens, including, but not limited to:
Recent sexual activity
A yeast infection
A bacterial infection
Test was ineffective
You have HPV (human papillomavirus)
To prevent an irregular test in the future, you should not engage in sexual activity for at least 24 hours prior to the pap smear. Yeast and bacterial infections are common and are easily treated. A follow up pap smear is usually scheduled to rule out any serious conditions should the doctor suspect the test was ineffective.
The Facts
A pap smear is only a screening test. It does not detect cancer, only cells that may cause cancer (pre-cancerous cells). If the test determines that you have HPV (human papillomavirus), then the doctor will discuss a course of action with you, depending on the type of HPV (there are over 100 types), the amount of irregular cells in your cervix, and your overall health.
HPV is the most common culprit of an irregular pap smear. Because there are so many types of HPV, it is impossible to direct this virus into one category. Some types are more dangerous than others. Some types simply go away on their own with no treatment if you have a healthy immune system. Other types require more treatment such as cryosurgery (freezing the abnormal cells) to get rid of them.
Effects
After the initial and follow up pap smear have been performed and both come back irregular, the doctor may perform a colposcopy to examin the cells in the cervix. If needed, she will also perform a biopsy, which means she will take a small sample of the cervix cells to test for cancer cells.
There are many variables your doctor has to consider when determining a course of action and/or treatment. If you pap smears keep turning up as irregular, you will likely have to go for more pap smears at least every three months until your health is clearly identified and treated.
Risk Factors
An annual pap smear is extremely important to a woman's health. Over 80% of women have had or has HPV and many do not even know it. While warts is a common sign for HPV, there are many types of HPV that do not produce any symptoms. HPV can only be detected by a pap smear and the earlier it is detected, the better the chances are that standard treatment will work to alleviate the problem. Not having a pap smear will cause the virus to go undetected and untreated, it can develop into cancer.
Expert Insight
Dr. Warren Scott of the Isbell Medical Group in Fort Payne, Alabama states that many women put off getting regular pap smears because they feel well and do not believe anything to be wrong with them. Another common reason women put off getting pap smears is because they know HPV is a sexually-transmitted disease and if they have been in a monogamous relationship for a long time, they feel they aren't at risk.
The reality is, however, that the virus can lay dormant for many years before becoming active. Your current spouse or partner may have been carrying it from a previous partner as well so a long-term monogamous relationship is not a guarantee that you have not been exposed in the past to HPV.
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