vaginismus

[wondie101]

I have vaginismus which means you tense up down below making it difficult to have sex. I need to have a smear!! Has anyone had a smear with vaginismus.how did it go?:

 

[sw121]

Depending on your age and sexual experience you may not actually need to have a smear test. If you've never been successfully able to have intercourse then I would advise you speak to a sympathetic doctor for an opinion on whether a smear is really necessary.

Unfortunately finding a sympathetic doctor who understands vagnismus is difficult. I had vag for 6 years from ages 18 to 24. The age to start smear testing was 19 back then, but I was advised as I'd never been able to successfully have sex I didn't need to worry about having a smear done (I think the official advice at the time was that even if you are a virgin you should have a smear by age 25 - not sure what the current position is on this).

Thankfully after 6 years of looking for a doctor who really understood vaginismus I manage to have treatment that worked. I've had 3 smear tests since and it's been fine. I did have to visit a gynae once when I had vag and I just asked him not to use the speculum - I don't know if this would also be an option for a smear test, but perhaps worth asking about if your doctor really thinks the smear is needed?

 

[Rosered52]

Oh, I had this, too! They held off on a pap until my then bf and I could work it out. I ended up conquering it with a strong lidocaine gel (for use with condoms only, obviously), and a lot of help and patience from my now husband. .

Best wishes to you!!!

 

[baby2310]

Hi hun, i have only just conquered this at the age of 27.
I didn't have any probs with a smear, i explained to my nurse and she took it really slow. There was a little discomfort but nothing i couldn't cope with, this was actually before i was formally diagnosed.
When i was diagnosed i was given dilators to work with and within a month i was able to enjoy intercourse, have had no problems since.
Have you seen your GP hun? I was referred to the hospital to rule out anything else and my consultant was brilliant, reffered me to a specialist female nurse who helped me overcome this properly. Good luck hun x

 

[StranjeGirl]

I am so sorry you have to deal with this, especially if ttc. I have had severe pelvic pain from the muscles inside the pelvis going into spasm. It caused tons of symptoms and it took months for me to figure it out, despite going to 9 different doctors at the time. However once I figured it out I started going to physical therapy although it took a while..it has been close to 2 years and I still go, I feel that i have my life back. You have to find a really good therapist that does internal vaginal work, and some who offer this are not that good. The one I have is fantastic and has many years of experience. You may want to check in your area to see if someone can do something like this. If it is just pain on penetration I don't think it would be that difficult as you are not dealing with that many muscles (not sure though) As baby2310 said, for you it might be as simple as using a dilator to retrain the muscles. You definitely should not have to live with this! Good luck to you!!!

 

[Quackquack99]

I'm not sure if I have vaginismus as I've never been diagnosed with this. But I do tense up down below, tampons can be a bit of a hassle. During this pregnancy I've had to have a transvaginal scan, I explained to the sonographer of this and he was gentle and it wasn't that bad. If it is a necessity to have a smear just explain to the doctor to be gentle