I've had 3 colposcopies and they aren't any worse than a normal smear.
A nurse will probably take you into a changing room where you will be asked to remove the lower half of your clothes and cover yourself with a sheet. The nurse will wait outside and when you're ready she'll take you to the colposcopy room. The Dr will ask you to get up on a chair/bed thing and put your legs in stirrups. You'll have to scoot your bum down to the edge of the chair/bed. Dr will then get a large machine which is a microscope and move it towards your vagina. Dr will use this to look really closely at your cervix and see what changes there are.
Don't be alarmed - but they usually show what he can see through the microscope on a TV screen in the room - so you can actually see your cervix! Also, don't be alarmed if you see discharge or blood when he does the 'smear' as it's normal.
Depending on what the Dr sees, he/she will decide whether to just perform a smear again, or they might decide to do a biopsy if he thinks there are areas which are pre-cancerous. I had a punch biospy, which I wont describe as it sounds horrendous! It's uncomfortable for a few seconds while they do it, but not overly painful.
It's very important to remember that pre-cancerous changes (CINI, CINII and CINIII) do not necessarily turn into cancer. And even if they do, it usually takes about 10 years to do so, which is why we're offered smear tests every few years.
In the unlikely event that Dr thinks it's best not to wait for biopsy results, he may perform a LLETZ (Large loop excision of transformation zone). This uses an electrical currant passed through a wire and burns the top layer of your cervix cells off to remove any pre-cancerous cells. They give you a shot of adrenalin before to make the anaesthic work quicker (the anaesthetic is injected into your cervix, but doesn't hurt). The aderenalin made me feel shaky but the LLETZ itself was painless. The Dr will always explain what procedure he is going to do before he does it.
Overall, it's not an experience you'd want to go through everyday, but it's not too bad. This is how it happened for me (after 4 abnormal smears showing boderline and CINI, I was referred for colposcopy)
1. Normal colposcopy where they took a smear - results CINI
2. Back in 6 months, punch biopsy - results CINI
3. Back in 6 months, Dr said cells weren't getting any worse, but would prefer to just remove the top layer (LLETZ) to see if that sorted the problem. I agreed, had it done and since then all my smear have been normal.
One important thing to note is that particles of cigarette chemicals are usually found in cervical cancer cells. They aren't sure why, but are pretty certain that smoking is directly linked (probably because cervix environment is similar to mouth) so if you do smoke it's quite important to stop. Sometimes this can mean women's results go back to normal!
Sorry for the essay, I hope it's put your mind at ease a bit. Just remember that lots of women have colposcopies every year. And if you can get a friend or your mum or partner to go with you, it's nice to hold their hand for comfort! PM me if you want any more info x
