I just had my yearly pap test done and overall female health checkup at the same time, which means yeah I was laying on a table with a speculum and that goopy gel they have to put on ya.  Not the most comfortable of appointments of course, I don’t know many women who actually look forward to them, but nonetheless they are important to maintaining female health as well as catching potential problems early such as cervical cancer and ovarian cancer. 

During the yearly female exam, the ovaries are examined to see if they are swollen or there are any problems with them.  Also, you usually have to fill out a fairly comprehensive questionnaire that asks you about your family history on both your mother’s and father’s side, your sexual orientation, whether you are sexually active or not, your allergies, and other medical questions that help them to do the best exam they can. 

Make sure you let them know if you are allergic to latex since latex gloves are used during the exam to get a scraping from your cervix to test for HPV and other abnormalities in your pap smear.  And by the way, did you know that the body can naturally clear itself of certain strains of HPV?  I did not know this until my doctor told me.  Besides the checkups on the inside, they also should be doing a short breast exam.

This is done by you putting your arm over your head (you are in a face forward laying down position), and they feel around the nipple and the surrounding breast tissue as well as the underarms, since often times the lymph nodes in that area become swollen if there is any cancer in the breast or other problems that involve inflammation or infection. 

Your doctor should be asking important questions like whether your mother has had breast examinations, whether she has ever had breast cancer, and whether your are doing your breast self exams or not, even though some question whether self exams lead to more alarm than good since sometimes they lead people to worry when there is no cause for worry.  I say they’re still good though because there are women who have caught lumps themselves and ow their lives to the breast self exam, so it never can hurt. 

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Posted in Breast Health by Breast News Girl No Comments Yet