Three Factors That Should Dictate How Often You Get A Pap Test

Health & Medical Blog

Getting the occasional pap test is important if you want to head off a painful and potentially fatal case of cervical cancer because the disease is very hard to spot in time otherwise. But since the test will take both money (if your income doesn't qualify you for an assistance program) and time, it's understandable if you don't want to have it done extremely frequently. Look over these three factors that should dictate how often you get a pap test to make your decision.

How Often You Feel Pain In Your Uterus

Especially if you're middle aged, it's important to consider how much pain and how many problems you have with your uterus as a whole. If a medical condition in your uterus is so bad or painful that you have to frequently take vaginal medication, there's a good chance that your cervix is more vulnerable than it is for most women.

Even if it's relatively mild, pain right after you get up in the morning is especially dangerous because there's no clear excuse for it. If mild pain only develops after a long day of work, your uterus may just be a part of your body that's more sensitive than other parts.

Familial History Of Any Type Of Cancer

Even if you don't have recent family history of cervical cancer, a few relatives getting an unrelated type of cancer should make you wary. This is doubly true if any of your relatives got cancer at a young age.

How Long A Cold Or Flu Takes To Dissipate

Immune system strength is an important thing that affects your chances to get any type of cancer. This is because a strong immune system can get rid of cancerous cells in your body before the cancer has a chance to spread much more easily than a weaker immune system can.

Even if you've never had any disease that's specific to your immune system, you can roughly gauge how strong it is by how quickly the symptoms from a typical common cold or flu strain persist. If you're out for a long time after every infection you get, you probably shouldn't skimp on how many pap tests you get.

While cervical cancer is a big deal, you should find relief in the fact that it's much easier to spot than something like cancer deep in your brain. Though some women can get away with relatively infrequent pap tests, never brush aside the activity completely. Contact a local gynecologist, such as Mark E Richey MD PC, to schedule your next visit. 

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23 September 2015

Take Your Health Into Your Own Hands

My name is Katie Langer. For a long time, I was bed ridden and I felt like I had no control over my life. I simply went along with what was instructed by my doctor and I didn't ask questions. It wasn't that my doctor wasn't willing to work with me, but I preferred to simply not think about the illness I was suffering from. I didn't realize that some of the symptoms I was suffering from were side effects of my medication and were not normal. After communicating more with my doctor, I was able to alleviate my symptoms. Since then, I've taken an interest in patient-doctor relationships and how to improve them.