As a woman, you have different health concerns to think about than the men in your life. They have certain needs too, but you may find the things that you have to worry about as you get older to be a bit overwhelming. Women have more complex reproductive systems, as you can imagine, as women are the ones that birth children. If you follow your doctor’s advice, you will get your yearly pap smear as needed. At times, you may get what are called abnormal pap smears, but they are not usually a problem. However, that does not mean you do not have to follow up when this happens.

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An pap smear is something that is done once a year, mostly to screen women for cervical cancer. This is done in a doctors office. The doctor will check for different physical signs of problems, and then take a cell sample from the cervix. At times, you may get abnormal pap smears and your doctor will call and ask that you come back in. In most cases, you are asked to fill a prescription and come back in for a recheck within a certain amount of weeks. Most of the time, this takes care of whatever was wrong. However, it some cases it could be that your abnormal pap smears indicate that you have irregular cells that could indicate cervical cancer.

What you do after you get abnormal pap smears is up to you, of course, but you should always follow the advice of your doctor when this happens. There is a chance everything will be fine and when you go in the next year for your yearly pap smear, there will be no sign of any problem. On the other hand, you may not be so lucky. Take your medications and then go in for the follow up. It might be a pain and it might mean you have to pay for another doctor’s visit, but the alternative with abnormal pap smears could mean cancer gets too far to be treated.

If you have daughters, you should make sure that you talk to them about abnormal pap smears and what they can mean. You should take them in for their first exam before they move away from home, even if they are not yet sexually active. This way they know what to expect and they have your guidance through what can be rather scary – even when nothing is wrong. That will make them more likely to have their exams each year when they do not have you to take them, and they will also be a bit more calmer if they get an abnormal pap smear.

There is one way to avoid abnormal pap smears, and that would be to get the shot that is supposed to help with some types of cervical cancer. Most teenage girls can get this shot. There are some warnings with it, however, with the most important warning being that it does not vaccinate against all types of cervical cancer. Getting the shot does not mean that a girl does not have to go in for a yearly exam once she is sexually active. She could still get an abnormal pap smear that she has to contend with. The shot helps, but is not complete with all types of cervical cancer making yearly exams still necessary.