What Is A Pelvic Exam?
If you are feeling some nerves about your upcoming pelvic exam, it may help you to learn a bit about why they are necessary. Women's pelvic exams have been around for hundreds of years, with gynecology becoming an official branch of medicine just before the year 1900. A pelvic exam is essential in order to ensure the health of women and is frequently performed during a woman's pregnancy. Here is what happens during a pelvic exam and why it is necessary.
Visual Exam
There are two parts to the visual exam: external and internal. The external exam will take place as soon as you lay down on the exam table. Your doctor will examine your vulva and make sure that you are healthy. Shortly after the external exam, your physician will insert a speculum (a long beak-looking instrument) into the vagina in order to open it up. Doing this can sometimes cause discomfort, though there are many different sizes of speculums. Speculum insertion must be done to allow your physician's visual access to your cervix, where pap smears take place. The cervix is the base of your uterus and can tell your physician a lot about the health of your uterus.
Test Samples Acquired
With the speculum in place, your physician will acquire any test samples that are needed. For example, if you have an infection, a vaginal swab may be retrieved to help determine what treatments are required. A pap smear is a frequent test that physicians run as well. It requires a swab of the cervix to be sent off to a lab and investigated for potentially cancerous cells. This test is recommended every 3-5 years.
Physical Exam
Once the speculum is removed, most physicians perform a physical exam. This is done by inserting their fingers where the speculum had been and then pushing on the lower part of your belly. This allows them to feel your uterus from the outside, as well as your ovaries. If any pain is caused by this process you should tell your physician, since that can be an indicator of an abnormality or infection.
In conclusion, each part of a pelvic exam is performed in an effort to make sure that you are healthy both externally and internally. While it may be uncomfortable at times, a regular pelvic exam can prevent untreated problems in the future, such as cancer or sexually transmitted infections. If you have questions, ask a doctor, like the ones at Naples OB-GYN. Don't be afraid to get your first pelvic exam. It will be over before you know it!
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