Most women will be familiar with this sentence, usually uttered moments before a women’s health procedure. But what if you do find it painful?
Cervical screenings are really important to me because of family medical history, and they offer early identification of abnormal cells before they develop into cervical cancer. But the arrival of the invitation letter to my next screening would bring on a sense of dread as I recalled the excruciating pain I experienced last time.
I was diagnosed in my late 20s with endometriosis and adenomyosis, which may be the cause for my experience of pain during these screenings. It was only when I spoke to the specialist who conducted my diagnostic surgery that I was made aware of my right to pain relief for routine appointments such as cervical screenings.
It came as a shock. In the 9 years that I had been attending these screenings and being visibly in deep pain, no other clinician had mentioned that there might be ways of making me feel more comfortable, such as pain relief.
In the 2021–22 screening year, only 69.9% of eligible individuals aged 25–64 were adequately screened—a decline from 70.2% the previous year (NHS England Digital+1). Invites increased to around 5.12 million, with 3.50 million tested, but still many eligible individuals remain unscreened (NHS England Digital).
When my next invitation letter arrived, I followed the advice from the specialist and made an appointment with my GP. Incredibly, it could not have been simpler to have pain relief and numbing gel prescribed. I also received advice on using a different sized speculum and taking someone with me to help calm my nerves. A combination of all of these factors meant that the screening was much more tolerable.
I was amazed at how easy it was once I knew what to do. I realised I wanted as many women as possible to know what I now knew.
So I wrote to NHS England’s Vaccination and Screening team to suggest that they include this information within the invitation letters so that anyone worried about pain could get appropriate help and support.
They let me know that they already had a leaflet for people who feel anxious about attending. This included a small section about the ability to request pain relief too.
Despite me searching online for this kind of information prior to my appointment, this resource had not come up in any search results. So following my suggestion, the Vaccination and Screening team agreed to put a link to this resource within the invitation letter so that anyone invited to a screening will be able to access the information and ask for the support they need immediately.
The wider Pain UK team and I are delighted with this development. Pain, and women’s pain in particular, is often normalised but what feels tolerable to one person may be overwhelming to another. We believe that every individual’s perception of pain deserves to be acknowledged and respected, and we should all be aware of our rights to accessing appropriate help and understanding – even during medical procedures that aren’t “supposed” to be painful.
If you’ve been avoiding your cervical screening due to pain, we encourage you to read this leaflet from the NHS and contact your local GP surgery to discuss your options. You can also check out The Eve Appeal and some of our charity partners who may have condition specific information and support:
The Eve Appeal – https://eveappeal.org.uk/
Endometriosis UK – https://painuk.org/members/charities/endometriosis-uk/
Pelvic Pain Support Network – https://painuk.org/members/charities/pelvic-pain-support-network/
Vulval Pain Society – https://painuk.org/members/charities/vulval-pain-society/
By Beki Osborne, Pain UK Trustee