From the moment puberty begins, your body starts its journey toward maturity. Your monthly cycle kicks in, and your body gets ready for the possibility of having a baby. The cervix, located at the base of the uterus, then plays a key role, serving as the passageway a baby moves through during birth.
That said, several medical issues can affect the cervix, and if you have symptoms, Pap smears can help determine why. An abnormal pap smear result raises concern, but several factors can cause this.
Our team at Progressive Care For Women, S.C., led by Drs. Michelle Hakimian, Kate Nash, Matthew King, regularly works with women in the Chicago area who experience abnormal Pap smears. Here’s our take on what they mean and what happens next.
A Pap smear can help determine whether you have cervical cancer or several other conditions, so obviously, abnormal results can be alarming. To better understand how to read abnormal results, let’s look at atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance, otherwise known as ASCUS.
If you get this instead of a regular reading, it literally means what the name indicates: that the cells aren’t typical, and at this point, we don’t know why. Often, we need more testing to confirm whether the results are significant. It happens in 1 in 15 tests, or about 5.8% results, and it doesn’t automatically mean cancer.
Several conditions can lead to these results, such as:
HPV is a common virus transmitted through sexual contact, which can either go away by itself or lead to other issues, such as genital warts. Cervical cancer or other forms of cancer can develop from it, but one does not automatically lead to the other.
This is a collection of abnormal cells that develop in stages, which, left untreated, can become cancerous.
STIs happen pretty frequently. Trichomoniasis, for example, causes many unpleasant symptoms like painful sex, vaginal discharge, and foul smells, but it also causes abnormal results on Pap smears.
Infections can come from several sources, such as fungus, viruses, or bacteria, and they can appear as abnormal results with this screening.
In addition to these conditions, many routine factors can lead to an abnormal Pap smear. Having recently had sex, coming to the start of your menstrual cycle, and even using tampons can all cause an abnormal reading.
The typical next step after an abnormal Pap smear is a colposcopy. After tissue is collected from a biopsy, this procedure allows your provider to examine it more closely for any signs of disease or other issues. For example, it can help diagnose problems like cervical inflammation (cervicitis), noncancerous growths (polyps), or any precancerous or cancerous growths or changes.
Frequently, the diagnosis isn’t cancer, but even if it is, treatment exists – especially if we catch it early. If you need a Pap smear, make an appointment with Drs. Hakimian, Nash, King, and the team at Progressive Care For Women, S.C., today.
