Gyno Exams

Exams can be extremely stressful for anyone, but especially if this is your first gyno exam. It is extremely important though that you are familiar with what happens during these types of exams so that you can know beforehand what you will experience. Most girls have their first gyno exam around the age of 18, but if you are sexually active or having abnormal symptoms you should go even before this age.

A gyno exam starts with making the appointment. You should always make the appointment during the middle of your menstrual cycle because the shedding of cells form the uterus can interfere with the Pap smear results that they will take which will be explained. When you get into the room, you will most likely be asked to take off your clothes from the waist down and you will get a gown to wear or a paper top to cover you up when you aren’t being looked at. The doctor will ask you a round of questions pertaining to previous family history and your sexual activity.

At this point, it is time for your first gyno exam. You may have both a doctor and a nurse in the room with you, but if you feel more comfortable you can ask your mother or friend to join you as well. To start the gyno exam they will have you slide down into the stirrups which may feel very uncomfortable at first, but you need to relax and take deep breaths while everything is going on. The doctor will examine the external genitalia, with gloved fingers, and then slowly move to the inside. They will look at your vulva and then check your pelvic floor muscles.

At this point in the gyno exam they will take out what is called a speculum which is a long metal instrument to inspect you more deeply. This speculum is inserted into the vagina and opened up so that it can spread the vaginal walls so the doctor can see your cervix. A cervical brush will be used to take a sample of the cells off of the cervix which is called a Pap smear. This will not hurt at all, but you may hear some clicking noises while the speculum is being locked and unlocked. They will then remove the speculum so that they can test for any infections or sexual transmitted diseases. At this pint, they will use their gloved finger which is lubricated to insert it into the vagina and place two fingers on the cervix while putting the other hand on your abdomen and press lightly so that they can check for any pain. They also check for any abnormalities in the ovaries at the same time.

You are then done with your gyno exam and be able to sit up and get dressed. The entire process takes less than 10 minutes and will become very routine to you as you get older. The results of the Pap smear will be back in a few days and at that time if there is anything wrong they will call you back to get the results. If nothing is wrong you will just continue to have your gyno exam every year. It is simple, and although it may be uncomfortable, it is necessary to make sure you are in the proper health year after year.