What is the purpose of a pelvic exam at your annual gyn appt
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Anonymous
| Is stuff actually found this way? |
Anonymous
| Yes. When the physician palpates your abdomen, irregularities can be detected. It’s also when the Pap test is administered which is an important diagnostic tool. |
Anonymous
| Yes, my doctor did this to look for prolapse, cysts, fibroids, and uterine irregularities. |
Anonymous
| Physical exams are the way to find anything and everything. |
Anonymous
| The pelvic exam has no purpose. |
Anonymous
|
From the US Preventive Services Task Force:
Asymptomatic, nonpregnant adult women who are not at increased risk for any specific gynecologic condition The USPSTF concludes that the current evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of performing screening pelvic examinations in asymptomatic women for the early detection and treatment of a range of gynecologic conditions. This statement does not apply to specific disorders for which the USPSTF already recommends screening (ie, screening for cervical cancer with a Papanicolaou ["Pap"] smear, screening for gonorrhea and chlamydia). Literature scans conducted in November 2020 in the MEDLINE and PubMed databases and the Cochrane Library showed a lack of new evidence to support an updated systematic review on the topic at this time. See the Literature Surveillance Report under the Supporting Evidence section of this webpage. |
Anonymous
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People! You need to trust your gynecologist, she knows what she’s doing
(if not, find a better gynecologist) |
Anonymous
How do you know that they know what they are doing? It’s not always clear. Most have zero knowledge of menopause for example (no training in med school). Most would say they treat it though. The treatment should often include hormones but usually consists of them saying, “menopause sucks. Sorry. Good luck. See you next year.” So let’s not belittle people doing research. Doctors are not perfect. Many fields continue to work with guidelines that are outdated (anesthesiologists saying not to eat 8-16 hours before anesthesia for example). |
Anonymous
| My gyn found a cyst and a fibroid that way - years apart. |
Anonymous
| Yes, "stuff" is found. I had a bad PAP and had to have a LEEP procedure at 34. |
Anonymous
| You no longer need a yearly pap look it up. You don't need to go yearly!!! |
Anonymous
Psychiatry is in the dark ages. I blame big pharma, which has all the incentive in the world to continue to tweak their horrible drugs in ways that allow them to register a new antipsychotic with the patent office every few years -- and that is the only research that gets done. Research aimed at marketing and selling drugs that we already know are horribly problematic. The financial incentive to continue on with that as the focus of psych research is huge, and perpetuates the culture in which mental illness is treated with a metaphorical hammer to the head. |
Anonymous
A pap isn’t the same as a pelvic exam. I believe pelvic exams are still recommended annually. |
Anonymous
Ok, but visualization of the cervix can be important in detecting changes to the cells as well. |