What is the purpose of a pelvic exam at your annual gyn appt

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kind of a side question, but if I had a hysterectomy (cervix, uterus but ovaries intact) what kind of yearly screening do I need? Obviously no longer a pap, but the pelvic as well?

I stopped going entirely until I had a UTI --- like 12 yrs later. Seriously. I had no need for a GYN after hysterectomy.

[Anonymous]

Pelvic exam caught a weird flap of hanging skin that was causing me pain.

[Anonymous]

Pap every year. 5 years is ridiculously long. No.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pap every year. 5 years is ridiculously long. No.

It depends on your age. If you're not sexually active and over 50 (as I am) I have been told I don't need them every year any more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pap every year. 5 years is ridiculously long. No.

It depends on your age. If you're not sexually active and over 50 (as I am) I have been told I don't need them every year any more.

No one needs them every year. The recommendation is now every 3-5 yrs. Pap every 3 yrs and HPV test every 5, or you can do both every 5 together if you’ve never had an abnormal screening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've had a lot of things going on with my uterus and ovaries-large things (cysts, chocolate cysts, fibroids), small things (polyp) NONE of which was found via "pelvic" exam. None.

Logic would have me believe that pelvic exams are helpful. Yet, my large fibroid was only found on ultrasound. Worse, my mom was diagnosed with stage 4 uterine cancer a few months after a pelvic exam. When she was diagnosed by scan, the mass was enormous. She was symptomatic when she had her pelvic exam so it is unbelievable that the gyn didn’t find anything suspicious. This is why I always ask for an ultrasound if there are concerns. Perhaps some gynecologists rush through these exams or need better training. My gynecologist told me that it’s also difficult to perform an exam on an obese patient which I admit I am.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People! You need to trust your gynecologist, she knows what she’s doing

(if not, find a better gynecologist)

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).

This is the truth. Questioning things is called intellectual curiosity. I had my GYN ask me when my last pap was. Reminded her that I no longer owned a cervix. She looked blankly and asked again.

I DONT HAVE A CERVIX. There is nothing to 'pap'.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

Thank you. I do question every routine invasive procedure. For people in poor health (most Americans), sure, do every procedure out there. But those in excellent health with good nourishment and movement, generally can be much more selective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People! You need to trust your gynecologist, she knows what she’s doing

(if not, find a better gynecologist)

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).

This is the truth. Questioning things is called intellectual curiosity. I had my GYN ask me when my last pap was. Reminded her that I no longer owned a cervix. She looked blankly and asked again.

I DONT HAVE A CERVIX. There is nothing to 'pap'.

Ugh I'm so sorry. Good docs are good but the terrible ones are truly terrible and you don't know until you've wasted a part of your life you won't get back and you can't re-do because insurance won't allow it.

[Anonymous]

I believe the purpose is to examine your pelvis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I believe the purpose is to examine your pelvis.

Isn't your pelvis the bony structure that attaches to your legs ie your hip bones. If you wanted your pelvis examined, you'd go to an orthopedic specialist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:While a pap is every 5 yrs, my understanding was a yearly pelvic exam is still recommended in order to check (palpate) ovaries and uterus, check for prolapse or anything else abnormal they feel.

Can’t they do a sonogram?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I believe the purpose is to examine your pelvis.

Isn't your pelvis the bony structure that attaches to your legs ie your hip bones. If you wanted your pelvis examined, you'd go to an orthopedic specialist.

NP.

Nope. In medical terms, the pelvis is a region. You are referring to the pelvic bones, and though the term could be used in the context of orthopedics informally just to refer to the pelvic bones, that's not the technical use.

Responsible for supporting upper body weight, the pelvis is defined as the middle part of the human body between the lumbar region of the abdomen superiorly and thighs inferiorly. The human pelvis is composed of the bony pelvis, the pelvic cavity, the pelvic floor, and the perineum. In addition to carrying upper body weight, this multi-surfaced girdle can transfer upper body weight to the lower limbs and act as attachment points for lower limb and trunk muscles. Furthermore, the pelvis protects the pelvic and abdominopelvic viscera. Pelvic examinations are common in clinical cases of obstetrics and gynecology and can be performed in various ways, i.e. diagonal conjugate, obstetric conjugate, etc. Although conditions are uncommon, pelvis-based dislocations, hernias, and prolapses are present in a dynamic range of patient populations.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK482258/