When to do first gyn visit for teen?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:My PCP has never once done a pap smear? I get them every 3 years at the gyn. If they're not doing the pap smear they don't even use the speculum anymore.

My mom had amajor issues caught on a first gyn visit (tumor that could have been an issue). So she took my sisters and me each when we turned 18.

I posted earlier that my friend's daughter died of cervical cancer at the age of 21. By that point, she had it for 3 or 4 years. I can't believe what I'm reading here. This should be common sense that we need to see a gyn after puberty.

I’m sorry about your friend’s daughter, but that is freakishly rare. Bowel cancer is also rare in young adults, but happens sometimes. Does that mean they should start giving colonoscopies to teenagers?

The HPV vaccine will likely mar a big difference for the generations able to get it.

You're ignoring the fact that the recommendation is to have your first gyn visit between the ages of 12-15. I get colonoscopies at the recommended age too. Not sure what you're trying to accomplish here.

So you think internal exams should be standard of care for non-sexually active 12 year olds?!

Stop lying. Establishing care with a gynecologist doesn’t mean having an internal exam. It’s smart for girls to learn what respectful responsive care looks like, to have a relationship with a gyn that they can ask questions if for some reason they don’t want to come to you or just want additional information/reassurance. My DD had an emergent situation freshman year of college and ended up needing surgery. I was glad that she didn’t have the additional stress of having that be her first experience with a gynecologist. It was her first internal exam, but she had already had several visits. She had conversations about multiple things including what happens during an internal exam. It was a scary time but much less so than it could have been.

American schools and families do a terrible job teaching girls about their body. Everything is focused on sexual practices and almost nothing on actual health. That’s another good reason to take your DD before there are problems.

I'm the European who responded earlier in the thread and this is so very true. I went for the first time at 15, it did involve an internal exam, but I've had dental visits that were MUCH more uncomfortable. If you teach your daughters that this is just a medical exam and not a right of passage or something you do after the first time you have sex, they'd be much better off.

I wonder if the PP understands that some young girls may hear about their bodies for the very first time during these visits. IT's just lunacy not to do it.

I think what you don't understand is that the girls who are "hearing about their bodies for the first time" are never the ones who would be brought to these exams. They are either a) too poor to spend money on what is at heart an informational medical visit or b) their parents have kept information about their bodies from them because they want to keep them ignorant/innocent/etc and thus would never bring them to the doctor for such a visit. America is very different from Europe in this regard.

Essentially what someone said earlier in the thread is true--bringing your daughter to the gyno at a very young age just to "get comfy" with the idea is the purview of extremely privileged, likely liberal, people.

But I didn't say that I would bring my daughter just to get comfy. It's a necessary medical exam just like any other.

OMG, so is she or isn't she getting a full internal exam? Because if she is, that's very different from what most people are proposing for their 12 year old.

You are talking to various people. The recommended age is between 12-15 because that's after the onset of puberty, menses, and all sorts of hormonal changes which affect their reproductive health. Of course, they should conduct the exam!

I'm sorry, but subjecting a sexually inactive 12 year old to an internal exam for *gesticulates wildly* reasons is bizarre to me. Also, I don't think that most Europeans are going to the gyno at 15, no.

You're a sick troll, a man who has no idea how women's bodies function. The fact that you think that only sexually active teens have a reason to go should have told me all I needed to know. Why are you even discussing women's health since you're a man?

Not a man, just a woman who thinks we overmedicalize things and there's no need prior to 21 to go to the gyno if you're not sexually active or having symptoms of a gynecological nature. Waste of time, waste of money.

You're an idiot who should never have had children.

I wouldn’t say they’re an idiot, but probably very naive. My honors student daughter had sex at 16. I didn’t actually sign a permission slip! You may not find out your kid is sexually active until there’s an issue. Mine got a raging bacterial infection and had to take a pregnancy test as well as std panel!

I would say anyone who refers to female anatomy as a “snatch” especially in a forum like this is an idiot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teens don't need to go to the gynecologist. Gyne's are specialists who you see if there is an issue.

Their regular doctor can handle questions about birth control / sex etc.

Disagree. Mine hasn’t gone yet, but I plan on taking her this summer before she goes to college. There was a long thread about this a few weeks ago.

It’s really hard and long waits to be seen by a gyn as a new patient with no issue. Don’t waste their time and take up needed spots to others. If all your teen needs is the safe sex and birth control options talk (and a prescription), the pediatrician or family doctor are completely qualified and do this all the time.

One way to avoid this is to build a relationship with doctor before an issue presents itself. Like, perhaps when you’re 17/18.

So you are going to have her meet and build a relationship with every kind of specialist just in case down the road she has an issue? Bizarre. She doesn't need to see a neurologist or a cardiologist or a gynecologist or an internist or a hematologist or a psychiatrist as a teen to build a relationship in case she has a future health issue.

That’s not the same. Almost all women will need an Ob/Gyn throughout their lives. I don’t think I would trust the pediatrician to be up on the newest birth control and what’s best for each patient.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teens don't need to go to the gynecologist. Gyne's are specialists who you see if there is an issue.

Their regular doctor can handle questions about birth control / sex etc.

Disagree. Mine hasn’t gone yet, but I plan on taking her this summer before she goes to college. There was a long thread about this a few weeks ago.

It’s really hard and long waits to be seen by a gyn as a new patient with no issue. Don’t waste their time and take up needed spots to others. If all your teen needs is the safe sex and birth control options talk (and a prescription), the pediatrician or family doctor are completely qualified and do this all the time.

One way to avoid this is to build a relationship with doctor before an issue presents itself. Like, perhaps when you’re 17/18.

So you are going to have her meet and build a relationship with every kind of specialist just in case down the road she has an issue? Bizarre. She doesn't need to see a neurologist or a cardiologist or a gynecologist or an internist or a hematologist or a psychiatrist as a teen to build a relationship in case she has a future health issue.

Unlike the other specialists you name, every woman is recommend to get Pap smears, breast exams, and discuss birth control just to name a few women’s health issues. Every woman. So your comparison with a gynecologist with a neurologist doesn’t connect.

Do you have a Google alert for this topic which is why you always post this kind of anti womens health stuff on DCUM?

You don't think PCPs can do pap smears, breast exams and birth control?
And I am all for women's health - just not the misuse of services. PCPs exist for a reason. Feeling like you are too good for a PCP and you and your family will only see specialists isn't the flex you think it is.

Uh no. I don’t want my PCP to a pap smear.

This is such bizarre trolling. Who has an issue with women seeing a gynecologist for routine women’s healthcare?

I won’t see my primary doctor for a pap smear. He’s a family doctor and we have a close professional relationship. He makes house calls, sees the whole family. A very good doctor but nah.

In preparing for children a woman in her 20s would be better off with a relationship with an ob/gyn. I told my daughter, college age, that her father and brother carry the genetic defect that causes Tay Sach. She’ll need to do genetic appointments through gyn. First pap is recommended at age 21. And honestly how many people in their 20s go get a physical every year?

A young woman is better off seeing a gynecologist and some of them do internal medicine. Gynecologists can also take care of minor illnesses and can refer to specialists as needed. When a woman gets older that’s when an internal medicine doctor is important.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My PCP has never once done a pap smear? I get them every 3 years at the gyn. If they're not doing the pap smear they don't even use the speculum anymore.

My mom had amajor issues caught on a first gyn visit (tumor that could have been an issue). So she took my sisters and me each when we turned 18.

I posted earlier that my friend's daughter died of cervical cancer at the age of 21. By that point, she had it for 3 or 4 years. I can't believe what I'm reading here. This should be common sense that we need to see a gyn after puberty.

I’m sorry about your friend’s daughter, but that is freakishly rare. Bowel cancer is also rare in young adults, but happens sometimes. Does that mean they should start giving colonoscopies to teenagers?

The HPV vaccine will likely mar a big difference for the generations able to get it.

You're ignoring the fact that the recommendation is to have your first gyn visit between the ages of 12-15. I get colonoscopies at the recommended age too. Not sure what you're trying to accomplish here.

So you think internal exams should be standard of care for non-sexually active 12 year olds?!

Stop lying. Establishing care with a gynecologist doesn’t mean having an internal exam. It’s smart for girls to learn what respectful responsive care looks like, to have a relationship with a gyn that they can ask questions if for some reason they don’t want to come to you or just want additional information/reassurance. My DD had an emergent situation freshman year of college and ended up needing surgery. I was glad that she didn’t have the additional stress of having that be her first experience with a gynecologist. It was her first internal exam, but she had already had several visits. She had conversations about multiple things including what happens during an internal exam. It was a scary time but much less so than it could have been.

American schools and families do a terrible job teaching girls about their body. Everything is focused on sexual practices and almost nothing on actual health. That’s another good reason to take your DD before there are problems.

I'm the European who responded earlier in the thread and this is so very true. I went for the first time at 15, it did involve an internal exam, but I've had dental visits that were MUCH more uncomfortable. If you teach your daughters that this is just a medical exam and not a right of passage or something you do after the first time you have sex, they'd be much better off.

I wonder if the PP understands that some young girls may hear about their bodies for the very first time during these visits. IT's just lunacy not to do it.

I think what you don't understand is that the girls who are "hearing about their bodies for the first time" are never the ones who would be brought to these exams. They are either a) too poor to spend money on what is at heart an informational medical visit or b) their parents have kept information about their bodies from them because they want to keep them ignorant/innocent/etc and thus would never bring them to the doctor for such a visit. America is very different from Europe in this regard.

Essentially what someone said earlier in the thread is true--bringing your daughter to the gyno at a very young age just to "get comfy" with the idea is the purview of extremely privileged, likely liberal, people.

But I didn't say that I would bring my daughter just to get comfy. It's a necessary medical exam just like any other.

OMG, so is she or isn't she getting a full internal exam? Because if she is, that's very different from what most people are proposing for their 12 year old.

You are talking to various people. The recommended age is between 12-15 because that's after the onset of puberty, menses, and all sorts of hormonal changes which affect their reproductive health. Of course, they should conduct the exam!

I'm sorry, but subjecting a sexually inactive 12 year old to an internal exam for *gesticulates wildly* reasons is bizarre to me. Also, I don't think that most Europeans are going to the gyno at 15, no.

You're a sick troll, a man who has no idea how women's bodies function. The fact that you think that only sexually active teens have a reason to go should have told me all I needed to know. Why are you even discussing women's health since you're a man?

Not a man, just a woman who thinks we overmedicalize things and there's no need prior to 21 to go to the gyno if you're not sexually active or having symptoms of a gynecological nature. Waste of time, waste of money.

Great thing about the US is that is your right. So ok then.

DP, the PP is right. OP asked if she should take her to the gyn before college and the answer is not necessarily. If she is heathy and without gyn issues, then it’s more important for her to have an established PCP. They can cover self breast exams, birth control, STDs. These are all preventative primary care issues. She doesn’t need an internal exam or anything that only a gyn specifically can do. Most women don’t need to see a gyn yearly. Just like older teen boys and men aren’t going to the urologist yearly to turn their head and cough and get their prostate palpated. Specialists are for abnormal or complex issues that primary can’t or won’t handle. There aren’t enough gynecologists to see every woman, every year for a “well check”

You just won't stop. You made your opinion very clear, you are making this all about you and you only. Stop hijacking.

About me? I’m answering OPs question which is her daughter has no need to see a gynecologist at all for these things

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teens don't need to go to the gynecologist. Gyne's are specialists who you see if there is an issue.

Their regular doctor can handle questions about birth control / sex etc.

Disagree. Mine hasn’t gone yet, but I plan on taking her this summer before she goes to college. There was a long thread about this a few weeks ago.

It’s really hard and long waits to be seen by a gyn as a new patient with no issue. Don’t waste their time and take up needed spots to others. If all your teen needs is the safe sex and birth control options talk (and a prescription), the pediatrician or family doctor are completely qualified and do this all the time.

One way to avoid this is to build a relationship with doctor before an issue presents itself. Like, perhaps when you’re 17/18.

So you are going to have her meet and build a relationship with every kind of specialist just in case down the road she has an issue? Bizarre. She doesn't need to see a neurologist or a cardiologist or a gynecologist or an internist or a hematologist or a psychiatrist as a teen to build a relationship in case she has a future health issue.

Unlike the other specialists you name, every woman is recommend to get Pap smears, breast exams, and discuss birth control just to name a few women’s health issues. Every woman. So your comparison with a gynecologist with a neurologist doesn’t connect.

Do you have a Google alert for this topic which is why you always post this kind of anti womens health stuff on DCUM?

You don't think PCPs can do pap smears, breast exams and birth control?
And I am all for women's health - just not the misuse of services. PCPs exist for a reason. Feeling like you are too good for a PCP and you and your family will only see specialists isn't the flex you think it is.

This makes no sense to me. Maybe in an HMO where it is a big deal to see a specialist. Dunno.
I have had male PCPs all my life. None ever offered to do vaginal exams or pap tests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teens don't need to go to the gynecologist. Gyne's are specialists who you see if there is an issue.

Their regular doctor can handle questions about birth control / sex etc.

Disagree. Mine hasn’t gone yet, but I plan on taking her this summer before she goes to college. There was a long thread about this a few weeks ago.

It’s really hard and long waits to be seen by a gyn as a new patient with no issue. Don’t waste their time and take up needed spots to others. If all your teen needs is the safe sex and birth control options talk (and a prescription), the pediatrician or family doctor are completely qualified and do this all the time.

One way to avoid this is to build a relationship with doctor before an issue presents itself. Like, perhaps when you’re 17/18.

So you are going to have her meet and build a relationship with every kind of specialist just in case down the road she has an issue? Bizarre. She doesn't need to see a neurologist or a cardiologist or a gynecologist or an internist or a hematologist or a psychiatrist as a teen to build a relationship in case she has a future health issue.

Unlike the other specialists you name, every woman is recommend to get Pap smears, breast exams, and discuss birth control just to name a few women’s health issues. Every woman. So your comparison with a gynecologist with a neurologist doesn’t connect.

Do you have a Google alert for this topic which is why you always post this kind of anti womens health stuff on DCUM?

You don't think PCPs can do pap smears, breast exams and birth control?
And I am all for women's health - just not the misuse of services. PCPs exist for a reason. Feeling like you are too good for a PCP and you and your family will only see specialists isn't the flex you think it is.

Uh no. I don’t want my PCP to a pap smear.

This is such bizarre trolling. Who has an issue with women seeing a gynecologist for routine women’s healthcare?

I won’t see my primary doctor for a pap smear. He’s a family doctor and we have a close professional relationship. He makes house calls, sees the whole family. A very good doctor but nah.

In preparing for children a woman in her 20s would be better off with a relationship with an ob/gyn. I told my daughter, college age, that her father and brother carry the genetic defect that causes Tay Sach. She’ll need to do genetic appointments through gyn. First pap is recommended at age 21. And honestly how many people in their 20s go get a physical every year?

A young woman is better off seeing a gynecologist and some of them do internal medicine. Gynecologists can also take care of minor illnesses and can refer to specialists as needed. When a woman gets older that’s when an internal medicine doctor is important.

Totally agree. I don't have that kind of relationship with my PCP and I'd like to keep it that way. I also prefer to see someone who does and sees these things day in and day out vs doing a few paps a month. Maybe. I'd probably feel differently if I lived in middle of nowhere Montana where any kind of doctor or specialist was hard to come by, but I don't, so I will not be seeing the doctor who diagnosis my flu for my gynecological needs. My kid would also really, really prefer to not see the pediatrician they have been with since 3 years old for that kind of thing because it feels too intimate. Which I totally get! I love my hairdresser and she could learn all the best new Brazilian waxing techniques, but I am not going to be showing her my anus. No thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Getting a yearly pelvic exam is no longer recommended for asymptomatic, non pregnant women with average risk as part of a yearly well woman check. Yearly paps are a thing of the past too.

https://www.acponline.org/acp-newsroom/american-college-of-physicians-recommends-against-screening-pelvic-examination-in-adult-asymptomatic

This is from 2014?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Getting a yearly pelvic exam is no longer recommended for asymptomatic, non pregnant women with average risk as part of a yearly well woman check. Yearly paps are a thing of the past too.

https://www.acponline.org/acp-newsroom/american-college-of-physicians-recommends-against-screening-pelvic-examination-in-adult-asymptomatic

This is from 2014?

When the recommendation was first made. Annual pelvic exams aren’t needed for most women and haven’t been for over a decade. Yearly pelvic exam at the gyn is old practice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Getting a yearly pelvic exam is no longer recommended for asymptomatic, non pregnant women with average risk as part of a yearly well woman check. Yearly paps are a thing of the past too.

https://www.acponline.org/acp-newsroom/american-college-of-physicians-recommends-against-screening-pelvic-examination-in-adult-asymptomatic

This is from 2014?

When the recommendation was first made. Annual pelvic exams aren’t needed for most women and haven’t been for over a decade. Yearly pelvic exam at the gyn is old practice.

Interesting because I had been getting them yearly until Covid.

[Anonymous]

I mean I go to my OBGYN because they write my birth control prescriptions. My OBGYN also really helped me out with finding the right birth control for me, as I struggled with the oral pills giving me some nausea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If I had a male PCP who didn't understand women's issues, I might see a gyne but I have a PCP who does all kinds of women's health so need for a gyne for routine care.

Agree with this. Haven't seen a gyn since my last post partum visit about 10 years ago. Have pap done every 5 years by pcp. She also prescribes birth control. I don’t think ill ever see a gyn again.

For daughters i would focus on finding them a solid female pcp that can cover all things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If I had a male PCP who didn't understand women's issues, I might see a gyne but I have a PCP who does all kinds of women's health so need for a gyne for routine care.

Agree with this. Haven't seen a gyn since my last post partum visit about 10 years ago. Have pap done every 5 years by pcp. She also prescribes birth control. I don’t think ill ever see a gyn again.

For daughters i would focus on finding them a solid female pcp that can cover all things.

So dumb.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If I had a male PCP who didn't understand women's issues, I might see a gyne but I have a PCP who does all kinds of women's health so need for a gyne for routine care.

Agree with this. Haven't seen a gyn since my last post partum visit about 10 years ago. Have pap done every 5 years by pcp. She also prescribes birth control. I don’t think ill ever see a gyn again.

For daughters i would focus on finding them a solid female pcp that can cover all things.

So dumb.

DP. So rude.
Can we just agree that people and doctors vary? What might not work in some situations might work for others? Sheesh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If I had a male PCP who didn't understand women's issues, I might see a gyne but I have a PCP who does all kinds of women's health so need for a gyne for routine care.

Agree with this. Haven't seen a gyn since my last post partum visit about 10 years ago. Have pap done every 5 years by pcp. She also prescribes birth control. I don’t think ill ever see a gyn again.

For daughters i would focus on finding them a solid female pcp that can cover all things.

So dumb.

DP. So rude.
Can we just agree that people and doctors vary? What might not work in some situations might work for others? Sheesh.

No, I will not validate ignorance or ignoring medical advice.

[Anonymous]

My teen daughter’s female pediatrician is well versed in women’s health and teen girl health issues and was just the right fit recently when DD needed contraceptives prescribed. I can see how other pediatricians or PCPs might not be the best fit for this. I don’t understand why people are getting so bent out of shape because someone else makes a different choice.