age to get first pap smear
A Patricia Geraghty, NP, NP , Advanced Practice Nursing, answered. A woman over 30 years old, who has had normal pap smears and negative HPV tests, should continue to have pap smears every 5 years. She may stop having pap smears at age 65. Most health care organizations recommend women begin regular Pap testing at age 21. If you're a virgin — meaning you haven't had sexual (vaginal) intercourse — you may have a low risk of cervical cancer, but you can still consider testing. Routine Pap testing and pelvic exam…. The Pap smear is an easy and reliable test to perform and the procedure takes only minutes to perform. So if this is your first Pap smear and pelvic exam, relax, we will explain the procedure, step by step. First, you will be asked to disrobe from the waist down and put on a hospital gown. The clinician will ask you to sit at the edge of an exam table. After age 65, doctors generally recommend that you can stop having Pap smears if all of the following criteria are met: 1  Your last two Pap smears were normal. 2  One of these last Pap smears was in the last five years.  You have no history of precancerous changes. 1 American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends first Pap tests at 21. 2  After age 21, women should have a Pap test every two years, instead of every year.  Rates of cervical cancer have declined by 50 percent since the 1970s. A Pap smear is used to screen for cervical cancer. The Pap smear is usually done in conjunction with a pelvic exam. In women older than age 30, the Pap test may be combined with a test for human papillomavirus (HPV) — a common sexually transmitted infection that can cause cervical cancer in some women. At Women to Women, we suggest a Pap smear just about every year for routine screening of sexually-active adult women, and occasionally more often to follow any minor abnormal cells found on previous Pap smear tests. You and your doctor can decide when it's time for you to begin Pap testing and how often you should have the test. In general, doctors recommend beginning Pap testing at age 21. Doctors generally recommend repeating Pap testing every 3 years for women ages 21-65. Women age 30 and older can consider Pap testing every 5 years if the procedure is combined with testing for HPV. If you have certain risk factors, your doctor may recommend more-frequent Pap smears, regardless of your age. If you are 70 years or over and have had two normal Pap smears in the last five years, you do not have to keep having Pap smears, unless you wish to do so. Women who are over 70 years who have never had a Pap smear, or those who request a Pap smear, of course could have a pap smear. Remember that, with the advent of HPV testing that goes along with the papsmear test, women over the age of 30 need only to have a pap with HPV every 3 years, if both of negative. However, there are other risk factors for developing cervical cancer, such as family history and smoking, so talk to your doctor if you have concerns. For effective cervical cancer screening, many organizations recommend an initial Pap smear at age 21. Discuss when to begin cervical cancer screening with your doctor. Together you can decide what's best for your particular situation.
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