Mid 20s, virgin and never been to gynocologist... is there an urgent need for me!
Question: Because I've never had sex before, I just feel like anyone being down there would be an invasion of my privacy. I know the doctors see women everyday, but my future husband will most likely have seen another woman's vagina as well.. just not mine. I'm very protective of my body. And since I've never had sex and don't have any serious problems, is it really necessary for me to go and do something that I feel is a violation and makes me very, very uncomfortable?
Answers: Because I've never had sex before, I just feel like anyone being down there would be an invasion of my privacy. I know the doctors see women everyday, but my future husband will most likely have seen another woman's vagina as well.. just not mine. I'm very protective of my body. And since I've never had sex and don't have any serious problems, is it really necessary for me to go and do something that I feel is a violation and makes me very, very uncomfortable?
Well honestly, no one can make you go, and since you haven't had sex, you aren't high risk, but, when a doctor examines you it's not an invasion of privacy, they are just checking to make sure you are healthy and that there are no abnormal growths inside your vagina. One of the primary reasons women go for pap smears is to check for cervical cancer, because if you end up with cervical cancer, you can end up having to lose your entire vagina and your cervix in order to remove the cancer. This would make it impossible for you to conceive and baby, and it would make sex near impossible as well. They also check the size and position of your uterus to make sure it is normal and healthy as well as doing an breast exam to check for breast cancer which occurs in 1 out of 11 women and they do an external pelvic exam to make sure everything is in the correct position.
I can totally respect your need for privacy and your discomfort, but it literally only takes a minute and if it can prevent cancer, I'd think it was worth it. You can get a female doctor, they are very understanding, and respectful and I'm sure who ever you end up with will be very understanding and patient with you. I insisted on having a female obgyn and there wasn't one in my city (it;s a small city) so I just go to a nearby city for my exams with a female obgyn. (I could not have some man looking down there, I would not do it) As I said your not high risk, but it is still important to make sure your healthy. Besides you are going to have to go once you become sexually active and/or want children (it's unavoidable) and it's much easier to get used to when your at the age your at now. If you need to, make an appointment and just talk to the doctor and share your concerns, talking to her may help ease your discomfort.
If you think about it, it's the mature and responsible thing to do.
To be honest with you I felt the way you do for quite a while, I was very uncomfortable and apprehensive about going, and waited until I was 23 ( I'm 25 now), but once I got to the doctor and had the exam I realized it was no big deal and at least I was reassured that I was normal and healthy.
Good Luck and email me if you want to talk.
your not braking the law if you dont want want to have sex. but i suggest you dont get married because your husband is going to want to have it. dont do anything you dont want to do.
You don't have to do anything you don't want to do. However, if there is a family history of cervical cancer, uterine cancer, or even breast cancer, you should go and get a check-up.
Yes, it is necessary. Just because you've never had sex, does not mean that there is nothing wrong down there. It is always better to be safe than sorry.
No one likes doing it, but its only once a year and it doesn't last that long.
Seeing a gynecologist is not just for when you have sex. It's to make sure that there are no abnormalities down there. It would be like never going to see a doctor because you never get sick. They're not just checking for STDs, they're checking for STDs, infections, abnormal tissues, and so on.
I understand you're protective of your body, and it is your choice whether you go or not... if it helps, you could always try and go to see a female gynecologist. The idea of a male gynecologist looking at me was... less than appealing to me, so I said I wanted a female one and that's what I got.
once you become sexually active it is important to get a special test done every year called a PAP test. The doctor will take a smear of cells from in the vagina and test for this. Usually your family doctor will do this during your annual physical.
you would not need to see a gynecologist unless you were having problems in that area.
Since you say you don't have any serious problems I wonder if you are having any problems?? If you are you should speak to your family doctor.
You should see some sort of doctor for breast and pelvic exams. You wont need a Pap Smear because you never had sex..(you aren't at risk for cervical cancer if you never had sex). But it is always good to have a doctor feel your ovaries and uterus and rectum as well as feel your breasts. You may not have any problems now but you may some day develop an ovarian cyst that causes you to be in a lot of pain and you will need to worked in to a GYN ASAP but it sometimes takes month to see a new doctor.
You can ask you primary doctor to do a breast and pelvic exam.
I didn't have my first gyn exam until a few months before my 24th birthday. And I finally did it, and it really wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be.
It may make you uncomfortable but you're going to have to do it eventually. Do you want kids someday? Because having a baby leaves you absolutely no room for personal privacy. You can choose not to go, that's entirely up to you, but it's probably not a good idea.
That being said, have you considered a female doctor? At least then it's not a man poking around in your girly parts...
Since you've never had sex, there isn't a need to go out and hit the gyno up for STD tests, but the main point of the pap smear is to check for abnormal cervical cells....AKA pre-cancer.
If any close female relative, like mom, sister, aunt have had any cervical/ovarian/uterine cancer or a history of abnormal pap smears, its best to get one done yearly.
The whole process takes maybe 5minutes tops, and honestly, it would be so much worse to actually have something wrong that is fixable go un-checked and get to a point where it can't be fixed easily. Female reproductive cancers are often symptomless untill they are bad off.
Maybe a female Gyno would make things easier??