In the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) most young women from the age of ca. 18 get a yearly pelvic, vaginal check-up at the gynecologist’s in oder to do scans, see if there is potential cancer in the ovaries etc. It is very strongly recommended and at least all my female friends do it yearly.
Is this also a custom in your country?
25 comments
No.
Smear (Pap/Cervical screening) tests are routine from 25 to 64. Use to be every 3 years, soon to be every 5 years but that is the only thing routine.
That wouldn’t be done by a gynecologist either – typically a nurse.
Seeing specialist isn’t a routine thing in the UK generally. You see GPs and gain referrals when required. A lot more is also done by health professionals who aren’t doctors
As an example: I’ve had a baby and only saw an obstetrician once do administer forceps. Everything else was midwives. I’ve had an IUD and it was all done by nurses.
Not in the UK, we just have cervical smear tests from the age of 25.
It’s every 5 years for women aged 30-60. For 45+ only if they skipped the last check-up or tested positive for HPV.
And like with the British it’s done by your GP/GP assistant, not a gynaecologist. They have better things to do. Though these days they have home testing kits where you administer the test yourself so you don’t even need to see a doctor for it anymore.
In Finland women over 25 take Pap test every five years. I don’t know anyone who goes to the gynecologist yearly.
I think in Belgium the recommendation for a cervical swab is now every 3 years. When I was younger it was once a year, but I think with most girls now getting the HPV vaccine they changed it to 3 years and moved the recommended age to start the check ups from 16-18 to 25.
You just get the swap at your GP, reimbursed by health insurance.
People would generally only really go to a gynecologist (or any specialist) if they felt something was up or for something specific rather than annually. You’d generally be referred on by your GP as the first point of contact.
Cervical screening every 3 years starts at 25.
*Edit*: I will say as someone who has suffered badly with period related issues that I so wish I’d just gone to a specialist earlier in life. The reason I didn’t though was my own fault in terms of actively procrastinating attending rather than the GPs.
Dutch here, short answer no.
We get a pap-smear every 5 years, age 30 and up. From the government.
GP can check for basic strange things before getting birth control for example.
And if you have issues, GP will write a referral to a gynecologist.
Pap smears used to be annual here in Germany but are now 3-yearly (although that might vary with age). This has only changed in the last few years though.
I’m a massive wimp. So I guess my opinion is biased. My gynocologist tells me that its costumary from 25 up and it is usually every year, but I don’t know if it is because she wants to make me feel better about paniking when we tried to do the pap test last time.
Starting from 18 every 1 year sounds brutal
Greece: Kinda, yes. It’s customary to start when you’re sexually active, so it depends on the person but is usually 18-25.
They recommend every 2 years, but yes, it’s customary.
French part of Switzerland here! the first gynecologist I went to at 18 told me to come back at 23 because she didn’t see the point of doing any check ups on someone so young.. unsure if its just a THAT gyno issue or a common thing for other people in the Swiss french part🤷🏻♀️
Yes, I dare say even earlier. Girls usually go there at the age of 15 or whenever they need contraception pills.
Nope. Pap smear is recommended every 3 years for sexually active women, any other issue is on a case-by-case basis and usually taken care of by your GP. For example, I’ve had polycystic ovaries in the past, so every year I get a pelvic ultrasound to monitor the situation. If your GP thinks you’d benefit from seeing a gynaecologist they’ll make the referral, and stuff like birth control is also prescribed and monitored by them.
Girls usually get a first visit after they get their first period, then there is a gap if there are no problems, and then start going regularly once they are sexually active (though sometimes later, like 18-ish, if they are good kids with a stable bf etc). It is said that you should go every 1-2 years, so most people aim to go every year and as life happens, they go every 1.5 or 2 years.
It seems that HPV screening is officially done from age 30 in every 5 years, but that is a very recent system. Before that, doctors recommended a pap smear every other year.
No, at least I don’t think so. I’m 22 and I’ve never had it done. I think you should start getting them once you start being sexually active or when you’re older but probably not at 18. And I’m also sure they’re not yearly. I think maaaaybe once in 2 years or so but defo not every year in most cases.
Would be nice if you could get an “S” from somewhere, so the acronym was “badger”.
Although I strongly discourage approaching the Sudetenland.
I’m kinda shocked women go to the gynecologist so rarely in other countries. I’ve had things discovered by a doctor several times that could have become cancerous if I had let it go and I didn’t have any symptoms.
No, you only really go once you’re sexually active. I asked my doctor about it as a virgin and she said it wasn’t needed, and afterwards I’ve only been told to go every five years.
There is a papilloma virus HPV-vaccination program now for 10-12yo. olds both males and females in schools but aside from that I dunno, do we have actual yearly checks ?
I think in Italy it used to be like that too but now it’s every three year.Personally I still do a check up every year cause I’m paranoid and when I’m sexually active I like to know that everything is good down there.When I was studying in France university also offered free yearly check-ups for gyno health and std tracking.
No, I was actually turned down for it for being a virgin at the time, despite having a family history of uterine cancer and PCOS and displaying some symptoms of the latter. Been trying to get one since, but COVID’s made any non-corona-related health problem a non-priority in our healthcare system, unfortunately.
Spain – customary as in covered by the social Security? No (I wish a yearly check up including gyn and andrologists was mandatory, though)
Pap smears/exams are done every 3 y, or 5,depending on the region.
But, I went to a private practice gyn when I started my periods just to check after the first few ones that all was good/within the norm. And they told me to come back anytime I felt I needed it, for yearly exams when sexually active, and for contraception if needed (all of this without my mother present, even as a minor).
And I’ve gone yearly since then, or tried to.
Yup, yearly but starting at around 30 rather than 18.
Nope, I’m nearly 23 and still haven’t had my first smear test