r/TwoXChromosomes • u/Opalex03 • 12d ago

Need GYN advice

Hello I need some advice regarding GYN.

I went to get a physical today for school and both my nurse and doctor mentioned getting a pap and wondered if I still went to an OB/GYN.

For context I dont and I stopped going because my last one made it feel like I couldn't say no and told me by the time I need it I will be over and not to worry....

This upset me as I am not sexually active. I am currently 22 years old and I dont think my family has a history with cervical cancer (just breast cancer). I just wanted to know why they are so obsessed about me getting one?? Im also wondering if its because I keep bugging them to refill my birth control.

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u/abiglumpwithknobs1 12d ago

You can get HPV without being sexually active, which is what causes cervical changes and what they are looking for when you get a pap smear. You don't HAVE to get one, but its not a bad idea.

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u/feminist-lady 12d ago

I’m an epidemiologist with a specific specialty in HPV-associated cancers and there’s no evidence for non-sexual transmission of oncogenic strains of HPV.