#loop electrosurgical excisional procedure

[rhyannontyballa]

Women who are tested with 'abnormal cervical cells' from a pap smear, often are scheduled for further testing. A lot of these abnormal cervical cells can be attributed to normal, harmless things such as: puberty, hormone imbalance, menopause, pregnancy, tampon use and even sexual intercourse. Abnormal PAP test results can also be due to vaginal use of medical preparations, HPV (Human Pappiloma Virus), the use of feminine hygiene products like douches or fragrances. less harmful diseases other than cancer, inflammation or infection from yeast infections, herpes and trichomonas and even the pap smear in itself can cause inflammation and thus can trigger an abnormal test result. This means that pap smears often produce 'false positives', meaning that whenever 'abnormal' cells (also called 'pre-cancerous' cells) are detected, your test result is positive, but that doesn't mean you have cancer or will develop cancer (contrary to what many women believe). Even in the case of an HPV infection, which is said to be the cause of cervical cancer, yet never proven to be the cause(!), it is estimated that 90% of the cases clear up on their own. Only certain strains of HPV that remain in the body for longer time may mean cancer is present(most cervical cancers are slow growing cancers), which in turn means, the immune system is weakened otherwise it would have tackled that HPV strain already.   It is known that STRESS weakens the immune system (there's also the theory that cancer is a reaction to stress) and many women experience stress before, during and after a pap smear. Before the pap smear, women often anticipate stress and anxiety (that she may remember from a previous gyn visit) for the invasive pelvic exam and afterwards she often feels stressed out because of waiting for the test results, but especially when she hears the verdict of having a positive test result. There are also women who develop PTSD from a traumatic pap smear experience. All of this stress is unnecessary and dangerous, because she may be stressing needlessly over a false positive(meaning there is no cancer threat) and in the meanwhile her stress levels are weakening her immune system which makes her more susceptible for contracting disease- the very thing she is ironically trying to prevent by undergoing a pap smear. Another reason why this costly and often stress-evoking test is questionable, is because it is done for a disease that is actually very rare, since it affects only slightly more than one half of one percent of women! But this is not everything, as it is also a dangerous practice. The smears with positive test results, from which many are false positives, lead to more painful and invasive follow-up tests such as excisional biopsies as part of further diagnosis of 'abnormal' cervical cells and/or as part of immediate treatment during a colposcopy through either one or a combination of the following methods: cold knife cone biopsy* (excision of a cone-shaped piece from the cervix with a scalpel/knife), LLETZ: (Large Loop Excision of the Transformation Zone. involves the excision of about 1½ sugar lumps of tissue from the cervix using a fine wire loop and diathermy current.) , LASER cone biopsy (a cone of tissue is excised using a LASER with carbon dioxide), LASER ablation (a similar amount of tissue is ablated using LASER)   LASER diathermy( (a similar amount of tissue is ablated using diathermy) electrocoagulation (LEEP: Loop Electrosurgical Excision Procedure uses a wire loop heated by electric current cut off the bottom portion of the cervix ((100 degrees heat applied to cervix)) Needle excision of the transformation zone (NETZ)(– a cone of tissue is excised using a needle diathermy), or cryocautery (freezing the cervix with liquid nitrogen) which makes PAP smear screening in asymptomatic women especially those in the age group and any other circumstances that cause a high rate of false positives, not only unnecessary, but dangerous as well. Why? Because these procedures damage the cervix, which in turn can have very harmful consequences such as: cervical stenosis**(damage and narrowing of the passageway through the cervix) which can lead to : endometriosis, infertility, hematometra (an accumulation of blood in the uterus), pyometra (pus accumulated in the uterus) (a hematometra or pyometra can cause pain or cause the uterus to bulge), menstrual dysfunction such as no periods (amenorrhea), painful periods (dysmenorrhea), and abnormal bleeding, haemorrhage from the cervix, which may need blood transfusion or further surgery, infections, may be introduced into the uterus or tubes or abdomen..   Nerve damage Also 'cervical incompetence' (and may require surgery (cerclage: stitching of the cervix) when the cervix is scarred shut)- which can cause : difficulties during labour miscarriages, high risk pregnancy, premature babies*** and c-sections plus psychological issues , as well as loss of sexual sensitivity Read more:  http://womenagainststirrups.proboards.com/thread/70/harmful-consequences-pap-smears#ixzz5HYujjXox