You can refuse. There may be issues with insurance or whatever, but they can't force you to have a pelvic exam in order to have the other parts of a physical exam. That said, it is just plain stupid to avoid pelvic exams, especially if you are sexually active. Even if you believe your partner when he says he is clean and doesn't cheat, etc.. Reread how #whattothink responded to you. There are ways to do them and reduce the pain and/or fear. So often I hear people saying why can't they find a cure for such-and-such. Until they do find more cures, people have simple ways to avoid getting some diseases and catching things early when they do get them. So when you find yourself in the situation of the girl #whattothink mentioned, don't complain that life cheated you. You have the tools now.
lol I don't complain about anything. I am fully aware of the consequences and if I am ever faced with the consequence I will take it from there
Agreed. Sometimes crap happens and if you have the tools to keep yourself healthy why not. I also do not really believe a dr would ever say that she could NEVER have pap smears as they are so crucial to health. Possibly at the time due to her age but if you are having sex its just idiotic and irresponsible not too.
As just about everyone says before the consequences happen. But, good luck to you.
Sorry about the endometriosis, I knew someone with that, but you can refuse anything that the hospital or doctors request, because it is your body, but if you let them know that it is painful, they can usually make the efforts to minimise the pain, have you considered laser treatment for the endo metriosis, aparently its a lot better these days,x
lazer doesn't do anything for endo. actually there is no treatment for it that cures it. excision is better. lazer just cuts off the top but it can still grow but with excision they cut it out completely. there are only 4 endometriosis specialist in the USA. thanks for answering
oh we have a few here in the UK its a little more common I suppose, I understand the cure, ie not being one, and that it reduces the chances of child birth, if not infertile, bbut my ex had the laser treatment here and they got 99% of the mass and it took 7 years to inflame again where it would cause pain and discomfort,x
You prob could but most insurance companies won't cover your birth control unless you get a yearly exam. I highly recommend you get it still since you are sexually active. You never know if you could develop cervical cancer or something and left untreated can be fatal. Maybe your doctor can provide you with some sort of sedative before hand to make you not as tense and ease the pain
Oh that's actually a good point very rarely will drs presc,ribe birth control without a pelvic exam. Also I doubt without one it would be covered as a yearly exam and without insurance my gyno costs close to 300 for a visit.
im actually not on any birth control pills so that's not a worry of mine. I can't take any hormones for some reason. I understand its important but I just don't want to do it. thanks for answering :)
I mean unless you really can't do it then you should because that's how doctors find cancer and make sure there are no other problems in there. But if you need to as the patient I think you have the right to refuse. I don't see the use in going to the gyno if your not going to get one.
Of course, I'm pretty sure doctors are literally not allowed to do something to you if you say no.
But it's a really good idea to! You could explain your situation and they might have a different way to do it that won't cause you pain.
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What's Your Opinion? Sign Up Now!Well I suppose you could but you could also get cervical cancer or ovarian cancer or and STD and never know. So if that sounds awesome go ahead.
i had my guy tested and everything came back negative. he's the only one I'm with so I'm not afraid of getting an STD or cervical cancer due to HPV. also paps don't show ovarian cancer.
Um in a pelvic exam they due check your ovaries manually. As for HPV there are naturally occurring types that cause cancer my best friend had cervical cancer at 13 before she ever had sex and a hysterectomy at 25 because it was recurring. Though she was already almost sterile due to her endometriosis.
oh I know they check the ovaries for cysts and tumors but I'm saying paps itself don't show ovarian cancer. there is a CA-125 tumor marker but its highly unreliable. menopause, cysts, endometriosis, etc can raise the score and give false positives. by the way I'm sorry about your friend getting her cancer at 13. I hope she is well today :)
You can refuse any medical treatment. If you don't have a reasonable excuse for refusing it though, a psych evaluation can override your right to refuse. A pelvic exam isn't very likely to go that far though.
I would recommend that you do consult your doctor about long term management of your condition, and try very hard to stay on top of it as your fertility could be affected down the line.
I'm about sure your obgyn will take the necessary precautions required for your illness. He doesn't take a pap smear for his own fun either.
Lol you can refuse whatever you want but pap smears are good to get if you have any issues with anything down there when you get older.
you are supposed to start getting them when you either become sexually active or 21 and up. which ever one comes first
I've been told by my doctor many times that they don't do paps for at least 3 years until after you start having sex.
Ouch. Just looked up what endometriosis is. That's like a mega huge pain I the ass period.
yep it kills every month and makes pelvic exams and sex painful. worse than birth
you can absolutely.
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