Great News for People Who Hate Getting Pap Smears

Photo-Illustration: by The Cut; Photos: Teal Health

Ever since I started going to the OB/GYN regularly in my early 20s, getting a pap smear has been a uniquely miserable part of the experience. I stare at the ceiling, my legs up in stirrups, while my kind doctor attempts to insert the speculum as gently as possible and I try not to squirm. Once the speculum is in, I take deep breaths as she scrapes my cervix, my eyes inevitably welling up with tears. I know testing for cervical cancer this way can be life-saving...