Is Your Pap Smear Abnormal? Here’s What to Expect Next

There’s a word that you’d rather not have associated with your health: abnormal. In the context of your Pap test, this classification isn’t necessarily cause for concern. Let’s take a look at your next steps after an abnormal result.

There are certain descriptions you’d rather not have attached to your health, and “abnormal” is certainly on this list. So if you’ve received the results from your Pap smear and the conclusion is just that — abnormal — you’re understandably concerned.

The first thing the experienced team of providers at Bayard Street Obstetrics & Gynecology wants you to know is that an abnormal Pap smear result isn’t that uncommon; it happens to many women.

That said, abnormal results require further investigation because they could indicate a more serious issue. The good news is that we have options and time thanks to this early detection. Let’s take a look at abnormal Pap test results in more detail so you understand what comes next.

What we test for with the Pap smear

Did you know that rates of cervical cancer in the United States have been cut by more than half since the mid-1970s? This is largely thanks to the quick-and-easy Pap test.

January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month, so it's a great time for us to be discussing this topic. To perform a Pap smear, your provider takes a swab of your cervix to collect cells. Lab technicians then check these cells under a microscope to look for any abnormalities.

Cervical cancer is largely caused by certain strains of human papillomavirus (HPV). While there are more than 100 strains of HPV, only about 30 are associated with cancers, including cervical, vulvar, and vaginal.

In most cases, the body fights off HPV infections, but if your body doesn’t do so successfully or if you were infected by a certain strain, it can cause changes in your cells that lead to precancerous cells and then cancerous cells.

With regularly scheduled Pap smears, we can identify these changes long before they even get to the cancerous stage.

What abnormal Pap results can mean

While we just reviewed that an abnormal result from your Pap smear can indicate a precancerous condition, it can also indicate other things. For example, abnormal test results can come on the heels of:

An active HPV infection
Hormone imbalances
Sexually transmitted infections
Dysplasia — growth of abnormal cells
Yeast infections

In many cases, an abnormal result stems from the first item — an HPV infection — and most women can successfully fight off the infection.

After your abnormal Pap smear — what’s next

When it comes to next steps, you can expect to undergo another test. Within about three months from the original Pap smear, we follow up with another. In many cases, things have gone back to normal, and this is reflected in the new test. At that point, we go back to your original screening schedule.

If your second Pap test comes back with abnormal results again, we will likely recommend a colposcopy. During this procedure, we take a sample of tissue from your cervix for biopsy, which will give us a much clearer idea about the cell changes.

Even if we confirm cell changes with the colposcopy, we may take a wait-and-see approach and perform another colposcopy down the road to monitor these changes.

If, however, we find precancerous cells, we can perform a procedure to remove these cells from your cervix, preventing them from turning the corner into cancer.

As you can see, a first abnormal Pap test result is just one step among many before the cancer conversation even begins. We suggest that you resist panicking after one abnormal Pap smear and keep in mind that this one simple test is allowing you to stay one step ahead.

If you have more questions about your Pap smear results or further testing, we’re happy to shed some light. To get started, please contact Bayard Street Obstetrics & Gynecology in lower Manhattan, Brooklyn, Flushing, Queens, or Syosset, New York.