Four Reasons Why Girls and Women Should See Their GYN

December 26, 2009 by Administrator
Filed under Health & Body

By: Janine Sherman, RN MSN WHNP-BC.

stethoscope

Just because new guidelines say most women don’t need an annual pap…women and girls shouldn’t put their health at risk. With the announcement of the new pap test guidelines, it is worrisome that many women will now forgo their routine annual exam. These women believe that if they do not need a pap test, they do not need a gynecological exam. Wrong! In fact, seeing a women’s health care provider involves much more than cervical cancer screening.

Four key reasons women (and girls) should regularly see a health care provider, even if they don’t need a pap test:

1. Teen girls need a first time. Gynecologists recommend that every teen girl should visit a women’s health care provider for the first time between the ages of 13 and 15. This visit does not necessarily mean a girl will have an exam, but it can
be a great opportunity for a young girl to establish a relationship with a provider prior to their need for an exam. This visit is also a great opportunity for education and counseling.

2. Any woman who is sexually active needs to have STD screening. Just this week, the Centers for Disease Control released the latest statistics concerning sexually transmitted infections, and the rate of infection continues to rise in the
15 to 19 age group. We need to encourage girls to be screened.

3. Any woman who is sexually active may need birth control. Teen pregnancy is a costly problem in this country, to the tune of 9.1 billion dollars annually. In addition, the second highest group of women who have pregnancy terminations are the over forty age group. If women are not seeing their health care provider regularly, these statistics may continue to rise since women will not be receiving the contraceptive counseling that they need.

4. Annual well women exams. The gynecologic visit encompasses much more than a pap test. Often a women’s health care provider is the only source of primary health care a women under the age or 40 may see, and therefore, it is important that women continue to have these visits. At this visit, a women is screened for hypertension, assessed for risks of cancer and heart disease, and given a general health physical that includes a breast and pelvic exam. General health counseling also occurs at this visit, such as the need for adequate calcium intake to prevent osteoporosis.

As we look at health care reform, remember that disease prevention is thought to be a key to health care cost containment.Finally, guidelines are just that — guidance for individual health care based on studying large numbers of people. A woman and
her health care provider need to be the ones who make the decisions about how often to have a pap test. But, if a
woman and her health care provider agree that they don’t need pap tests every year, they shouldn’t stop receiving
all the other benefits of an annual visit to a women’s health care provider!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Janine J. Sherman, RN MSN WHNP-BC, is a Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner who specializes in the care of adolescent patients. She currently works in a busy OB/GYN office in Houston. Sherman is a former faculty member at the School of Nursing at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston. She worked at the Center for Immunization Research at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and has written numerous articles on a variety of women’s health issues.Start Talking: A Girl’s Guide for You and Your Mom About Health, Sex or Whatever is Sherman’s first general interest book.