No-one can dodge the discomfort of testing, not even women

The fight against cancer is one that’s quite daunting and uncomfortable. This is because the procedures need to be repeated every year to make sure you detect any abnormalities early enough.

Women understand this intimately – there are three procedures women have to go through annually to make sure their reproductive systems and organs are in tip top shape, and two of them usually involve uncomfortable probing.

The first one is a mammogram, which is essentially an x-ray for the boobs. Unlike the standard x-ray machine, this one needs each breast to be put in between two sections and squeezed in a few different positions. It’s instrumental in catching breast cancer, and has saved countless lives.

The second is an ultrasound. You might be thinking this only happens when a woman is expecting, but no. This is a regular procedure at the gynaecologist, that involves a long cylinder investigating your ovaries and womb from the bottom.

Then comes the paps. Fam! As if it’s not bad enough lying on a table with your legs open and a bright light on your nether-regions, you’re then probed and examined with a metal crank and have your insides scraped. This is then sent for testing, and is used to test for STIs, cervical cancer, and overall health of the female reproductive system.

While online searches and doctors tell you that these procedures are painless, many women often experience slight pain and discomfort, even light bleeding especially with the papsmear, which can last a day or two. Ku rough!

So, when women say they understand how uncomfortable these procedures are, believe them. They know how this can affect your mood for the rest of the day, and the little nasty reminders you may get.

Our bodies prefer things that are invited in, like food, drinks and other nice things we can’t discuss right now, but for us to know how healthy they are and to give them a fighting chance, we need the uncomfortable.

Remember this when you need to get tested for prostate and testicular cancer. Don’t put it off because you dread the discomfort. Unfortunately, this is another part of adulting we can’t avoid.

Click here to read more about how to examine yourself at home. Make sure you book your doctor’s appointment.