How an IUD affects Your Pap Smear
Pap smears are an effective screen for STDs, and so it’s important to know if your IUD would affect the ability of your pap to detect an STD infection.
Women should always get an STD test if they believe they are already infected, or have an STD concern. Lots of things to consider about getting STD and HPV tests. If you haven’t had these tests here are some of the things to discuss.
Since you will be using contraception for years it’s important to consider other health benefits when selecting your method. Contraception is used, as a general rule about 30 years of fecundity, therefore long term health improvements with contraception are both desirable and possible with the right formulation for each individual woman. If you are suffering from anemia or fatigue, here’s which IUD is right for you. For those who are fatigued and in pain for heavy menstrual periods, merely by selecting the right IUD or hormonal contraceptive we can prevent anemia, improve sleep and fatigue, and thus bestow health benefits which affect even academic and athletic performance! But, long term management of any medical therapy means far reaching effects in many organ systems.
HPV virus infection, as well as other infections, may be related to the type of IUD you have. In a study jointly reported from Cornell and New York University Schools of Medicine there may be effects of the IUDs on the HPV virus. We know that immune factors in the vagina, the cervix, the uterus, and the Fallopian tubes help protect against infectious disease. Alteration of those factors can potentially affect many conditions. For some women changing the cervical mucus can prevent against infection, so the authors asked if IUDs have any effect on HPV infections. Specifically they were interested in whether the copper or the hormone levonorgestrel have any relationship to resolving or acquiring HPV infection. In May 2015 issue of OBSTETRICS and; GYNECOLOGY it was reported that the levonorgestrel IUDs, which would be Mirena, Liletta, Kyleena, or Skyla, could possibly both decrease clearance of HPV infections and decrease acquisition as well.
We still recommend HPV vaccination, regardless of the type of contraception you use. Of course the best defense against HPV infection is Gardasil vaccination, and we don’t want readers to lose sight of that! Furthermore it may be that copper IUDs are not as suitable for women with HPV infections. We know that local immune factors help IUDs work. This would be a tremendous benefit for many women if it is substantiated by future study. Older studies done in the per-vaccination era, and done in an era of less accurate HPV testing did not indicate that there was an effect of IUD use on the precancer cervical change called dysplasia, and even suggested decreased cervical cancer. For further information please come in to discuss with your personal gyno.217-356-3736.
