I've had a few of these over the years (now in my 40s) and have always found them uncomfortable but since they started using the brush collection not painful.

Today I had a smear test (long overdue, my fault) and from the get go it was painful (insertion was fine, I've had children) - sharp pain deep inside, and when I saw the brush afterwards it had blood on it. The nurse performing it reassured me it was nothing to worry about and that the cervix is a sensitive area. She said everything looked okay up there.

I'm not usually such a wimp, I've had natural childbirth, but this hurt so much I was gritting my teeth and digging my fingernails into the couch.

It may be because my uterus is retroverted idk, but it never hurt like that before. Huge respect for women who undergo more invasive procedures, hoping this will be fine and another 3 years to the next.

Anyone else find their pap smear painful? Or varying pain levels from smear to smear?