The term ‘scraping the cervix’ that is associated with the Pap test tends to cause distress to many women because it implies ‘sharp, pain, blood.’
According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, scraping means “to remove from a surface by usually repeated strokes of an edged instrument” as in rubbing off a tissue sample for cytology.
So ladies: by no means is the Pap test to be associated with a surgical procedure or with sharp instruments cutting deeply into the cervix! Instead, look at it as a ‘throat culture’ to the cervix — simple and harmless (even you tend to spot/bleed a bit afterward, which is common).
