How often should I get a pelvic exam?

Although recent guidelines have changed, most gynecologists believe it's important to get a pelvic exam every year. Watch as OB/GYN specialist Lauren Streicher, MD, explains what happens during a pelvic exam, and why women should get one annually.

Transcript

00:00

Even things that you don't think of a gynecologist checking for because you also have bowel and bladder in your pelvis,

00:06

so even if you've had a hysterectomy, there's still benefit to that annual pelvic examination. [GENTLE MUSIC]

00:24

When we talk about a pelvic examination, there's a little bit of confusion what's involved because a PAP smear, in fact, is not

00:32

the same thing as a pelvic examination.

00:44

Pelvic examination has multiple parts, starting with a very close visual inspection of the outside of the vagina, the vulva.

00:51

We then put a speculum in to look at the walls of the vagina and the cervix.

00:59

And finally, the last part is what's called the bimanual exam. And we place two fingers in the vagina, the other hand on the belly.

01:06

And in this way we can feel everything in the pelvis-- the uterus, the ovaries, even things that you don't think

01:13

of a gynecologist checking for because you also have bowel and bladder in your pelvis. So even if you've had a hysterectomy,