Are the dilators to make a cervical smear easier something you can do at home or something you have to get done at a doctor's office? I'm not diagnosed or anything, but cervical smears cause me so much pain and I'll try anything to make it a little but easier.
You can buy them and practice at home! If you struggle with tightness and pain during penetration, and it hurts when they have to use a speculum or anything like that, I'd definitely recommend giving it a try.
This style is very good imo. There's some that are more rigid and straight but I think the curved silicone shape really helps.
I used to have vaginismus so bad I couldn't insert anything. I thought it might be literally physically impossible due to how I was built or something. But I've had such bad experiences in the past trying to get doctors to investigate the possibility of endometriosis and such since I couldn't do internal ultrasounds, and I wanted to be able to have cervical smears too, so I decided to try out dilators. Extremely glad I did now, since it will make any possible cancer investigation a lot more doable!
That first little one is barely thicker than my pinky finger, and they gradually get bigger. With months of regular use I can do all of them now. I would say the speculum the doctor used is about the size of the biggest one or slightly smaller - So having practiced with it at home before the appointment meant the muscles were already relaxed enough for that size to fit quite easily, even though I was stressed out. I think if I hadn't done it beforehand the anxiety I was feeling would have made things a lot more tight and therefore painful.
I hope that makes sense, and helps you determine if this might be helpful for you too! I'm happy to answer any questions :)
