I recently went for a smear test as I turned 25 earlier in the year, it was very painful and the nurse tried two different size speculums. I can't fault the nurse at my GP surgery she was reassuring and explained what the smear would involve. I am 25 but am still a virgin. I was referred to my local womens clinic at my hospital where they have a better choice of speculums and equipment to help try and make to smear as comfortable as possible. I still found it unbelievably painful not to get too graphic but it felt like a burning/ tearing sensation, I obviously explained to the nurses before hand that I was a virgin and she said she would apply a numbing gel internally and on the outside to help. however this did not work. Obviously at this point I was quite worried that this sort of reaction isn't normal. she checked to make sure there were no abnormalities externally and she said everything appeared to be normal however without being able to check internally she couldn't be sure what was causing the pain. She spoke with the consultant on the ward and they have now said that I do not need a smear as I am not sexually active so I am at a low risk of exposure to the HPV virus. But I am now feeling like if I were to get into a physical relationship that it would be far to painful to have sex also the thought of this makes me physically sick. Honestly this whole experience has made me feel so embarassed and lacking in any sort of confidenece and actually I sat at home crying about it. Has anybody else gone through something similar and has anyone got any advice?