Your Sexual Health, Your Choice! 

 [Video Description: The post has a video thumbnail with blue shading overlaid. The middle has a text bubble that reads “Your Health, Your Choice!” in white text with rose background. In the video: A white nonbinary person wearing a forest top with a long bolo choker, with their hair half up and a pair of green/brown glasses. 

Transcript: This is really cool. Some clinics are now offering this option for sexual health appointments or any appointments that involve genital examinations such as Pap smears. Providers may allow patients to take the lead in certain ways, such as inserting the speculum themselves (a device often used for Pap tests).

A Pap smear requires patients to spread their legs and expose their vagina, which can feel uncomfortable, awkward, or even icky for many people. To make the experience less traumatizing, some providers invite patients to apply lubricant to the speculum and insert it themselves. This way, patients can go at their own pace, take time to get comfortable, and decide when to begin. Once the patient is ready, the provider takes over and continues the exam (in this case, Pap smear). This approach is an example of trauma-informed care in clinical and medical practices.

The bottom line: any sexual health appointment or really, any health appointment is for you. You deserve to feel comfortable, grounded, and able to move at your own pace.

Your health appointments are for YOU. Here’s what that can look like:

• Pause or stop an exam if you feel uncomfortable. Ask them wait if you are not ready. You set the pace.
• Ask the doctor to explain each step so you will know what to expect.
• Ask the doctor if you can choose between self-swab or clinician-swab.
• Ask if there are alternative positions for sitting or lying during the exam.
• The lights may be triggering. Ask if they can be turned off or adjusted.
• Your body goes through a lot during an appointment, and it’s okay to ask the doctor to give you a heads-up before touching you during any exam. For example, during an ear exam, they might gently tap your ear before beginning so you can be mentally and physically prepared. This approach can also be helpful for breast or genital exams, asking the provider to tap on areas outside of private parts signals where they’ll examine next and can help reduce feelings of invasion.

You have the right to feel safe, respected, and in control. Ask for what you need and ask questions anytime!

[The screen fades to show a thumbnail of a faded white background of a doctor holding hands with another individual] Deaf. Healthy. DeafHealth. Learn more at www.deafhealthaccess.org.]]