First signs and symptoms of cervical cancer
Cancer remains one of the most significant diseases of our time for a variety of reasons. For many, it’s a frightening possibility that they or a loved one will be struck with it in their lifetime, and the scope of cancer as an illness can be overwhelming. It attacks various parts of the body and ranges from manageable to completely incurable. As it happens, some cancers tend to be discussed in much more detail than others and there is a constant effort to raise awareness for potential sufferers. Cervical cancer, for example, has been a growing concern amongst researchers because, despite its high rates, women regularly fail to get themselves checked when they’re most vulnerable to the disease and don’t find out until it’s too late. Granted, high profile cases of cancer of any kind tend to raise the rates of screenings and checks, but it’s not long before they drop again. What exactly are the symptoms and signs of cervical cancer?
While there are symptoms that might alert you to cervical cancer, one of the more discerning issues here is that a person might not experience any of those symptoms. In fact, the early stages don’t tend to produce any notable signs of symptoms, which explains why it can be difficult to catch in that crucial period. In this case, this is why women are invited for regular smear checks from the age of 25 onwards. All women are potentially vulnerable to cervical cancer and these smears are one of the best ways to catch signs of the disease early on.
As it stands, the signs of symptoms of cervical cancer are more likely to emerge as the cancer progresses. These symptoms include:
- Pelvic pain or discomfort during intercourse
- Post-coital vaginal bleeding
- Bleeding between periods or post-menopause
- Bloody, watery, heavy or particularly pungent vaginal discharge
- General pelvic pain
As the cancer advances into the surrounding tissue, the symptoms broaden out and can include:
- Constipation
- Blood in the urine
- Incontinence
- Bone pain
- Loss of appetite/unexplained weight loss
- Kidney pain
- Lethargy
- Bloating
The insidious nature of cervical cancer is made all the worse by the fact that many of these symptoms are ones that tend to affect women in their daily lives to begin with. Bloating, for example, is so common that most women just ignore it and pass it off as something else. Vaginal bleeding is not necessarily indicative of cervical cancer either, in fact unusual vaginal bleeding is surprisingly common and may mean many different things, but it’s not something to be ignored either. Regardless of how banal they may seem, if you experience any of these symptoms then you must see a GP immediately.
If you’re interested in learning more about the early signs of cervical cancer and what you can do to prevent it, there’s a wide variety of sources and resources available to you, such as the Care Shop. However, women must also remember that PAP smears, whilst potentially unpleasant, are the best bet they have for identifying cervical cancer and really must not be ignored.