# Can you have intercourse the night before a pap smear? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 25, 2011, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-have-intercourse-the-night-before-a-pap-smear/579704 "2011-04-25T20:33:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![67java89](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/aeb1de/32.png) [@67java89](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/67java89)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-have-intercourse-the-night-before-a-pap-smear/579704/1 "2011-04-25T20:33:16Z")
Need answer quick! ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-have-intercourse-the-night-before-a-pap-smear/579704/2 "2011-04-25T20:36:14Z")
Just to make sure you get the answer you need quick, should we assume that you mean penis-vagina penetrative intercourse without barrier contraception? ---
**Author:** ![67java89](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/aeb1de/32.png) [@67java89](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/67java89)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-have-intercourse-the-night-before-a-pap-smear/579704/3 "2011-04-25T20:38:38Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Just to make sure you get the answer you need quick, should we assume that you mean penis-vagina penetrative intercourse without barrier contraception? That would be it. And hurry, before DH pulls his boxers down. LOL ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-have-intercourse-the-night-before-a-pap-smear/579704/4 "2011-04-25T20:40:04Z")
The best bet might be to call the doctor’s office to ask. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-have-intercourse-the-night-before-a-pap-smear/579704/5 "2011-04-25T20:40:13Z")
Glamour sex expert Dr. Hutcherson says [wait 48 hours](http://www.glamour.com/sex-love-life/2006/07/sex-before-gynocologist-visit). ---
**Author:** ![Corner\_Case](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/corner_case/32/234_2.png) [@Corner\_Case](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corner_Case)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-have-intercourse-the-night-before-a-pap-smear/579704/6 "2011-04-25T20:41:11Z")
Are you wondering if some Magical Vaginal Force Field\* occurs due to the impending test? Not usually. You may distort the test results if you have sex, douche, use creams, etc., but you still physically ‘can’. - [sub]trademark and band name[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-have-intercourse-the-night-before-a-pap-smear/579704/7 "2011-04-25T20:44:45Z")
To answer the OP, of course you can. Now a better question, to which I have no idea about the answer is: will having sex the night before a pap smear affect the results? ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-have-intercourse-the-night-before-a-pap-smear/579704/8 "2011-04-25T20:57:59Z")
Use a condor… er, condom. Birds and cats don’t mix! ---
**Author:** ![Audrey\_Levins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Audrey\_Levins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Audrey_Levins)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-have-intercourse-the-night-before-a-pap-smear/579704/9 "2011-04-25T21:02:18Z")
Do you like having Pap smears? Unless you do, I suggest refraining. You may screw up the test results, and nothing sucks more than an abnormal Pap. It freaks you out and you have to get one every six months until they come back “clear” twice in a row. My doc told me not to have sex 24 hours and preferably 48 hours beforehand. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-have-intercourse-the-night-before-a-pap-smear/579704/10 "2011-04-25T21:34:26Z")
If I were you (or your husband), I’d use a different orifice. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-have-intercourse-the-night-before-a-pap-smear/579704/11 "2011-04-25T22:02:24Z")
> [@Audrey\_Levins](#): > > Do you like having Pap smears? Unless you do, I suggest refraining. You may screw up the test results, and nothing sucks more than an abnormal Pap. It freaks you out and you have to get one every six months until they come back “clear” twice in a row. My doc told me not to have sex 24 hours and preferably 48 hours beforehand. Yeah. The only time mine ever came back abnormal was when I’d had sex in the last day. I had to go back for the secondary test where they take what I can only assume was a drill bit with a brush on it and attacked my cervix to get extra cells. Awful. Normal paps don’t bother me at all. THAT was awful. ---
**Author:** ![67java89](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/aeb1de/32.png) [@67java89](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/67java89)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-have-intercourse-the-night-before-a-pap-smear/579704/12 "2011-04-25T23:10:23Z")
Thanks for the quick answers. Glad I asked. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-have-intercourse-the-night-before-a-pap-smear/579704/13 "2011-04-26T01:23:32Z")
When I ever get an exam (at Planned Parenthood) they stress _nothing_ in the vaginal canal for 48 hours before a pelvic exam. Because they are PP and are awesome, they don’t beat around the bush (heh) - “that means no fingers, no dildos, nothing, not even a tampon.” ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-have-intercourse-the-night-before-a-pap-smear/579704/14 "2011-04-26T17:06:29Z")
I’d recommend stopping in Blue Ball for the night, then you can make it to Intercourse the next day. You owe me a novelty Pennsylvania tourism bumper sticker. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-have-intercourse-the-night-before-a-pap-smear/579704/15 "2011-04-26T17:25:22Z")
Always best have a plan BJ. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-have-intercourse-the-night-before-a-pap-smear/579704/16 "2011-04-26T17:28:31Z")
> [@67java89](#): > > Thanks for the quick answers. Glad I asked. DH isn’t. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-have-intercourse-the-night-before-a-pap-smear/579704/17 "2011-04-26T18:48:29Z")
Well, as a pathologist I’ve seen more than a few Pap smears\* where it was evident that intercourse had occurred, if not the night before Pap collection, then in the recent past (i.e. sperm present). That does not affect Pap interpretation. With current liquid-based Pap technology, I can’t think of anything that would negatively affect Pap evaluation other than use of lubricants, which interfere with the ThinPrep process and cause insufficient cells to adhere to the slide. We generally assume that a lubricant problem crops up in the doc’s office as a part of the exam procedure, but I suppose it could have occurred before then. \*these days very few docs prepare actual smears; the correct term is Pap test.