VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: THIS TRANSCRIPT WAS GENERATED USING AN AUTOMATED SERVICE SO WE APOLOGIZE FOR ANY TYPOS AND SPELLING ERRORS.

HPV & cervical cancer awareness, Continued!

[00:00:00] So we talked about the fact that cervical cancer is caused almost exclusively by the HPV virus. How do you get the virus? Well, you get it from having sex. You get it because skin touches skin and you get it because even if you use condoms or a dental dam, that virus can live in the area outside of the actual condom or dental dam. 

It can live on the skin and the scrotum in the vagina V all over the place in your mouth and in your anus. So these are the ways we can be exposed to it. Do those words make you feel uncomfortable? If they do, then you should abstain from having sex because this is an adult endeavor and we need to behave like adults and be mature about what our exposure and what our risks are. 

So again, can you prevent it? You can't completely prevent it unless you choose to abstain your entire life, which by all means is your choice. But if you choose to actually have a sexually active life, then the ways you can minimize your risk are still using condoms or dental dams because it will minimize the exposure, but not eliminate it. 

That's. two is you can use the HPV vaccine, which we'll talk about more. [00:01:00] Three, you can decrease smoking or eliminate smoking because nicotine allows the cer, the HPV virus to do more onerous things. And four, and probably most important, don't skip your annual gynecology exam. You go to your gynecologist every single year because your gynecologist is there to do. 

I wouldn't say head to toe, but chin to groin exam on you where she or he is going to make sure that all the parts that she or he can screen for are screened for, but also to establish a relationship with you because when you go every year, you will collaborate with your doctor or nurse midwife, or nurse practitioner or PA to help understand when you need your pap. 

The Pap smear test is the test of your cervix that can help find abnormal cells that may turn into cervical cancer more on how often you need it in the next couple of videos.