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Why should it be done? of Colposcopy

Smear tests sometimes show up abnormal cell change in the cervix. Abnormal cell change can be a sign that the cells may turn cancerous, which can develop into cancer of the cervix.

If your smear test shows abnormal cells, you may need to have a colposcopy. Colposcopy allows doctors to look at cell change more closely, to see how advanced it is and whether it may turn cancerous. 

A colposcopy isn’t always necessary following abnormal smear results. Sometimes a follow up smear is all that is required; it depends on the amount of cell change detected by the smear, and how advanced it is. Colposcopy identifies where the source of the cell change is.

Colposcopy itself is not a treatment for cervical cell change.