Dana Barrett13 said:To my fellow members, I have a bit of a situation on my hands that I’d like to run by you all... last year, my gynecologist identified some genital warts. I had them removed, and the tissue was sent off for a pathology report. The results came back somewhere between CIN 1 and CIN 2. Now, I’m getting conflicting advice—two different doctors are suggesting I just stick to some herbal teas for about three months before repeating a Pap smear, but a third specialist is pushing for a conization. The most significant detail here, I suppose, is that I am HPV negative; I don't have any low-risk or high-risk types present. Honestly, my head is spinning—it feels like total chaos and I’m just lost on how to proceed. HAS ANYONE HERE DEALT WITH SOMETHING SIMILAR? Warm regards...
There are two massive, incredibly large threads—one old, and one new—that's currently active and serving as the absolute top-tier discussion hub over on the women's health board: So, I’ve been doing some digging into the whole CIN and HPV mess—because apparently, that’s what my weekend is now—and I wanted to lay out what I've gathered for anyone else currently staring at a lab report and feeling a bit overwhelmed. It's a lot to process, and honestly, the terminology alone is enough to give you a headache. First off, let's talk about HPV. It's the baseline here. Most people don't realize how common it is, but it’s essentially the precursor to everything else we're discussing. It isn't a diagnosis of cancer, per se, but rather the catalyst that can lead to cellular changes. Then we get into the CIN stages—Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia. If you're looking at your results, think of this as a spectrum of how much those cells have started to change. CIN 1 is basically the "low-grade" tier. In many cases, doctors might just suggest monitoring it because the body's immune system often clears these changes on its own. It’s less of an immediate crisis and more of a "keep an eye on this" situation—though I know that doesn't make the waiting any easier. CIN 2 is that middle ground where things start getting a bit more serious. It's considered moderate dysplasia. At this stage, the medical team usually starts weighing whether to watch it closely or move toward a procedure to remove the abnormal cells, just to be safe. It’s a bit of a gray area, I suppose. Then there’s CIN 3. This is the high-grade category. This is where the changes are significant and, if left unaddressed, could potentially progress to something much more severe. This is typically when doctors move more decisively toward treatment to prevent any actual malignancy from developing. It’s a heavy topic, and I know how unsettling it feels to see these acronyms pop up in your medical files. Just remember that these stages are meant to guide treatment and prevention—they aren't an automatic sentence. If you're navigating this, definitely lean on your specialist to help make sense of where you land on this scale..
You’ll find just about everything you need to know over there—if you know where to look.Condylomas without HPV? Honestly, I’d say you should definitely go back for another screening—because that just doesn't seem possible. Condylomas are caused by either moderate or low-risk strains of HPV, so the math just isn't adding up there.
It’s entirely possible that they’ve cleared out and what you're seeing is just spontaneous healing—meaning the root cause might be something else entirely, perhaps just a bacterial infection. CIN doesn't strictly have to point to HPV; it isn't an absolute certainty. That’s exactly why those four different swabs exist—so you can identify the actual culprit once and for all. A Pap smear simply doesn't provide that level of detail. So, please, don't panic; it isn't the catastrophe it feels like right now, and it's actually a fairly common situation. As for the herbal teas, go ahead and drink them if you like, but you really need to focus on bolstering your immune system if it's currently compromised.
I’m going to lock this thread—you can jump over to that link instead to keep the conversation going. 😉
