How to Get Over Nerves Before Visiting your OBGYN
Visiting your GYN practice can be a nerve-wracking experience if you don’t like doctors or the idea of someone examining your sensitive areas. Turns out a large percentage of women ages 18 and 71 experience fear when it comes to visiting their OBGYN office.
If you’re nervous about your annual exam OGYBN exam, keep reading below for some tips on how to get over nerves before visiting your OBGYN.
Educate Yourself
If you’re worried about the particulars of what happens during an annual exam visit to the OBGYN, take the time to educate yourself. Luckily, Avant has a few resources you can check out. Click here to read a blog about why annual gynecology exams are essential to a healthy life, or click here to learn the details about all the procedures we offer at our practice.
Of course, a step above research is experiencing it for yourself beforehand. Don’t be afraid to perform a self-examination so you grow familiar with the feeling of what the doctors will do.
In addition, get to know your practice and your physician before arriving for your appointment. Check out the practice’s website to learn their story, and read the bio of the person who will be performing your annual exam. Visit the practice beforehand, so you feel confident you won’t get lost or be late for your exam.
Any small task you can check off the list to give you peace of mind is worth doing, no matter how trivial you might think it is.
Practice Your Speech
Just like how it’s beneficial to practice a public speech beforehand, it’s valuable to practice what you need to communicate to your gynecologist. If you know you have specific concerns, write them all down, and rehearse how you will ask your physician. Consider using this blog as a guideline on what you should ask your gynecologist.
If you plan ahead, you will be more likely to express yourself correctly during this important examination. Therefore, it’s less likely that you will forget to say something or leave the clinic feeling disappointed.
In addition, plan to let your doctor and practice know that you are nervous, and they will be able to calm your worries.
Focus on Mental Confidence
There are plenty of beneficial tools you can use to help yourself feel more relaxed and confident.
Do a relaxing yoga flow the night before, which will help you sleep more peacefully. Practice meditation and reflection a few hours before, focusing specifically on taking deep breaths. Stand in your bathroom, and do power poses in front of your reflection to boost your morale. Text your worries out with friends, or spend some time journaling about your fears before the appointment.
Whatever works best for you, do it. It’s important and valid to spend time on you and your mental health, especially if it’s getting in the way of your physical health.
Seek Help
All fear and anxiety are valid, but sometimes it’s rooted in something you can’t overcome alone. If you have past trauma or other issues that you need help working with, there is absolutely no shame in reaching out to a professional for that help. Especially when you consider that one in five women experience mental health issues, know that you are not alone, and there is someone who would love to help you. Search for a psychiatrist in your area, and take time out of your schedule to visit them before your appointment.
In addition, think about why you’re nervous to go to your annual exam. Is it just normal nerves, or could it be that you don’t like the practice and gynecologist you visit? Consider visiting a new place if you realize it’s the people in that specific location that are adding to your worry.
Visiting your gynecologist doesn’t have to be an unnerving experience. Click here to schedule an appointment with any of Avant Gynecology’s professional and expert gynecologists today. We’re happy to help with any issues on how to get over nerves before visiting your OBGYN.
