Should My Teen Have a Pelvic Exam?

You can’t believe how fast your child is growing — it wasn’t all that long ago that she was crawling around on the carpet, and now she’s asking you for tampons and pads.

The average age of a girl’s first period is about 12 years old, though this can vary greatly from one adolescent to the next. Although this is a key milestone for gynecologic care, it doesn’t necessarily mean that your daughter needs to rush in for a pelvic exam.

At Bay Area Physicians for Women’s Health, our team of compassionate and experienced providers helps females navigate every stage of their reproductive health, from puberty on through menopause and beyond. In this role, here’s what we tell parents and guardians about adolescent gynecologic care.

Their first gynecologic visit with us

Your child has had their first period, but this doesn’t mean you need to make an appointment with us right away. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends that teenagers have their first well-woman exam between the ages of 13 and 15.

During this all-important first visit, the focus is more on trading information and getting to know each other. So, to start, we’ll collect some key health data and review any pertinent past and current health issues.

We’ll also spend some time discussing any questions they might have about whatever is on their mind, from handling periods to questions about sex. 

As for a pelvic exam, in most cases, we don’t perform one during this first visit unless there are circumstances that call for it. Even if we do want to perform a physical examination, we usually only do an external genital exam and not a pelvic one.

The first pelvic exam

Now that we’ve taken the pelvic exam off the table for the first exam, when do we put it back on?

There’s no set age when we start pelvic exams, but we should note that we want to conduct the first Pap test by the age of 21, and this test requires a pelvic exam.

That said, many adolescents end up undergoing a pelvic exam before the age of 21, especially if they:

• Have irregular periods, and 35% or more of females fit this description
• Are experiencing pelvic pain
• Are sexually active 
• Want contraception, such as an intrauterine device

Please note that we can test for most sexually transmitted infections with a urinalysis or blood test, so we might not even have to perform a pelvic exam if we suspect a problem.

Ultimately, there’s no set guideline for the first pelvic exam, and we go on a case-by-case basis. Our goal is to make sure that your adolescent feels comfortable with our care before we perform one so that we can set a good stage for ongoing gynecologic care.

If you have more questions about adolescent gynecologic care and pelvic exams for your teen, or you’d like to schedule a visit, we invite you to contact our office in Mobile, Alabama, to get started.