If your pap smear shows LSIL, which stands for low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion, most doctors will not do anything immediately. You will probably be asked to come back in six months for another pap smear to see if the lesions are still present. In many cases, the lesions disappear over time and there are no further problems. If you return for your second pap smear and the finding is still present, you will probably be advised to have a coloposcopy done. A coloposcopy is a procedure performed in a doctor's office and is typically the first step in diagnosing cervical cancer.
When LSIL shows up on your pap smear results, it is a sign that you may have HPV (human papillomavirus). HPV is an infection inside the body that causes genital warts and is typically sexually transmitted. An LSIL is often the result of HPV, but it can occasionally be present for other reasons. Things that cause LSIL that are not related to HPV include cervical cell inflammation and atrophic vaginitis. Cervical cell inflammation normally goes away on its own, and atrophic vaginitis occurs almost solely in women of menopausal age who have thinning cervical tissue.
In addition to LSIL, some pap smears may show HSIL (high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions). These lesions are typically taken much more seriously than LSIL, and a coloposcopy is normally performed as soon as an HSIL is discovered. HSIL are considered precancerous cells, and a person with these lesions may possibly be in the beginning stages of cervical cancer. Just as HPV typically causes low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions, it is also normally responsible for the presence of the high-grade lesions. Even though the idea of HSIL is scary to many women, it is actually highly curable and does not always become cervical cancer if it is caught early enough.
The most important thing you can do if your pap smear comes back showing evidence of a low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion is not to panic. There may be no reason to worry, and you won't know for sure until your second pap smear if anything needs addressing. When you go back for another pap smear in six months or more, the lesions may have cleared up on their own. There is also a chance that the pap smear gave false results, because errors are possible with any type of medical testing. If your pap smear showed evidence of LSIL and you were not previously aware that you might have HPV, you may want to undergo some tests for HPV to determine if that was the cause of your intraepithelial lesions.