There are many different causes for bleeding from the vagina in between your normal periods which are much commoner than cancer of the cervix. But occasionally this can be due to a cancer of the cervix (the neck of the womb). Because of this it is important to make sure that the problem is not due to a cervical cancer, especially as, if the cancer is detected at an early stage, it is very curable.

So vaginal bleeding between periods is not something you should ignore and just hope will go away on its own - you should go and see your family doctor (GP) for a check up.

When you see your family doctor they will take the details of your symptoms and may do one or more of the following:

• an internal (vaginal) examination
• a smear test, taking a scraping from the surface of the cervix for examination under the microscope
• look directly at your cervix and vagina using a device called a speculum, which gently separates the walls of the vagina and holds them apart.

The Department of Health has recently given guidelines to general practitioners which say that if they examine a woman and find any abnormality that could be a cancer of the cervix then they should arrange an urgent appointment with a hospital specialist (a consultant gynaecologist).

Normally the 'urgent' hospital appointment means that the specialist will see you within two weeks.

When the gynaecologist sees you he or she will take your full medical history and carry out a careful physical examination. The specialist will probably do other tests which may include:

• another speculum examination of your vagina and cervix
• colposcopy, where the doctor again uses a speculum but then looks at the cervix through a small microscope to carefully examine its surface and take tiny samples (biopsies) of any abnormal looking areas
• a scan of the pelvis, either a CT-scan or an MRI scan.

If these tests do show that there is a cancer on the cervix then further treatment might involve an operation to take the growth away or it may mean some radiotherapy or chemotherapy, depending on the exact type of the cancer and its size.

So although you are unlikely to have a cancer of the cervix, this type of cancer is very curable, especially if it is caught early, so if you have noticed bleeding going on in between your periods for more than a month or two do not delay, go and see your doctor.