Are Routine Pelvic Exams a Thing of the Past?  VIDEO: What
Should Women Know About Cancer?  "Put your feet in the stirrups
and scootch your butt all the way down. Further down. Little
further. Now, try to relax." These are the instructions that
usually accompany the routine, often dreaded, pelvic exam that
is de rigueur for most gynecological checkups.  Some women are
resigned to this exam, others find it embarrassing and
unpleasant, and still others may detest it so much they avoid
seeking gynecological care in order to skip it -- but what if it
wasn't always necessary?  What if women could safely go for two
or three years, granted they were healthy and without symptoms
of disease, without the hassle?  That is precisely what a
commentary published in the January edition of the Journal of
Women's Health is suggesting: In healthy, asymptomatic women, a
pelvic exam doesn't have to be done yearly, and in women under
21, perhaps not at all. And many gynecologists feel that this
assertion has been a long time comi