If you’ve ever had an annual gynecology appointment after the age of 21, you know the fear surrounding the dreaded pap smear. For decades, the in-office pap smear was the only way to test for cervical cancer. The lack of innovation in the technology has led a whopping one in three women to skip their annual visit due to accessibility issues or the discomfort associated with the rather invasive test. While we may have accepted the painful test as the norm, the leaders at Teal Health are working to flip the narrative on pap smears. Today, their first-of-its-kind at-home, pain-free cervical cancer screening device received FDA approval, marking a historic shift in the way we tackle women’s health.
Teal Health’s Teal Wand: The First FDA-Approved Self-Collection Cervical Cancer Screening Service
As of this morning, Teal Health’s Teal Wand is officially an FDA-approved alternative to the traditional pap smear, opening up the doors for millions of women to safely, effectively and comfortably screen for cervical cancer from home. So, what is the Teal Wand? Last week, I sat down with Teal Health co-founder and CEO Kara Egan to talk all things Teal Wand and answer all the burning questions you might have about this exciting new device.
How did the Teal Wand come to be?
It’s easier than ever nowadays to accept things for what they are rather than striving for innovation, especially when it comes to women’s health. For Egan, the first step in creating the Teal Wand was a simple, but more often than not overlooked one: talking to women. “It turns out, unsurprisingly, all you had to do was ask a woman what part of women’s health would they like to have improved—women have great ideas,” Egan began. “So, we asked women, and obviously the dreaded pap smear was listed as one of the most uncomfortable and disliked aspects of women’s health, but it’s also arguably one of the most important: it’s a cervical cancer screening, and it starts the youngest of any cancer screenings, starting at 25 and going until 65. When you look at it that way, it should be way easier to access this test, right?”
How to Use the Teal Wand
“The Teal Wand is both an at-home collection device as well as a telehealth service, so you’re connected with a doctor for the whole process,” Egan continues. “The way it works is you’ll go to getteal.com and complete a short registration and eligibility form, then you’ll have a quick visit with a physician to review your eligibility. Then, we send the kit to your house, and back to what we discussed earlier, everything about this kit is made for women to make them feel comfortable.” From the chic packaging to the ergonomic insertion device (which doesn’t call for a speculum) and pain-free swab, the Teal Wand is truly revolutionary. “Collection takes less than five minutes,” Egan adds. “All you do is insert the wand and rotate the dial 10 times to rotate the soft sponge tip and collect your sample.” Simply remove the sponge tip after use, ship it back and your provider will contact you with your results upon review.
Pap smears are notoriously uncomfortable and, for many, difficult to insert. The Teal Wand is designed to be comfortable (no scary, pokey swab here), and 97 percent of women said the Teal Wand was easy or very easy to use, too. More importantly, Egan flags, is the fact that clinical testing for the Teal Wand’s results were found to match doctors’ collection results with 96 percent accuracy. Committed to accessibility, Teal also accepts most major insurances and HSA/FSA cards, making cervical cancer screening easier and more attainable than ever. To get started on your at-home cervical cancer screening journey, visit getteal.com.
