If your health care provider has said you need a loop electrosurgical excision procedure, or LEEP, you may be wondering exactly what a LEEP is. A LEEP  is a preventive treatment in which a doctor uses a heated wire loop to remove abnormal cells from the cervix before cancer develops.

“A LEEP is a really important procedure because it prevents cervical cancer,” says gynecologic oncologist Kathleen Schmeler, M.D.

The...