Do medical professionals ever 'enjoy' an intimate examination?

[cottoncandyflossy]

Really wasn't sure which topic to put this in.

I have had a pelvic examination recently, I of course felt exposed and a little bit awkward, but it is what it is.
The doctor was examining to see how much pain I was in. I was offered a chaperone but refused as the less people the better.

I assume as a medical professional you have pretty much seen it all, and when you're at work you see things through a very scientific/medical way.

But at the end of the day, people are only human. If you are doing an examination of a person you might normally find attractive, would they ever enjoy it or have to focus to not be turned on/think about it afterwards? (Male or female)

I feel like it's the most grim way to see genitals, so no. You'd have to be pretty creepy to be turned on by an anxious woman with metal plier type things up there.

Wtf no. Theres a million other things going through our heads, the first thought being trying to rule out serious illnesses/diseases. There literally isnt any time to think 'omg what a lovely vagina'.

@MrsPelligrinoPetrichor

I think he was daft not to have a chaperone!

This!

I'm currently at medical school and we have been told it's always better to have a chaperone, for our protection rather than just the patient's!

Not ‘get off on it’ as such but I do think some medical professionals can be very judgey and go out of their way to make you feel uncomfortable. I went for an intimate examination years ago when i was in my late teens and the female nurse treated me like a piece of shit- stood near the male doctor smirking throughout and ridiculed me afterwards for not covering my ‘area’ properly. The male doctor incidentally was great and didn’t make me feel uncomfortable at all. I was a young and naive at the time and just thought this was the norm, but looking back now I should have definitely put a complaint in.

I've cut to the end. I perform a medical examination test involves sticking a tube into someone's rectum (but not a colonoscopy).

I always think of the maxim 'don't know his arse from his elbow'. To me, although I can differentiate, 😂, being a HCP, to me, psychologically, it could be an elbow or an arse.

I strongly believe that the vast, vast number of HCPs feel the same. It's just another body part. Like a cervix to a practice nurse, or a boob to a mammographer.

While I am in no way making an accusation against the OP, I had a fellow HCP student way back in the 80s who got it into her head that our GP was coming onto her following a smear. She had some serious MH problems but it could have cost him his career.

@Miljea
Are you saying a fellow medical student of yours was delusional and thought her GP was coming on to her and reported it?
How do you know her GP wasn’t coming on to her?

I hope not.

"The hand that rocks the cradle" came to mind.

Back in the 90s I went to see a dr for a totally unrelated condition and he said while you are here let’s do a breast exam. With all my clothes off. I came out shaking.

I once had a gynaecology exam where the male doctor was chatting in a rather enthusiastic fashion about holidays in much the same way as a hairdresser would. He very absent mindly rubbed the outside of my thighs whilst discussing it. That sounds bad - but honestly it was so clear that he considered the examination nothing more than completely routine work and was distracted by the idea of a nice trip to Spain. Strangely it actually made the whole thing considerably less embarrassing. I did think he was pretty lucky I had taken it that way though.

He was very foolish to not insist on a chaperone. Its for his benefit as much as yours.

I dont think this is a question many of us can answer tbh. Assuming all the men amd women on this thread are regular human beings and not creeps we of course won't understand how a medical examination could even be some thing anyone would get off on.

It does happen though. As we do know predators will go to any lengths. Including med school.

That's why he should have got a chaperone in or a female nurse/Dr to Do it.

Having said that I was examined by a male Dr in hospital. Wasn't even offered a chaperone. He was pretty rough to. I didn't really register at the time because I was in and out if hospital with pregnancy issues, I was sore all over from the constant examinations and ultra sounds every time I ended up down a&e hemorrhaging. I do shudder a bit when I think about it now though. I mean he couldn't have appeared less interested tbh so I don't think for a second he got off on it. But I I feel a bit off about the whole thing.

Certainly not, it’s a medical procedure.

This is why I always always always without fail have a chaperone. FGS

The awful stories of abuse being shared on this thread are a really, really bad idea. Are you all happy for pervs and journalists to read and share them?

No. I dont know any HCPs that would

Its just not in anyway a sexual situation. In my eyes its like changing a baby. You are seeing genitals yes but its just part of a body, no different to if it were a foot.

It would feel very wrong to feel any sort of sexual feeling, it would be a complete abuse of trust. The patient is vunerable, and in your care. Even if it were someone who physically would be attractive outside of a medical setting, in a medical situation it wouldn't even enter my head.

Having said that, as with any profession, predators exist. No one can say no doctor would ever get turned on, but I can say no self-respecting HCP would. I think you'd be a fool to conduct any sort of intimate exam without a chaperone though.

He was probably just concentrating on something though?
Like when people stick their tongue out or pull funny faces. I doubt you could really be looking at the back of the eye and thinking about your patient being attractive. You'd be thinking about the exam

I've often wondered about it from the opposite perspective actually.

If you spend all day looking at fannies (or penises obvs), is it still erotic to see your partner's?

It’s interesting the number of breast exams mentioned here. In the 80’s and early 90’s i think I got my breasts examined almost every time i went to the GP. Always with top half clothes completely off. I was a teenager or in my early twenties-surely it wasn’t medically necessary??

I imagine most replies on this thread are women. Yet we know most predators are men.

So while I think the majority of doctors/ consultants are professionals, it’s a valid concern to have. A key element for me is being talked through any procedure or examination. Without it, I can often come out of an appt feeling odd. I do have a history of previous trauma which may cause this.

Although I had an experience with an optician once that made me feel really uncomfortable, while examining the back of my eye he obviously had to get really close to me and his breathing sped up while he was doing it,

I teach medical students to examine, and a lot of people either hold their breath when they look in somebody’s eye, or hyperventilate. Not sure why, but practically nobody breathes normally. It is being right up close in somebody else’s face I think. So perhaps your optician was newly qualified?

Sounds like it would have been a slightly iffy experience for you anyway though, innocent or not.

I'm another who's been asked to get naked from the waist up by a male Dr for a female nurse to then come along and say that was unnecessary.

Luckily all internal examinations have been carried out by females who were very professional.

@Californiabakes

It’s interesting the number of breast exams mentioned here. In the 80’s and early 90’s i think I got my breasts examined almost every time i went to the GP. Always with top half clothes completely off. I was a teenager or in my early twenties-surely it wasn’t medically necessary??

19 yr old me had my breasts examined for a job medical ! I am sure that was unnecessary .

@Californiabakes

It’s interesting the number of breast exams mentioned here. In the 80’s and early 90’s i think I got my breasts examined almost every time i went to the GP. Always with top half clothes completely off. I was a teenager or in my early twenties-surely it wasn’t medically necessary??

My experience was in the 70's, as a teenager. I was on the pill and had to see the GP every six months for a refill. Seems I needed at least one smear, and a couple of breast checks in the 18 months before I left home and changed GP...

GP was a buddy of my dad.

I never see male practitioners for those kind of exams. I do not feel comfortable, chaperone or not.