to think I should have been given a woman?

[Deliainthemaking]

I have physio for my joints and went to a new clinic to start a newcourse of physio. was told to bring shorts and expecting to go to like a hall its all behind curtains like on a ward? but a bit more space and a little bed.

I was told to get dressed into my shorts by the nurse and told to wait for my physio instructor, expecting a woman ..in came this beefy bloke looked like MR motivator bless him

I was a bit in my shorts and fat legs

but I thought meh, physio not usually intrusive...wrong!

I had to lie down on bed usual stuff like feeling knees, but stretching my legs inwards he had to push down on back of my legs and his head was pretty close to erm...a certain area. Pushing my legs as far over my head as I could get them

I had to touch my toes , and had to keep touching the back of my legs to see tonage / hamstring stuff
I just felt self concious, seemed like a nice bloke but would it have been more appropriate for a woman to be doing this?

Or am I BU

I wonder if nadiawadia is related to mywifeismylife from the dadsnet messageboard?

Delia - you need to feel comfortable, next time (if there is a next time) make sure you ask for a female pysio if there is one available.

Delia, you can request a female physio, but there is absolutely no onus on the clinic to provide one, or you may have to go back on a waiting list

You would also have to go back to the beginning of your rehab programme and be assessed again by a new physio

You could also request a chaperone, or take someone with you if you like ( a friend, your sister eg.)

You may feel equally shy in front of them too, unfortunately

have a word next time and say you feel uncomfortable being in shorts and ask if you could wear stretchy leggings or yoga pants instead

physios are human beings too you know, and are trained to be very understanding about people's self consciousness, but he isn't a mind reader

it's quite paassive aggressive tbh, to not say anything at the time and then complain later, potentially giving strange people like Nadia more fuel for their ridiculous fire

this is a personal issue, and you should have discussed it at the time, one to one with your physiotherapist

good luck with your rehab, btw

YANBU
Its not a question of staff thinking lustful thoughts, its just that I have been brought up in a culture where few men see certain parts of my body.

I had to sit with my breasts exposed whilst a Dr looked at and felt them to check for lumps. I am glad that he did this. But no I didn't feel comfortable with this at all. I actually asked beforehand and was told it had to be a man.

If you visit the Health Professions Council website, you will see numerous cases of physios who have been disciplined/struck off for unprofessional behaviour.

The HPC have very strict professional standards and there should be no reason for anyone to feel compromised during a physio session.

Predators are rare, but take advantage of their professional status in the knowledge that their victims will think it part of the treatment, and not complain.

If you do not feel able to complain, OP, ask the practice manager for a chaperone, saying ' I am hopelessly shy and old-fashioned' In this way, you are protecting yourself, not accusing your physio of anything, but ensuring that the practice manager will notice a pattern emerging if s/he gets similar requests about this particular physio.

www.hpc-uk.org/complaints/hearings/archive/

Complain? She didn't say he was behaving inappropriately.

Ask for a female, but be prepared to wait, take a mate or pay privately.

It's the NHS, you get whom you're given unless you request otherwise and even then, they don't have to comply with your request if there simply isn't a particular gender available or go private.

kitty...perhaps on the HCP website you could get see how many HCP's are registered, and what a tiny proportion of them abuse their position

PeterAndreForPM To be fair, I did say that predators are rare.

The HCP have guidelines to ensure that people don't feel uncomfortable when receiving their treatment. These are very strict. Despite this, the OP did not feel comfortable, and my suggestion was that she request a chaperone, not that she complain about her physio.

And she has every right to ask for what she needs, whether she's paying for her treatment or not. She is entitled to feel safe and comfortable during her treatment, and I'm pretty sure that most professional physios would understand and encourage her to voice any concerns so they could address them.

People here have likened her situation to being just a piece of meat on a conveyer belt, because she's getting free physio. This is insulting to the caring practitioners working in the NHS, and care greatly for the dignity and comfort of their patients.

Deliainthemaking I have to have physio for my knee and brought shorts with me (could only find really short shorts ) and has a very good looking male physio. When I had to lie back with one knee up to my chest and let the other leg hanf down he gave me a town to cover up my modesty. I was like what modesty? - I've had kids all that has gone out the window when it comes to medical things,lol. The first session I had last year I forgot my shorts and only had a thing on. You can imagine what my face was like though when I was asked to touch my toes

I've had a few physios and I have to say that the blokes IME push you harder and have had much better results with my latest one. Him being a bit of a hottie makes it all the better

But if you feel you would prefer a female you can ask but they might not have one free for you.

Obviously thing should read thong!

I had three male students looking on while I had a colposcopy/LEEP procedure last year. So legs akimbo, bits on show with a projection on a great big screen of the relevant area. Didn't bother me at all, they need to learn somehow and I certainly am not going to see them again.

Had a hip examination last week with a registrar, so, fully clothed and lying on my back while he moved my leg around. It made me feel really uncomfortable. I think it was because I'd decided I didn't like him already (arrogant) so felt like an invasion of my personal space and very uncomfortable.

I think if you had already decided that you weren't happy with hm then everything he could have done woud have been going to make you uncomfortable. Which is OK, there is nothing wrong with that per se, but thinking that it's about him and not you, and baring all male physios from seeing female patients would be very harsh. I had a male physio when I was recovering from my hip operation and he was wonderful (even when I was sick on him), it would have been awful if he hadn't been allowed to treat me because I was a woman.

Stoatie totally gets it!

It only matters if it matters.
Why are people telling op to get over herself and just accept it when she doesn't need to or want to.

Again, just ask for a female and more than likely you will be accomodated, really.

I don't think YBAU to be surprised that the physio was a man. It would have made sense if as well as telling you to bring shorts in your appointment letter to also state that treatment may be offered by male or female physios and given you the option of ringing ahead to check or to specifically request a woman.
You could have religious or cultural reasons for wanting a woman and should have at least been informed that it might be a man.

As an NHS patient you have a right to privacy and dignity.

Maryz - Yes it perfectly alright for a man to ask for a male hps.
It is not sexist it is just personal prefernce to enable treatment to done effectively with privacy and dignity in these very personal times.

YANBU.

You can feel uncomfortable without implying he was going to perv on you.

I had a male osteopath which was fine for a few weeks until he poked me. I felt very uncomfortable when he was working on me after that and got DH to ring and cancel future appointments.