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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

gyni wore gloves when doing internal looking for a vaginal lump......

39 replies

blighter · 21/03/2012 15:22

i only think this in part as i would want to wear gloves too if i were a gyni' BUT i am sure that they never used to. i have been having yearly smears/internals for nearly 30 years and am sure dr's didn't used to wear gloves, i clearly remember them washing their hands after. i know it is safer etc for them to wear gloves BUT they surely can't possibly be able to detect stuff as thoroughly. i have a vaginal lump and i had to literally show the dr where it was and it is large and right by the opening, easy to find but he couldn't find (feel) it until i showed him which is really frustrating as it hasn't filled me with confidence even though he said nothing to worry about, that it is a cyst. he kept asking 'is this it' but i told him it didn't hurt so unless i was feeling for it myself or looking at it (i could see it using a mirror at home) i had no idea if he was touching it. mind you, i wouldn't want to be a gyni, they have my admiration.... :)

OP posts:
MamaChoo · 21/03/2012 15:27

I think unless you mean mittens or maybe leather motorbike gloves YABU - latex gloves are hygienic and almost as sensitive as bare hands.

Greedypiggy · 21/03/2012 15:29

YABU. I'm pretty sure they have always worn gloves while doing internal examinations or smears. They have a right to be safe while handling bodily secretions, and I think that they are used to wearing gloves and doing examinations so can detect stuff..

tara0202 · 21/03/2012 15:37

I've been having smears for at least 15 years and the nurses/Dr's have always always worn gloves!

Methe · 21/03/2012 15:38

I've been having fanny exams for at least 15 years and without a shadow of a doubt every singe time the hcp has worn gloves.

hadenuf · 21/03/2012 15:40

I'm a gynaecologist and would always wear gloves for a vaginal exam - not just for safety/cleanliness but aesthetics as well. Clinical gloves are thin and don't impair sensitivity. I'd still wash my hands afterwards, though, particularly as some gloves leave a powdery film on the hands.

Vaginal lumps can be difficult to see/feel to a another person, especially small fluid-filled cysts which can vary in size and consistency. I'm sure they feel very obvious to the patient, though! If not tender, they often don't matter and usually aren't harmful - it may be best just to leave alone unless causing problems or getting bigger.

WibblyBibble · 21/03/2012 15:41

Ugh, jesus, there is NO WAY I would let some random GP (who may just have been examining someone with diaorrhea or anything worse) stick un-gloved hands near my bits. And indeed, they have never tried. YABVU.

VivaLeBeaver · 21/03/2012 15:41

Its good practice to wash your hands after doing such an examination even though you've worn gloves - infection control. Latex gloves are so thin that there is no lack of sensitivity - I can feel a baby's hair while wearing gloves doing VEs in labour.

I should think that what feels like a big lump to you may not appear as big externally to someone who can't always feel the depth of it if you know what I mean. I've got a big lump on my neck but DH says it feels tiny, I think its my internal nerves which make me aware of how deep it is as you can't gague the depth by prodding it.

MrsArchieTheInventor · 21/03/2012 15:44

I'd be concerned if they didn't! Shock

It's different to if a doctor is feeling, say, a knee, in which case they don't always wear gloves, but when it's intimate it's very wrong to not wear gloves!

Original poster
blighter · 21/03/2012 15:56

you're right, i know they should wear gloves, as i said in my original post, i would want to wear gloves too if i did for a living what they did, it is just i guess me worrying that they may not have been able to check the lump as thoroughly. i said that it was right by the opening and that he would be able to see it but he didn't even attempt to look at it, i got the feeling he was in a hurry. i'll try not to think about it until they cut it out which could be weeks/months away

OP posts:
pippilongsmurfing · 21/03/2012 15:59

YABU, I would be angry of they wanted to do anything without wearing gloves!
Would you want to delve into people's bits everyday without wearing gloves?

StripyMagicDragon · 21/03/2012 16:04

They've always worn gloves during any gynae appointments that I go to.

You can feel loads through the latex gloves, it's just that all vaginas are different I assume. I have scar tissue inside and it doesnt get too much comment, and I've had to show docs where a cyst was before.

Sorry you have to go be prodded about, it's a bit shit.

mosschops30 · 21/03/2012 16:10

If your doc has been doing internals for 30 years id consider a case of abuse against them Hmm
I dont do anything in work without gloves, it protects me and my patient

Starwisher · 21/03/2012 16:10

Good grief I would be appalled if they did it gloveless

Starwisher · 21/03/2012 16:12

Anyway what if the patient has an undiagnsed infection as then the hcp also contracts the infection and spreads it to subsequent patients? Totally UR.

featherbag · 21/03/2012 16:13

Ew, YABVU!

mosschops30 · 21/03/2012 16:14

Sorry meant to say without gloves

WorraLiberty · 21/03/2012 16:20

I was under the impression it was seen as a sexual assault if gloves aren't worn?

I could be wrong though.

Original poster
blighter · 21/03/2012 16:25

i know, i know, it looks crazy now (to have thought they used to not use gloves), i have just had a stressful day in the hospital, hate hospitals and anything to do with trouble 'downstairs', just stressing that they are right in that it is nothing to worry about, still uncomfortable & gets in the way of 'relations' so am getting rid

OP posts:
WhaleOilBeefHookedIWill · 21/03/2012 16:43

WTF? Im amazed OP thinks wearing gloves is in some way 'different' to the norm!

KatAndKit · 21/03/2012 16:50

Of course they wear gloves!
If they didn't then they could pass infections from them to you. Say they were HIV positive (and perhaps unaware of that fact) and they had a small scratch on hand or whatever, and then went inside your fanjo with their ungloved hand? I wouldn't have anyone prodding around down there with no gloves on. Especially since you don't know whose fanjo their ungloved hand was examining just before yours.

Kennyp · 21/03/2012 16:54

Think of all the gunk that could potentially go under his fingernails, etc. stray pubes stuck to his hands. Reeking of fish. I am sure your tagine is clean but some people distinctly whiff and i would need a gas mask, glasses and super strength cricket gloves to go near them.

No, you be will glad to know i do not work in the medical profession

Original poster
blighter · 21/03/2012 17:11

i feel sick. i really don't know how they do it. did anyone ever see that fantastic series with max beasley in it about a gyni? the things they must see.....i asked if my 'roof' was ok and he seemed to think it had come down a bit but wasn't that bad at all.......contrary to what i thought although he wasn't down there for long :D

OP posts:
valiumredhead · 21/03/2012 17:13

I would hope that gloves were worn at all times!

Yes, OP Bodies - fantastic series, why hasn't it been repeated?

Original poster
blighter · 21/03/2012 17:17

i don't know but wish they would, i might even buy it on dvd if it were on dvd, or rent it out. i was gutted by the ending & hoped that they might have done a second series, fantastic stuff! the labour scenes were TERRIBLE!

OP posts:
PeggyCarter · 21/03/2012 17:23

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

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