Was the sonographer being a creep?

[Owlmoonstar]

I had an ultrasound scan today to investigate pelvic pain.

Firstly it was external, like a typical pregnancy scan.

And then I was asked if I would like an internal exam, which I agreed.

During the internal scan, the sonographer (a man) touched my bum cheeks in a bit of a weird way.

If you can imagine the way your hand would grip the device, he then released his index and little finger and was kinda jiggling the skin near my bum crack.

He also did an in and out motion with the device, as one would with a dildo.

I don't know if I'm overthinking everything. It felt off at the time. But obviously I was just all kinda tensed up, staring at the ceiling trying to wish the entire procedure was over. Same as when you have a smear test. It's just an uncomfortable, unpleasant situation in general.

I just wanted to get it all off my chest and have some feedback really.

Having a scan, in an intimate area feels generally vulnerable, so I'm not sure if I'm being silly.

At no point does the scanner go THROUGH your cervix. They will need to wiggle it about a bit to get the right angles to view e.g. ovaries. But no object passes through your cervix.

It all sounds pretty off to me and I think needs raising with the hospital. There is nothing wrong with men performing these scans but they must be done professionally and without making women feel uncomfortable.

Please do not worry about getting him into trouble. That’s highly unlikely. But, especially given he barely spoke to you, he needs at the least training in how to be more sympathetic and appropriate, perhaps lots of women are going home feeling the same but we are all inclined to just try to forget it. You are allowed to feel the way you do, if you can put in some form of feedback I think that would be so useful.

Even if he was just doing his job, it made you uncomfortable and he didn't protect your dignity.

I think men should be able to do gynaecological etc healthcare (but women should have a real and meaningful choice); however, they have to be able to clearly behave appropriately and make you feel safe.

I think it would be helpful to raise it - describe what you experienced and how you felt really factually. It may be that the feedback helps him to improve, or it may highlight that he is dodgy.

Yeah, it wasn't a nice experience.

I don't doubt his ability to do the actual job. But he definitely needs a pep talk on how to make women feel at ease in such a vulnerable position

I have done a chaperone course and we were told that we have to observe the actual examination/procedure. She would not have been able to see this from behind you. You could complain about this if you wish as she would not be able to tell if the clinician was inappropriate or not. The chaperone is there for both you and the clinician.

Had one by male consultant recently and nurse was holding my hand. He was a but brutal wiggling around to get a good view

Why was your chaperone behind the screen so they couldnt see anything?

I’ve had probably a dozen transvaginal scans and at no point has anyone actually touched me with their hand…

I had an internal scan done by a male recently. When he had finished, while I was still naked from the waist down, he handed me a QR code and asked me to give him a 5 star review!

OP none of this sounds good at all. Awful practice in fact. They should both be talking to you throughout the scan as well. He should have been explaining everything and the chaperone checking you were ok or even just chatting to help you feel more relaxed. Please complain.

Honestly, I had no clue about chaperones. Zero. I had zero clue why she was there.

I 100% didn't feel she was there for my benefit whatsoever.

I genuinely thought she was just typing something up on a computer or something. I didn't sense she was in the room with me at all. Other than when she instructed me on which position to lie on the bed and where to get undressed. And I saw her wiping the bed down after I had gotten up.

Then I just awkwardly said thankyou, goodbye. And that was my only interaction with her.

No wonder I left there feeling violated.

You don't have to worry about him getting in trouble. It's your experience as the patient and I've always had sonographers talk me through what they're doing and didn't touch me 💐

Thankyou for the replies. I've read every single one. It's nice to know I wasn't being a bit pathetic.

Report it to PALS. Be as factual as you can be and mention what happened and where the chaperone was.

Also, how and who do I complain to?

No way should his finger be anywhere near your bum crack, let alone touching it! I’ve had loads of internal scans including male sonographers and that’s never happened. They’ve also not had to move it in and out tbh because once it’s in - it’s in, they move it left and right not in and out. If they do have to pull it out and in they’d tell you why but they’d have to pull it all the way out to re-insert it if you need to move your body or adjust angle not in and out like a dildo or penis.

Please complain. Internal u/s are uncomfortable enough without feeling you’re being molested.

You are not being pathetic at all 💐 it might be upsetting to see so many comments validating how you feel, please look after yourself.

I've had a few TV untrasounds this year and not once has anyone actually touched me. All my practitioners talked constantly through the procedure and explained exactly what they were doing at all times.

You did not receive good healthcare today. You felt uncomfortable and possibly violated. I don't see any reason to touch your bottom but even if this was innocent his whole approach was wrong with not explaining what he was doing. You should have had the chaperone nearby too.

I would raise this with the department. Tell them how you felt, and that you'd have appreciated a warning that your intimate areas being touched was part of the procedure.

In the first instance either contact the radiology department and tell them you’d like to raise a complaint. They’ll take you through h the process or contact the PALS department. Details of both will be on the hospital website. There may also be a feedback / friends and family / complaints section on there.

That doesn't sound very good at all. It sounds like you didn't have a chaperone at all in the true sense of the word. I think women are sometimes expected just to accept these things and it's wrong. At the very least I would be giving some feedback.

I've had several done, I can remember the last one was done by a woman, and the one before by a man. I can't remember the ones before that, and honestly couldn't care less who does it provided they are good at their job. While the procedure is uncomfortable, I've never felt that the person doing it was being anything other than completely professional, as they should be.

PALS. Search the hospital you attended and ‘PALS’ into Google. It should give you the email address you need for that hospital.

Make sure you do an email complaint, so everything is in writing. Be totally honest at how it’s made you feel.

I would also report this to the CQC too.

The lady that did mine was so efficient. She didn't even look down there, never touched me, just held the scanner thing (what is it called?) and put it in. She said things like "sorry that might pinch." and when moving it around "I'm just going to try and get a better view of your left ovary..." etc. Chaperone held my hand and kept chatting when I tensed up.

I’ve had lots of these for IVF purposes and more recently for pelvic pain. The IVF ones were by different males and females, from consultant to nurse practitioner. The pelvic one was by a male sonographer. He definitely moved and pushed it around to get a better image, way more than when I had ivf scans. I’d say he was quite forceful within reason. He didn’t talk either. Don’t recall him touching my bum or lower down but his eyes were mainly on the screen. When I had an embryo transfer I had a female nurse whom I felt touched me oddly. kind of placing her whole hand across me in a way other nurses hadn’t. It’s hard to know what to expect. I’m sorry that you had a poor experience on top of an awkward examination and pelvic pain.