Intimate Doctor examination

[Hannah89189]

Hi all, my toddler today had a genital examination by an older male doctor as she’s had some issues going to the toilet recently. He did an all over examination of everything, her chest, bladder heart rate etc, but I felt the examination of her genital area went on just a little too long, it was probably only 40 seconds or so but it’s left me feeling uncomfortable, I should have thought to ask for a female doctor but had barely any sleep last night and it’s only when I left I started thinking about it. I was standing right there and didn’t see anything suspicious but she did say ow, however I did see him do anything that would have caused her discomfort. But now my mind is playing tricks on me a little. What would you do? I don’t feel I can call the surgery and accuse this doctor of something that I didn’t see happen… can anyone advise please 🙁🙁🙁

So you're going to a call the surgery and basically accuse him of sexually assaulting your daughter whilst you were stood there observing because he too 40 seconds to check her genitals.

Bloody hell, no wonder us GPs hate our jobs!

I think we're just hard wired to feel uncomfortable seeing a man touching a child's genitals. Forty seconds doesn't sound excessive and I would much prefer a doctor gave my child a thorough examination than rushed it because it's the genitals. I don't really think there's anything you can complain about. If it's really keeping you awake at night you could ask for an explanation of what happens during such an examination. If they explained exactly what they were doing it might put your mind at rest.
I know it feels weird. My son recently had surgery on his testicles and many different male doctors spent (what felt like ages) examining and feeling his genitals. It's an uncomfortable thing to observe but I did believe it was necessary.

So you went to the gp in the first place because your dd is having problems with her wee/poo, he gives her a good thorough check up to make sure there aren’t any other issues, then spends less that a whole minute checking the problem area. What did you expect him to do? Use a crystal ball to work out what the issue is?

Was her issue with peeing or pooing? I'm not sure a long genital exam would be that necessary for a going to the toilet issue. I assume he was touching rather than just looking?

What sort of toileting problems? For instance, if she has been having problems with urgency, frequency, soreness, suspected water infections, then it would be necessary to check the genitals for signs of vulvovaginitis. If, however, it was constipation, it's the anus that needs checking (and the back, and the abdomen).

Do you have medical training? I just wondered what makes you qualified to comment on the length and type of the examination?

Hard to tell unless we know what sort of toilet issues she has.

Was it your usual GP?

Thanks all, no I don't want to go in and accuse this man of abuse, hence my post here, I just felt uncomfortable, she's been examined before but it was very brief, this man wasn't our usual doctor but a locum and his demeanour was just a bit off ....I myself am quite an anxious person and I am probably over thinking stuff, just none of my kids have had a genital exam that's taken that long normally the doctors have a quick look and that's it....I know I'm probably over thinking I just wanted some reassurance, like someone said above it was probably just uncomfortable to witness...x

Thankyou yes I guess you are right, I think next time il just ask for my usual female doctor to make myself feel more at ease. My son also had surgery on his testicles and it didn't make me feel half as uncomfortable as this did. Perhaps it's because she's a lot younger and a girl. Silly really, I need to stop over thinking and reading the news!

No wonder drs are leaving the profession with parents like you