Does your doctor get squeamish performing rectal exams?

Mine is very professional. No jokes, it’s just another part of the exam.

My doctor live streams it to the waiting room TV.

My doctor doesn't do physicals or routine testinf

I had a female doctor who did them with no muss and no fuss. She left the practice and I had a male doctor for last year's physical. He didn't do it at all, which shocked me – every doctor I've ever had did them. Does insurance say GPs can't do them anymore?

My old doctor did them regularly - he was Iranian. My new American doc doesn't ever do them. Too bad, it was the best sex I had all year!

Old PCP only ordered PSAs. I have a new NP guy and maybe he does digitals. I'll know at physical in July.

There's an Austin Young/Legrand Wolf joke here, but I'm feeling lazy.

My doctor and I always have cocktails first.

My very considerate doctor tends to pull out just before he cums.

They're probably just confused why you're demanding one when you've only come in complaining about a minor cold.

Guess you never went to Dr. Richard Strauss

Haven't been to a primary doctor in a few years and I have a new one that I have yet to make a appointment with.. Question is, are rectal exams standard for a check-up or for the first time check-up with your new primary?...

I'd be more uncomfortable with the jokes.

I thought that the PSA blood test obviated the need for the digital search for the monk in the cave. I've had one digital exam and all the doctor did was a quick finger jab. He would have felt something only if it were the size of a lemon. Also, I've been on finasteride since 98 and have a lovely, small empty prostate and a full head of hair.

He’s probably scared of your asshole

PSA test is so inaccurate for early tumors that it’s not even recommended as a screening test.

It’s used more for gauging how a known tumor is growing.

A rectal exam to feel for lumps is very accurate—but docs don’t do them much anymore

When my new doctor did a rectal and my asshole opened easily, I immediately thought, “He knows I’m a big old bottom!”

What if you prolapse right in front of him? That’s why you schedule your butt appointments before the weekend!

Calling Mr. Garrison!

My doctor does it with his hands in my shoulders.

Paging Dr Goatse...

“Then the doctor asked me to do it to him! The gall!”

I’ve only had a couple digital exams. The first one was during a bout of prostatitis when I was 35, & my dr said my prostate was generous. I almost burst out laughing, thinking what, does it buy me flowers?

Not a word was spoken ......

The last time I had it done was easily 10 years ago and it was by a Russian lady .She stuck her finger in,felt around for a few seconds and that was it. Havent since. Coincidentally that was also the last time ANYTHING was up my hole.

R23.. how does a person get prostatitis? serious question..

R2 That had to be the funniest thing I ever read on DL. I can't stop laughing.

My handsome doctor used to do mine. When I started going to my urologist (had a slightly enlarged prostate for a year or so, but it's back to normal the past few years) who is even more handsome than my doc, he's been doing it. I try not to fantasize when he's doing it.

^I’ve had it twice & do not have anal sex. It’s usually bacterial/viral, stress could be a factor. Call me crazy, but whenever I take a decongestant (the behind-the-counter type, not just antihistamine) I experience mild symptoms similar to prostatitis, namely decreased pee flow.

The first time I had it, prior to my weird decongestant symptoms, I took a daily dose of Claritin, right before it became OTC. I had a mildly expired prescription bottle & figured I might as well use it to get rid of it & then re-up with the OTC brand. About 3 weeks into this, I came down with prostatitis. It was about 15 yrs ago, & now if I take just one Claritin-D I get pee issues until the drug wears off.

I just did my PSA & it’s fine, but a scan of my prostate shows it’s mildly enlarged. I had a phone consult with a urologist who was skeptical of the correlation, but it happens to me every time, & it’s the only time it happens.

Actual prostatitis is nothing to sneeze at. I had a 103 fever for 3 days straight, & Tylenol didn’t help at all. It also took about a month before my prostate shrank back to normal.

I have a female doctor; it was awkward for both of us the first time, but now it's like I look at her and say where do you want me?

P.S. only happens during my annual wellness physical.

My partner was diagnosed with prostate cancer a few weeks ago. His PCP still does digital rectal exams, which have always been negative. Of course, those exams can assess only the part of the surface of the prostate that is accessible through the rectal wall.

His PSA has been rising but was still only 0.2 above the limit for his age group. Nevertheless, His PCP sent him for an MRI, which revealed two lesions that might be cancerous. That led to a targeted biopsy, which showed that 50% of the specimens had adenocarcinomas.

His cancer is Stage 1, which is considered low(est) risk for death from prostate cancer. He will start to make the rounds of medical, radiation, and surgical oncologists from two institutions tomorrow. My guess is he will have radiation treatment and then will be monitored by PSA and MRI the rest of his life in case additional malignancies occur.

I think a digital rectal exam is useful only if it’s positive (i.e., a negative result can be a false negative by definition), and PSA is only meaningful if it is confirmed by MRI and biopsy. So, it’s a long road just to get to even a Stage 1 diagnosis.

The digital exam may have fallen out of favor because it alone doesn’t give much information when it’s negative, and most of them are negative. That, and the push/need for PCPs to see as many patients as quickly as possible.

Bjkk

Went in for an ear infection. Doctor says "You're 58" I need you to drop your pants and bend over. I replied " Doc ya got the wrong hole." He was not amused.

He sure does!!

Rectal exam can also be used to test for occult (hidden) blood that might be in your stool as a cancer screening. Your provider wipes your butt juice on a card and then splashes it with a dash of a reagent that will react if any blood is present. You can do your own prostate exam and probably be more thorough than your PCP. It should be about the size of a walnut, smooth with no lumps/ surface irregularities or tenderness.

My (straight male) doctor always says "And now for your favorite part!"

He knows I hate it.

I had the same doctor as my dad & grandpa, and he was so quick and practiced that it was almost like sitting on your wallet wrong, just briefly uncomfortable

I would have to give side eye to a doc that gets squeamish or tells jokes. No matter where your doctor's fingers are, it's very, very much not a sexual experience. It's just a part of your body being examined.

He’s super relaxed. He has a whole “small talk through it” shtick that he does. It doesn’t make me relaxed. And he still says stuff like “just a little snip”. Unholy fuck, what that does to me.

But I appreciate the effort.

R4, you gotta change docs

Gentlemen, Get Your Ass Swabbed for HPV / anal cancer. Save your ass. Save your life.

I re-link this thread every now and then. If you do not go to a doctor, who checks this out, you need to change doctors.

No, he’s a professional and I like them.

Mine does it via Zoom.

He used to - and then I had - shall we call it an "accident"? and I shit all over his hand. Runny shit. Kinda like a shart.

I was surprised that the oral part of the exam apparently isn't done by all physicians.

I've had three DREs in the last week: one from the PA and two from urologists in order to check for an enlarged prostate. Each had a different technique. For the first, I pulled down my pants and knelt on the elevated chair. The PA was very detailed as to what he said as he explained the procedure: First I'm going to examine the rectal area. Now, I'm going to separate your buttocks. I will press my finger and insert, etc. The second just had me drop and bend over. He stuck his finger in and then told me he was going to check my pelvic wall, so I got on all fours on the table. He re-inserted and felt around for about thirty seconds. The third just had me drop and touch my toes. It was over in a few seconds. All of them were very professional. I made sure that I douched before the DRE.

I don't think you have to get it done before 40? My doc has never offered.

Doctors should not be squeamish about this. Any doctor who is squeamish to do a rectal exam is a wimp and unprofessional.

R45, disregard if you were kidding, but your poop can be useful for the doctor in assessing your health. The doc might notice if the poop is an unusual color, or submit it for a test to see if blood is present. Your doc has poop in the ass as well, so don't be ashamed!

My doctor whispers softly in my ear...

"I want to be inside you. I want to make you feel good."

My dr. knows I'm a gay bottom, so the first time he gave me the rectal, he said, " Now, you will feel a little pressure as I insert my finger." I told him," I've had many larger things back there, so don't worry."

After my rectal exam I reached for a cigarette, he whispered "sorry,. you can't smoke in here"

Doctors don't do physicals anymore. You have to be dying in their face to get treatment.

Hardly.

My current doctor never has performed the ritual exam. Instead, he monitors my PSA test results.

It's kind of strange.

[quote] Doctors don't do physicals anymore.

R52 For Americans on original Part B Medicare, we have to hope the PCP does NOT do a physical exam, because it’s not covered by Part B. Part B covers only an annual “Wellness Visit” which is talking only. My PCP went beyond talking at my last visit, and I was billed $700 for a physical exam to be paid out of my own pocket. I got out of it via a professional curtesy, but it means I can only go to my PCP with a specific complaint (= office visit, not physical). I have had to use specialists to replace my physicals because Part B will pay specialists to do what should be done in a physical, but at a much higher reimbursement rate, meaning tax payers foot the bill. Thanks, Congress!

OP- I am SQUEAMISH about this FECAL Occult test I have to do 😖

It’s R55 again. I was being sarcastic when I wrote “Thanks, Congress” regarding the Part B regulations. But the regulations may be the result of clinical trials that reported there was no difference in patient outcomes from PCPs that only talked at annual visits vs. those giving traditional physical exams.

I miss my old PCP, recently retired after 20-plus years as my doctor. A couple of years ago he said it was no longer as useful and has been for the most part replaced by the PSA test. OTOH, I saw a new urologist this winter who did do one, perhaps as a baseline.

The first time the old PCP, who was gay, did one he snapped on the rubber glove as I was bending over and said, "I used to have to buy them dinner and flowers and candy before they'd let me do this." I was laughing so hard that it didn't hurt a bit.

my doctor calls it, opera glove time. he only request that I make mooing sounds so I may remain distracted. he's both an MD and a DVM.

my network has a policy that physicals have to be done by a non-primary. It's considered a safeguard; forced second opinion. They modestly discount it if one goes to one chooses one of their teaching hospitals/clinics - which tone has to pretty clear their day for. People can opt-out but they have to sign form releasing the network, et al from liability. Same goes to rectal exams, scales and a few other now needlessly political things.

I don't recall anyone being squeamish.

My doctor isn't squeamish at all. As a matter of fact, he uses THREE fingers because he says it give him a more accurate result.

Never had a problem with the exam, nor a squeamish doctor. However, I noticed they always do that last.

[quote]Every doctor I have had did.

How many rectal exams have you had??

I've had two rectal exams in my life. I'm 56. Once from my primary care and once from a gastroenterologist. Both times the doctor was professional.

OP sounds a bit "off."

Op is a weird ass for sure. He needs to be forced to smell his hand after fisting himself.

[quote]every doctor I've ever had did them

Statements like this are very strange to me. Why would "every doctor" you've ever had be doing rectal exams? I've never received a rectal exam as a standard part of a physical. I've only had then when I've presented with some problem or set of symptoms. I've had many doctors over the years but only 2 rectal exams.

R66 op presents himself as a big loose queen. Doctors know upon first meeting someone who has a big loose asshole.

My doctors have never done an anal exam or even looked at my butthole.

When I was like 12 my pediatrician would lift up my penis and touch the sides of my balls very briefly but that is it. I'm 33.

I must be lucky. I have never had a PCP or urologist who did NOT perform a DRE.

Due to the use of large toys when I was young, I have a slit instead of a hole. My doctor stuck his finger in and sort of explored all the way around and I really wondered what he was thinking.

The only doctors whose fingers went up there were urologists doing a prostate check.

There were a couple of visits when the PA (who I'm sure is gay because he has gay voice) saw me instead of the MD for some reason.

Before he did the finger probe, he strangely said, almost apoligetically, "OK, I'm going to have to touch you."

I see only the MD now.

[quote] Why would "every doctor" you've ever had be doing rectal exams?

If you move to different cities or towns every few years, you end up with a string of different doctors (PCPs). I don't think this poster was saying that his ENT doctor was giving him a rectal exam.

I had a doctor who did give rectal exams and would try to be really chatty while he was doing it. I think he was just trying to cut the tension.

Gay men should welcome a DRE for their health. It's the straight men who think getting one might mean that they are engaging in a gay act, making them very much against it.