Is My Dermatologist a Prude?

[TromboneAl]

I had my dermatologist check for problems. He had me strip to my underwear.

He seemed thorough for most places on my body, but he literally pulled the front of the underwear out, peeked in, and snapped it shut. Couldn't have been more than two seconds. The same for the rear.

Is he a prude, or is that SOP?

Let's see if we can wait until twenty posts before we start with the jokes!

 

[Meadbh]

So, how much sun exposure do you get “down there”?

 

[Another Reader]

Did you tell him you frequent the nude beach? Maybe you should have.

 

[Dtail]

Okay first serious response. lol
He is a prude.

 

[Blueskies123]

I had a precancerous mole removed from one of my cheeks. No sun. Genetics.

 

[Nemo2]

Perhaps, in today's environment, he's simply cautious about potential litigation - presuming there was no third party present?

OTOH...maybe it didn't take long to see what was there?

 

[redduck]

I had my dermatologist check for problems. He had me strip to my underwear.

He seemed thorough for most places on my body, but he literally pulled the front of the underwear out, peeked in, and snapped it shut. Couldn't have been more than two seconds.

Don't complain. Maybe he didn't even need that second second, but he didn't want you to feel embarrassed.


note: looks like Nemo2 and I kind of crossed paths

 

[easysurfer]

Haven't heard something like that since my high school gym class where the gym teacher would take a peek and check to make sure everyone had their jock straps on.

I'd want a dermatologist to take a closer look.

 

[misanman]

My dermatologist is a lady and she leaves "no stone unturned", so to speak.

 

[Jerry1]

My dermatologist is a lady and she leaves "no stone unturned", so to speak.

Agree, that's not SOP. Skin, by definition is all over, so all over gets looked at. I can appreciate that he may want to spare you the embarrassment, but if that's the case, he should talk to a proctologist. They don't seem to have a problem with it. I imagine an OB/GYN for the ladies would be the same. Frankly, there's not many medical conditions/procedures that don't have some level of embarrassment associated with them.

Maybe the doctor didn't see anything of any concern anywhere else and figured a quick look would suffice. ??

 

[Aerides]

People get skin cancer on areas that are not typically exposed. So... s/he may not be a prude, but they also may/not be as thorough as you'd like.

 

[skipro33]

I've had the same experience; whole body checked but my 'nether' regions with 7 biopsies taken and 3 found to be malignant. Even after the local surgery in her office and subsequent follow-up visits, she never EVER even peaked. Manscaped for nuthin'!

 

[Major Tom]

I went in for a full-body exam last week and had the same experience as Al. She looked me all over and, when we got to my underpants, asked if I had noticed anything down there. I said that I hadn't, but it was fine with me if she needed to look, as I'd rather be sure. She did the same thing as Al's dermatologist - took a very perfunctory peek "down the top" of my underwear, and snapped it back shut in a hurry. There was definitely a fair amount of area in my nether regions that wasn't inspected at all.

If I'd had time to think about it, I could have made some remark to the effect that there are certain areas it's actually quite challenging for me to get a good look at! It's probably better that I didn't, though. Nevertheless, it's true. I know some people probably get a little embarrassed but, to me, it's all about context. In a medical setting, I don't mind where my doctor looks, prods, pokes etc. If it helps the process to be more thorough, I'd prefer it. "Let's do this!" is my attitude.

Anyway, she iced off an SK on my pinkie (the reason I went in), and found a suspicious-looking mole on the back of my leg. I'm going in for a biopsy on it this coming week. Perhaps they have specific criteria that need to be satisfied in order to probe the naughty bits. I think there would have to be some circumstances under which they'd feel the need to do so. I can't imagine they wouldn't "go there" no matter what.

 

[braumeister]

Mine checks me all over. He's considered one of the top dermatologists in the city so that must be SOP.

 

[Tetto]

All you guys have dermatologists? I haven’t seen one since I was a teenager...now I’m wondering if I need one!

 

[Dawg52]

I had an appt scheduled with a lady dermatologist and later found out she required patients to completely undress. I canceled. I wear golf shorts when visiting my current doc and he has me remove my shirt and inspects what he can see. May not be as thorough as the lady doc but I'm fine with it.

 

[donheff]

I've gotten the same quick glance. It's easy enough to check my own junk but butt cheeks? No way.

 

[MichaelB]

Is this really about dermatologists, or is T-Al surrepeticiously researching for a new book?

If it’s the former, my guess is most physicians default to “minimum coverage” because so many people are uncomfortable with total nakedness and close inspection of 100% of the body. If one wants a closer inspection, just wear a thong to the next appointment.

If this is research for a new book, how about transporting a secret formula in a mole sized spot stuck to an area “not usually inspected.” Can he avoid detection? What does that formula do?

 

[Amethyst]

I am with Athena. If I am paying for a head to toe scan, that is what I expect. I would insist. Doctors have seen everything by the time they are out of med school, and they signed up to go on looking at it.

 

[ER Eddie]

Doctors are coming under increased scrutiny for sexual boundary violations of patients. This used to be swept under the rug by various agencies (including medical boards), but there has been a significant shift in the last decade, so that patient complaints about doctors who violate sexual boundaries are more frequent and taken more seriously (still a long way to go).

Doctors can lose their license because of these complaints. Even a false complaint can badly damage a doctor's reputation. As a result, some physicians are a bit anxious about doing exams of intimate areas -- not because they are prudes, but because they don't want a patient filing a complaint to the medical board. So they become extra-cautious to avoid anything that might make you uncomfortable.

That's one potential explanation, anyhow.

 

[Bram]

I convinced my DH for both of us to have skin exams at the local dermatologist office. We went into the exam room together & a youngish Nurse Practitioner entered. We kept all our clothes on & just pulled things aside here & there. DH pulled up his t-shirt & she was looking at his back. He has lots of various moles, discolorations, & what-not that I thought might be of concern. He didn’t even have his t-shirt up over his shoulders. She seemed totally ok with that; I wasn’t. I stepped up & ordered him to pull his t-shirt up further, as I even assisted him in doing so. Hers was a very cursory exam. She laid not a finger on either of us. It’s been maybe a year & half ago, but the whole exam was perhaps 1 minute for each of us. A melanoma could easily escaped her view & it wouldn’t have needed to have been secreted away in the nether regions.
I was disgusted, but never spoke to the physician about it. He wasn’t about. I should have called him later.
I can’t see it as prudishness. Lazy? Indifferent? What else could it be?

 

[Bram]

Doctors are coming under increased scrutiny for sexual boundary violations of patients. This used to be swept under the rug by various agencies (including medical boards), but there has been a significant shift in the last decade, so that patient complaints about doctors who violate sexual boundaries are more frequent and taken more seriously (still a long way to go).

Doctors can lose their license because of these complaints. Even a false complaint can badly damage a doctor's reputation. As a result, some physicians are a bit anxious about doing exams of intimate areas -- not because they are prudes, but because they don't want a patient filing a complaint to the medical board. So they become extra-cautious to avoid anything that might make you uncomfortable.

That's one potential explanation, anyhow.

There was a Medical Assistant in the room with us, which is an easy solution for boundaries protection. If a Dr or NP misses a deadly melanoma that could be very uncomfortable also, for pt as well as provider’s reputation & malpractice insurance.

 

[travelover]

It is funny how different physicians are. Years ago I needed to have my private parts looked at. Initially, I went to my GP, an Indian. He gave me two sheets and instructed me to strip naked and cover myself with the two sheets, meeting at my waist. When he returned, he carefully lifted the bottom sheet just enough to peek. He decided to send me to a specialist who was a woman. She walked in to the exam room, asked me what the problem was, told me to pull down my pants, then proceeded to examine me. Quite a difference in approach.

 

[Nemo2]

I heard stories, the veracity of which I have no idea, in Riyadh, such as doctors having to look indirectly at women via a mirror, and English speaking husbands in the consulting room, uncomfortable relaying the Arabic symptoms their wives described, providing innocuous interpretations.

 

[garyt]

So, how much sun exposure do you get “down there”?

You can get skin cancer anywhere. Between the toes, and ahem, between the cheeks. It's not necessarily where the sun hits.