Penis exam during a physical

[howardrw]

I'm 40 and just got a physical exam from an older female doctor. During the exam while I was lying on the exam table the doctor looked at my penis by moving it back a forth a few times and then proceeded to firmly squeeze it with her fingers all the way from the base to the tip. She then pulled my penis up and firmly held it while checking my testicles. This made me feel very uncomfortable. While doing this she asked if I felt any pain and took at least 30 seconds to feel my testicles. After this was done I started getting an erection as she checked my legs and feet. A minute or two later she asked me to stand next to exam table to check my groin area, but at that point I had a full erection. When she saw I had an erection she just asked me to look away to the side and cough while pressing on the area near the base of my penis. I felt very uncomfortable since I never had a physical with my penis examined like this. Is this something that some doctors do in a physical?    

[AnnieBrooke]

Think how women feel who have male ob/gyns putting their fingers up inside their vaginas. The doctors have seen it all before, but that doesn't mean the patient has.

[howardrw]

I sympathize with anyone who goes in for a medical exam and has their genitals touched, handled and examined in a way that is uncomfortable. Also in cases when a medical practitioner spends more time than you would think necessary examining your genitals.

[AnnieBrooke]

Oh, ask any woman you know how much she likes pelvic exams and you'll get a serious earful. They are painful and humiliating, and if the doctor also gets into putting his fingers inside the vagina and pushing upwards while pushing downwards from the outside with his other hand (which a lot of doctors do), it's even worse.

I'm sure it was surprising and embarrassing for you. If you truly mistrust what was going on, switch doctors. But unfortunately you don't have a medical degree and can't tell what she was looking for. My guess (especially from the instruction to cough, a normal instruction in an exam relating to the prostate or possibly the urinary tract) is that either something caught her attention that she was concerned about, or that she was just very focused on making sure about scarring, calcification, etc. Obviously it was beyond your comfort level at the time to say, "Are you seeing something that seems wrong or unusual?" But if you had been able to say it, she might have let you in on her thought process, and you could have relaxed about the possibility that your erection had anything to do with anything. (Though, you might not have felt any better if she told you she was looking for signs of cancer. Maybe that is why she didn't narrate.)

It doesn't sound to me like anything kinky or sexual was going on. It sounds like she was ruling something out. A friend of mine just had prostate surgery, and as a result, has to wear a diaper to catch urinary leaks. I'm sure he would gladly trade getting his penis examined the way you did for what he went through, erection, embarrassment and all. If her careful medical care prevents you from ever having a serious problem, she's a good doc. Possibly someone in the office should have warned you, though.  If you can't stand the embarrassment of going to see her, again, you can always find another doctor.

[howardrw]

Actually when the doctor had me stand to examine my penis she did mention that I had a very large glans (tip) and asked about it. I told her I always had this since I was a teenager it's more pronounced when I get an erection. She didn't provide any further comments or say that I should see a urologist. Would it be a good idea to a second opinion about this?  

[howardrw]

Hi Annie,
I went back and got another physical exam from the same woman doctor I previously saw two years ago based on your comments and other comments in this forum. I'm not sure if you are a medical professional, but you were right with the comments you previously mentioned. This time I asked my doctor several questions before and during the exam and now agree she a great doctor who takes the time to more thoroughly check for possible issues with her patients. My physical exam was done differently this time. I was asked to take off my clothes and was given a small sheet to wrap around my waist when in the exam room. During the exam I was asked to stand up next to the exam table without the sheet in the nude. The doctor proceeded to examine my groin area by pressing her thumb on the area to the left and right side by base of my penis and had me cough multiple times. When I asked about this she explained this was done to check my urinary tract. She then had me get back on the exam table in the nude, lie on my back with my feet flat on the exam table with my legs bent and spread apart. She spent about a minute carefully examining all the sides of my penis, and asked if I noticed any curvature when I had an erection. Then she proceeded to firmly squeeze and feel my penis with her fingers from the base all the way to the tip as she did during my last exam. When I ask her why she did this she then took the time to explain she was checking for scaring and calcification since I was thick and long and had a large glans penis. She then squeezed my glans to open the urethra and while carefully looking at it asked if I felt any pain or had any pain while urinating. Then she went onto explain that some men get balanitis which his a common cause of penile swelling and wanted to the confirm the size of my glans was normal for me and not from this condition. She mentioned that this occurs less with men that are circumcised like me, but wanted to confirm this was not an issue. After seeing how she takes additional time to check and explain why  she did certain things I can tell you I will now continue to see this older woman doctor.          

[Dako17]

Hard to say. I've had my penis looked at during a physical and the doctor (also an older woman) took about 15 seconds. It's possible she was being thorough, but if you don't think she was you should say something. I've heard that doctors will wait for erections to go down. Normally they also have someone supervise in case of sexual harassment.

[howardrw]

This doctor spend about 45 seconds looking at all sides of my penis before she proceeded to squeeze it from the base to the tip (glans) and also opened the urethra. I have a large penis, and someone else mentioned she was being thorough and was checking for scarring. Since I developed a full hard-on during the last part of the exam she was then able to see I had no scarring or curves in my penis.  

[howardrw]

I can't say that this doctor induced me to get a hard-on, but during the last part of the exam she also sat on a stool in front of me also spent about 30-40 seconds looking at my erect penis while she pressed on the right and left side of my groin and had me cough. I know this is part of the procedure, but it was awkward.

[wahoofan007]

You had an excellent physical exam and a very good doctor perform the exam.  it is called stripping the penis, and she checked the meatus (hole in penis) for infection etc.  I wish my doctor was that deliberate.  You received an excellent PE! Hernia checks also.  I am impressed.  Rest assured you have a very good doctor in my opinion.

[polish_bear_65]

That is a good thread. I've been also wondering how situations like this should be treated. There's a thin line between proffesionalism and sexualy inducing behavior.

[adapete1]

i don't see the problem.

[Tickiemctickface]

From what it sounds like, she was checking for signs of tumors, cancer, and hernias all at the same time. You've got yourself a good doctor.

[howardrw]

Maybe that is the case, although I never thought I'd be standing in the nude with a full hard-on in front of an older woman examining my penis.