Examining Penis 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 and 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. 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. A minute or two later I was asked to stand next to exam table and I felt very uncomfortable as the doctor asked me to look away to the side and cough while pressing on the area near the base of my penis. I never had a physical with my penis felt and pulled like this. Since it's been a long time since I had a physical is it typical for some doctors do this as part of a physical?  

[BonzoDog]

I don’t necessarily think this was something out of line - I have had Dr’s check for genital abnormalities with similar testing. She was probably checking for lumps in the testicles, which could be malignant, possibly also checking the penis for anything that seemed out of order. When she had you stand, turn to the side & cough while feeling the pubic area, she was checking for a possible hernia. Sounds to me like she didn’t do anything unprofessional & was doing a thorough physical - she didn’t want to miss something that could turn out to be important. Did she also perform a digital rectal exam (DRE)  for possible prostate issues? That could be either benign enlargement (BPH) or of course if a hard nodule was found, that could be potentially more serious, e.g. prostate cancer. Dr’s usually start checking that once you hit your 40s, altho right at 40, maybe not. Anyway, I wouldn’t be concerned about any of this - you should thank her for being thorough!

[howardrw]

Yes the doctor also did a rectal exam and used her finger to feel my prostate after feeling my testicles while holding up my penis. Since she held my penis up for awhile it seemed like she either thought something was unusual or wanted to see me with an erection. Is there a reason for doing this?      

[BonzoDog]

Hmmm... that last question, I don't have an answer for. But I think sometimes we as patients think more time has elapsed than in reality when Dr's are examining our genitals or other intimate areas, because we just want it over with ASAP! Yet I've often thought the opposite - I've had a Dr. stick a finger in to feel my prostate & was out in like 2 sec & thought, what the ****, could he tell ANYTHING from that quick an exam ?? We also have to remember that Dr's are human - she could've had a distracting thought for a sec or 2 & had to refocus on what she was doing. I've had that happen to me many times at work - I'm in the middle of doing something & then just linger there for a few seconds & someone watching might wonder why it took me 10 sec just to type a 3 -letter word, but I got distracted by something & had to stop & refocus on the task at hand. Bottom line is, I think she was just doing a very thorough exam & I'd rather have a Dr. take a little longer than necessary & get it right, than miss something that could turn out to be very important...