I ask because growing up it happened almost every single year to the point where, whenever I went to the doctor, I would get severe anxiety. I got a physical once for nursing school and the APRN said my heart sounded like I was having severe anxiety, I was 20 something years old.
I understand that, generally, providers do this to check on people’s development, such as testicles dropping, hair, deformities, etc.
But then I hear people talking about how that was never their experience. Ever.
When I have kiddos, I want them to feel safe around the doctor. I want them to feel like they have autonomy over their own body, not the doctor just pulling your shit down and touching you while you are laying down.
TIA
There are stuff doctors need to check, like you said, for boys the development of the testicles and the genitals in general. If done properly and with forewarning it should be fine. But doctors can vary in communication skill from person to person, so one might make the whole thing non-chalant or fun even, others might induce trauma. I think it’s a normal thing, but the devil is in the how.
Drs can be callous asses.
But also a Dr could be a pedo and doing what was technically valid, but inappropriately enjoying it. OP could have been intuitively picking up on that.
I’m not saying they can’t be. But there are also plenty of legit reasons. So if you don’t feel comfortable with a doctor, best practice is to switch doctors
For boys yes definitely, I was checked for hernia etc every year. No idea about girls.
I cannot think of any good reason, personally.
It’s a hernia check, completely routine when I was growing up (eastern US), it caught me by surprise the first time but then it was no big deal. They did it every year. IDK about the medical aspects but it’s not like some doctor thought it up aimed at particular people. It was an institutional thing, all boys in the school district got it (don’t know about girls), same thing at other schools, and I saw the question come up on reddit decades later so it’s still being done. There was slight physical discomfort (they press up on your testicles and ask you to cough) but at least for me, pulling down pants in front of a doctor wasn’t an issue. Having to shower in front of other kids (idk if that’s still done) was way more awkward.
You mentioned girls, I was saying I don’t see a reason to do so for girls. I already know about boys needing it
I also thought it was stupid showering with other kids, no privacy. I avoided showering specifically because of that. And teen boys are douchebags
I’m learning from this thread that the user base here is overwhelmingly male.
