Physical Exams!

[urban]

For the first time in my 25-yr-old life I went to my doctor for a physical exam.

I was expecting a head to toe detailed examination.

But no. The nurse measured my height and weight. The doctor came in, asked me some basic questions, e.g. smoker? alcohol? family history of cancer? Then he had me strip out of my shirt, listened in with his stethoscope, and felt my abdomen.

And that was it; after 5 minutes I was out of the door.

My friend had my get all nervous because he was telling me how his doctor touched his genitals, stuck a finger up his rear, and was very thorough.

Did I ask for the wrong exam? I actually wanted a thorough physical exam like my friend had. I somehow left the doctor's office unsatisfied.

What are your experiences like with physical exams?

[yao416]

For the first time in my 25-yr-old life I went to my doctor for a physical exam.

I was expecting a head to toe detailed examination.

But no. The nurse measured my height and weight. The doctor came in, asked me some basic questions, e.g. smoker? alcohol? family history of cancer? Then he had me strip out of my shirt, listened in with his stethoscope, and felt my abdomen.

And that was it; after 5 minutes I was out of the door.

My friend had my get all nervous because he was telling me how his doctor touched his genitals, stuck a finger up his rear, and was very thorough.
Did I ask for the wrong exam? I actually wanted a thorough physical exam like my friend had. I somehow left the doctor's office unsatisfied.

What are your experiences like with physical exams?

I LOL'd

sorry, i'm no help

[nano]

you might want to call Perez Hilton.....

[bilibulu]

For the first time in my 25-yr-old life I went to my doctor for a physical exam.

I was expecting a head to toe detailed examination.

But no. The nurse measured my height and weight. The doctor came in, asked me some basic questions, e.g. smoker? alcohol? family history of cancer? Then he had me strip out of my shirt, listened in with his stethoscope, and felt my abdomen.

And that was it; after 5 minutes I was out of the door.

My friend had my get all nervous because he was telling me how his doctor touched his genitals, stuck a finger up his rear, and was very thorough.

Did I ask for the wrong exam? I actually wanted a thorough physical exam like my friend had. I somehow left the doctor's office unsatisfied.

What are your experiences like with physical exams?

Your friend didn't have a thorough physical exam if that's what you described.

He didn't get a thorough physical exam if he got it done in Canada.

What you described is a very basic, third world kind of physical exam.

[urban]

You mean the physical exam my doctor performed is 3rd world, or the physical exam my friend's doctor performed?

I looked up wikipedia and it seems a thorough physical exam is from head to toe and does include one's private parts.

Your friend didn't have a thorough physical exam if that's what you described.

He didn't get a thorough physical exam if he got it done in Canada.

What you described is a very basic, third world kind of physical exam.

[AnnaBanana]

there is no reason for you to have a rectal exam at 25 years old. NONE. that is not a normal part of a physical exam until you are much older (50 years old i think??). the most important part of the physical is the history. my sister is a doctor and she says that most things can be assessed from asking questions, and listening to the heart / lungs.
and there is NO REASON to check your balls unless you are having problems with them.
why would you want that part done anyway? if you do, tell your doc you're having problems with your balls / butt and THEN your doc will check them!

[hyung]

there is no reason for you to have a rectal exam at 25 years old. NONE. that is not a normal part of a physical exam until you are much older (50 years old i think??). the most important part of the physical is the history. my sister is a doctor and she says that most things can be assessed from asking questions, and listening to the heart / lungs.
and there is NO REASON to check your balls unless you are having problems with them.
why would you want that part done anyway? if you do, tell your doc you're having problems with your balls / butt and THEN your doc will check them!

wait.

so i've been getting my testicles fondled with for the past 3 years.... for no reason? that doesn't sound right...

[oceania]

For the first time in my 25-yr-old life I went to my doctor for a physical exam.

I was expecting a head to toe detailed examination.

But no. The nurse measured my height and weight. The doctor came in, asked me some basic questions, e.g. smoker? alcohol? family history of cancer? Then he had me strip out of my shirt, listened in with his stethoscope, and felt my abdomen.

And that was it; after 5 minutes I was out of the door.

My friend had my get all nervous because he was telling me how his doctor touched his genitals, stuck a finger up his rear, and was very thorough.

Did I ask for the wrong exam? I actually wanted a thorough physical exam like my friend had. I somehow left the doctor's office unsatisfied.

What are your experiences like with physical exams?

LOL...I know what you're getting at but at the same time it's hilarious. I think you could've worded it better but thanks for the laugh.

[SassiSrb]

Actually men should have there genitals checked regardless of age. If in the future if they go in with a problem the DR will have paper work to refer too. My husband had this done, so did everyone else he knows that went for an exam...and they are all between 25-30.
If you feel you didnt get what you wanted...then go back and ask why...then explain what you want. That is what a family DR is for, they are there to treat you and look out for you.

[LordofthePing]

I haven't had a physical yet and was wondering this. I had always heard that the feel (check) your testicles and maybe check your rectum as well.

[Instagator]

there is no reason for you to have a rectal exam at 25 years old. NONE. that is not a normal part of a physical exam until you are much older (50 years old i think??). and there is NO REASON to check your balls unless you are having problems with them.
why would you want that part done anyway? if you do, tell your doc you're having problems with your balls / butt and THEN your doc will check them!

Uh. right.

Ive been getting a physical for the last 3 years - I'm 29 (and so have most of my friends) and all of them had their balls massaged and a pointer up the pooper check. This is a ROUTINE physical, it may be optional but id prefer the 15 seconds of discomfort then to be sorry.

And by the way 50 years old? explain that to one of my friends brother who refused to get his prostate checked and now has untreatable cancer. Did I also mention the fact that he was 33 and had no history of cancer in the family?

[bilibulu]

You mean the physical exam my doctor performed is 3rd world, or the physical exam my friend's doctor performed?

I looked up wikipedia and it seems a thorough physical exam is from head to toe and does include one's private parts.

I mean the physical exams for BOTH you and your friend are third world if they were performed in Canada.

There is no high tech involvement when you go to a doctor's office for a physical in Canada. They just check your body manually, with the aid of some basic equipment, like a sphygmomanometer, stethoscope etc.

Of course a thorough exam would include private parts. They're part of your body.

[bgalm]

I'd just like to add my two cents as I'm a medical student so I'll try to give a perspective from our side.

Unfortunately, I think because of the public health coverage in Canada, doctors only conduct tests that are deemed "necessary". Screening tests (i.e. when you don't have symptoms but you'd like to check anyways) are often not covered until a certain age or in certain conditions. You could imagine that doctors can fudge this though and still have them done, but not all will do this.

As part of a full physical, history is VERY important. In fact, they tell us that maybe 80% of diagnoses come just from the history. So this usually plays a huge role in the "physical", although it's obviously not very physical.

In terms of other exams -- I don't believe that they are routinely done. The ones that are include cardiovascular (heart and blood vessels) and respiratory (lungs), for sure. Head and neck I think are pretty basic and routine, which include assessing the thyroid, lymph nodes, inside the mouth, etc. Abdominal exam is pretty straight forward when doing a quick overview so I suspect that it done quite frequently.

However, for example, I don't believe a nervous system exam would be done unless it was indicated -- you were having numbness or tingling somewhere, vision problems, hearing difficulties, etc. As you mentioned, unfortunately, it does not SEEM like testicular exams are routine unless you had an indication for it or if you were to specifically ask. Probably after a certain age this is more routine, but when I was in the clinic I only saw them done when a patient complained specifically of something in the scrotum. I think this is why they promote people to perform testicular self-exams often.

In terms of the prostate -- we call these "digital rectal exams" or DREs -- what we've learned is that these don't become routine until way later in life. In fact, I believe they're normally covered only after 50 years of age. Unless of course, you have symptoms that warrant the test -- such as difficulty urinating, waking up at night to pee, or needing to urinate often. When I was shadowing in the clinic, I definitely never saw anyone under 50 getting a DRE. In fact, it is VERY uncommon to have any conditions of the prostate -- including prostate cancer or something more benign like BPH -- under the age of 50. It is definitely not the norm to have it at 33 years of age -- but obviously, there are exceptions.

A full physical usually also involves ordering blood work to check up on things -- were you offered any of those tests? Like fasting blood glucose, thyroid levels, blood count, hemoglobin, lipid profile, etc.

BTW, I should add -- for full "physicals", I think very much that YMMV! I've seen doctors who do very thorough complete physicals while others are in keeping more with what I just described above. Also note that I don't necessarily agree with what I've written above -- I'm just giving my perspective from what I've seen and learned.

Hope that helps!

[brunes]

My friend had my get all nervous because he was telling me how his doctor touched his genitals, stuck a finger up his rear, and was very thorough.

That will start when you are 30. Or you have some risk factors for prostate cancer.

[ReDmAn]

the OP wanted a finger up his butt? just go to church street buddy i heard there are a lot of people who will be willing to do that for you. if you're lucky you might get something else up your butt