I've had pains in my stomach so saw a doctor today. It was quite interesting as he had a junior doctor in with him and asked if I minded her being being there to observe, which I didn't.
Unlike previous exams where childish terms would be used, they used very medical terms for the exam, referring to my stomach rather than my tummy and umbilicus rather than tummy button. He also described what he was doing as he went along.
When I said what was wrong with me, he asked me to take off my t-shirt and lie down, I was then exposed on top with the waistband of my red Spiderman boxers showing above my jeans.
To start with he looked from the end of the bed "We observe for any scarring in the patients stomach".
He then went on to palpation, pressing with one hand and then repeating again deeper with two hands, asking if I was in any pain.
He then palpated my spleen, liver and bladder pressing all over, asking me to take deep breaths in and out as he did so.
He then said "We need to look for any hernias. Ideally the patient would be fully exposed from their nipples down to their knees, but normally that isn't necessary. So I'll press on the patients pelvis [he pressed with a hand both sides] and ask him to turn left and cough, then turn right and cough".
When it came to auscultation he said "We'll start by ausculating directly above the umbilicus, listening for up to two minutes listening for normal bowel sounds, and then all four quadrants surrounding the umbilicus. Then ausculate superior to the umbilicus looking for any bruits. We'll then listen 3-4 cm laterally and superior to the umbilicus on both sides for any bruits."
Finally, he said "We're now going to percuss over the stomach, using two fingers to tap deep all over. Then we ask the patient to roll on one side and count to 15 before doing so again, letting any fluid move down".
He then presented his findings to me and the junior doctor.
It was a different experience but one that I enjoyed. I'd never heard "exposed from the nipples down to the knees" before but will save it for future play exams now 😉