Parents Attitude Towards Nudity At The Doctor

As medical technology continues to advance all the concerns with patient privacy may all soon become a moot point, with full body scanners and AI conducting the bulk of routine exams.

Even so, it might turn out that clothing hinders some types of scanning. I can very well imagine that nudity for AI scanning might still be required. Perhaps with no medical personnel being involved or seeing nude patients.

My mother seemed somewhat uncomfortable about me being naked at the doctor, but not as much as did! My entire appointment was usually spent bottomless; sometimes I got to keep my underpants on, but they usually remained lowered.

My mother’s attitude towards my medical setting nudity did not help me to ever get comfortable with it.

@arttemp

My mother seemed somewhat uncomfortable about me being naked at the doctor.

My mother’s attitude towards my medical setting nudity did not help me to ever get comfortable with it.

What do you think about your mom being uncomfortable seeing you nude in a medical setting? I find it interesting that any parent would feel awkward seeing their child nude, especially in such a setting. I can understand the child feeling awkward.

My mother seemed somewhat uncomfortable about me being naked at the doctor.

That is interesting - first time anyone has mentioned that (to my knowledge). Based on the prevalence of nude examinations in my day, and how everyone's mother sat in on their kids' exams, it just seemed to be part of being a mother and child at one time. You went to the doctor, your mom went into the exam room with you, and you took off your clothes, at least down to your underpants, if not completely nude.

My folks treated doctors as gods. However they wanted to exam you was fine, naked, in your underwear or whatever. While my parents didn’t accompany me to exams, they expected/taught me to be compliant.

Same here,

My mom thought a doc is a god. She did not question anything what she did. Being conpletely naked from start was just normal. All exams as unnecessary as they might have been were stated as normal. And i guess mom also was very curious and probably excited when she saw me naked.

One time my mother took me to the doctor when I was sick; I must have been 7 or 8. It was January or February and very cold. The old country doctor we had (who used to make house calls) had retired and he sold his practice to two younger doctors. I believe this sick visit was my first to these new GPs. The whole office staff was new, too, and my mother was somewhat frustrated that the new GPs did not make house calls.

I was bundled from head to toe and when we were ushered into the exam room the nurse said 'down to your underwear.' Since it was cold outside, and somewhat chilly in the exam room, my mother told me to keep my t-shirt on, so I was sitting on the table (shivering) in a t-shirt and tighty whiteys. When the nurse came back to check my vitals, she yelled at me for keeping my t-shirt on. My mother intervened and then she reprimanded my mother - do not remember exactly what was said between them. So the shirt came off. I remember that exchange better than the actual exam!

I do remember exams when I was a little older and, while lying on the table, the doc would pull aside the waistband of my underwear and check. Since the doc was in between me and my mother, she really could not witness exactly what he was doing. I am sure she knew, she never mentioned it, and it was out of her line of sight. At a later exam I was asked to get off the table, stand in front of the doc, and lower my undies. Then she could observe, and I found that mildly embarrassing - not because she saw me naked, but because she saw a person touching me that way - which with any other person would have been inappropriate. That was the last exam I had with my mom present. The GP's practice was two blocks from my house, and after that I insisted on going alone, because I could walk to the appointment. Nowadays I doubt an 12-year-old could do that on his own.

Mine was always yelling at me to cover up. The doctor’s was about the only time she didn’t.

When I got the "private parts" talk, it was the standard lecture--don't let anyone touch the parts of your body covered by your bathing suit, except at the doctor. My parents took me to the health department, so it was usually a different doctor seeing me--a stranger, someone I didn't know, which always made me nervous. My parents insisted that I cooperate with the doctors and nurses, which usually meant sitting in a cold room in tighty whities until the doctor arrived. Halfway through the exam, the doctor would talk to my parents (not me, I just laid there) and then without explanation I'd have my undies pulled down for me by the doctor. My parents insisted it was normal.

I was lucky that I never had to be completely naked at the doctors, that only happened at school and then only one on one behind a screen, but even being undressed down to my boxers made me uncomfortable once I'd started getting a but older.

When I was 12 and went to the doctors, I'd asked if I could go in by myself, knowing I would have to strip down in front of my mother and bog brother but my mam refused. As she also pointed out, "you don't have a problem lying about the house with Paul in your underpants every morning!". To me though that felt different than being on display and poked and prodded all over.

IT was normal that my sis and i get nude when expected, normally at the beginning. My parents were very strict in this.

Nudity was part of the exam. My mother watched as the doctor examined me. I also wore my tighty whities around the house and to sleep in so nudity wasn't an issue.

Except for one time when I was very young, I've never had to lower my underwear at a doctor's office in front of my mother.

She did, however, suggest to a doctor that I could take it off while he was taking pictures of my knees (I think it was to show them to students). I didn't appreciate that, but I didn't say anything. In the end, it wasn't necessary. For school medical checkups where she wasn't present, she never asked me about my level of nudity.

When I was a teenager, my father warned me twice that I might have to be completely naked at the doctor's office, the first time at a dermatologist's office, the second time for a pre-employment medical examination. But he didn't go with me, and I didn't have to undress completely.

It was just part of it. My dad even told us a couple of times to undress before the nurse even came in to save time.

My parents were casual about me being nude in the doctors office. they always told him I needed a complete exam and always told me to take off everything. it started when I was 12 and it became normal until 17. I was put in every position while on the table..all while my parents watched.

Most often i would go to the doctor with my grandmother. She herself was an old school retired paediatrician. When the doctor asked me to undress, my granny would help me to remove my clothes and then she would ask the doctor shall he remove underwear too? Sometimes the doctor would say yes please. And i felt very annoyed as i thought it was unnecessary and if the granny didn’t ask i would not need to be completely naked.

It must have been very embarrassing for you @Amy93 to have an audience while you were on the exam table, naked ?

I mean for a young lady, you may have wanted some privacy, in the exam room. I know your parents are concerned for your welfare that's all well and good, but in your older years I guess you should have some privacy,

I wasn’t left alone in an exam room for a physical until I was 16. My father and I even had joint full body skin exams when I was that age. I kept my underwear on for that but my father was naked. I think they felt it was a parental right to know what was going on with everything.

I'm glad to hear so many parents had sensible attitudes, though I must agree that my very nudity-unfriendly upbringing made that confusing and unnecessarily unpleasant. They didn't think maybe they had to explain the difference beforehand? Or here's an idea, if it's okay for a doctor, then it's just okay.