Straight men and abdominal exams

I have a friend who is a straight guy and DO. He tells me straight male patients hate abdominal exams. He says testicle exams, totally fine, they’ll drop their shorts no problem. Want them to lay down and let someone listen to and palpate their bare stomach? No go…

So my question, for straight guys, is this really a thing? If so, what’s the big concern with this basic test that can identify some issues.

A curious gay guy with a medfet asking 😂

Abdominal exams are a core part of my medical fetish. Since childhood the doctors would ask me to (or actually just do it themselves without asking) lower my underpants below my hipbones, sometimes to the point where they'd see a hint of your pubic hair (since I had it). I always enjoyed the idea of someone looking at my belly and touching it. Palpation feels funny, it's as if someone as inside my intestines. I don't find it weird if people hate it, it's essentially exposing the most vulnerable part of your body to someone else.

Being a straight guy I am fine with abdominal exams . With my already laying down on my back and naked of course . It is a bit erotic and his hands get closer to my pelvic bone . An erection starts to occur

I have no problems with abdominal examinations.

Usually I am laying prone, and my trousers are either removed or pulled down,.

My underpants stay in place.

Palpitation of my abdomen is normal, and sometimes the Doctor feels into my groin.

I believe all of this is necessary.

@m1943 I have the same opinion about abdominal exams. During my abdominal exams I lay on table without my shirt only. My pants has been lowered to show whole abdomen only. Usually doctor was auscultating and palpating my abdomen. I am straight and think that this exam is pleasant for me.

Weird that he doesnt' like it, I don't have feelings either way and don't really care, or feel like its sexy

Weird that he doesnt' like it, I don't have feelings either way and don't really care, or feel like its sexy

It’s not that he as a healthcare provider doesn’t like doing them, he’s saying male patients don’t like it.

As I have gotten older, I agree with your friend. The genital exam is less of a deal for me than the abdominal exam. For most of the genital exams I have had, I have been standing with the doctor sitting on a stool or bending down. That part of the exam usually took less than a minute, and once it was over I knew the exam would end.

On the other hand, laying flat on the table I feel totally helpless. That part of the exam seems to drag on for minutes - endless palpations, listening for bowel sounds, the percussion - and then wondering if he will slip his hands down into the underwear. I also associate abdominal exams by my experiences at the pediatrician. He would almost 'massage' my stomach before palpating it, and I did not like it. He would do really deep palpation and would percuss in a very forceful manner, which I also did not like.

I don't agree with your friend at all, I definitely do not hate abdominal exams. I view abdominal exams as the step just before genital exams. The only thing I am thinking about during them is what is about to happen. I like it when the doctor examines my lower abs because that plays in nicely with my nervous anticipation of the genital exam.

As a straight guy I would have to disagree with yopur friend. I enjoy all aspects of being examined and having an abdominal exam is part of the enjoyment.

Doesn't bother me a bit. Never has. I kind of like it when they ask you to unzip your pants or do it themselves. Sometimes they will then ask you to take down your pants and roll over for a rectal exam. It all works for me.

On the other hand, laying flat on the table I feel totally helpless. That part of the exam seems to drag on for minutes - endless palpations, listening for bowel sounds, the percussion - and then wondering if he will slip his hands down into the underwear. I also associate abdominal exams by my experiences at the pediatrician. He would almost 'massage' my stomach before palpating it, and I did not like it. He would do really deep palpation and would percuss in a very forceful manner, which I also did not like.

Interestingly enough, this is the part of the exam I enjoy most, exactly as you’ve described it.

I find this odd.

Personally, I find an abdominal examination completely neutral.

It was my female doctor who examined me, and I could keep my underwear on, which certainly makes a difference.

As a straight man, an abdominal exam is actually a part of the exam I enjoy!

It gets a little bit of butterflies going for me when they start using childish terms when examining me such as "I'm just going to have a listen to your tummy now Scott" as I'm lying there with my top off, or "I'm just going to have a feel inside your tummy button now" when they check for an umbilical hernia.

At home, I like listening to my own abdominal sounds with my stethoscope which also takes me back to when I was a kid and the doctor let me listen to myself and I giggled at what I thought was the sound of my bellybutton wanting to explode with the sounds inside.

I am enjoying reading these responses! I wonder if people are also starting to just not expect to have to be touched or take any clothes off? It does seem some doctors are moving that way.. Maybe it catches some people off guard?

I have no problem with it. Usually shirt is pulled up or is off when they do it. If already in my underwear or in easily accessible bottoms (workout clothes mostly) they've lifted up the waistband or pulled them down for genital exam before. But yeah . . . no issues with the abdominal exam at all.

I don't have an issue with it.

It’s been nearly 20 years since I’ve had an abdominal exam. No issue other than I question the value of them unless I have a specific complaint. But laying on the table being poked and prodded isn’t demeaning or makes me feel uncomfortable . My uneducated guess is they are more common in the ER where someone has specific abdominal complaints or is being triaged after an accident or injury as a precourser to more focused imagery.

@Rigel You may be right, they may be more common ERs. Although it used to be part of a normal physical, but more and more providers may be skipping over it. Too bad…

I still have that for my physicals.

I’m straight and had several abdominal exams relative to a small bowel obstruction. I was never overly conscious of the attention my abdomen received either before or after the required surgery. The whole experience was handled efficiently and professionally.

Outside of this one experience, I can’t recall the last abdominal exam I’ve had. They are not considered part of the annual wellness visit for seniors. I wouldn’t rate abdominal exams any differently than any other body part and I think I’ve had most all examined at one time or another.

No issues receiving an abdominal exam for me, regardless if the provider is male or female. It is one aspect of the physical exam that has remained a constant in my experience such as listening to the heart. The only times I recall it not being performed is for issues with the extremities, etc.