Is Being required to strip naked for medical check up common?

Back in the good old days being nude for a physical exam was not uncommon. A lot of pediatricians examined you nude and mine did starting in 6th grade. I had friends who had nude physicals, too.

When my father took me to his doctor - a retired Army doctor - for my college physical - I was told to remove my boxer shorts and was nude for the entire exam. I think he was evaluating me for the draft ! lol

It was not until much later in my life that I was not nude for a physical exam.

When my father took me to his doctor - a retired Army doctor - for my college physical - I was told to remove my boxer shorts and was nude for the entire exam. I think he was evaluating me for the draft ! lol

I am certain that, in the 1950's and 1960s, many doctors or people in some sort of authority like school teachers, YMCA supervisors etc did indeed have the military draft in mind. It was a given that virtually all American boys would sooner or later be drafted.

I can't recall how many times this came up in conversations between boys in those years. Every time I saw a war movie or show, read a war comic (Sgt Rock!) or whatever, being drafted sooner or later would be on my mind in some way, most likely subconsciously, but still there. I am certain older doctors/men who had served in WWII or Korea had this on their minds as well and were trying to prepare us kids for the inevitable.

Slightly unrelated I guess as I've never been asked to strip naked for any exam. But I did once have a mildly amusing and very embarrassing experience when I went for a gyno check up. I was given a gown and the doctor asked me to lower it so that he could examine my breasts. Then he asked me to lay back on the couch and lift the gown to my waist…he disappeared back to his desk for a second. When he returned I was naked apart from the gown rucked around my waist, as he hadn't told me I could cover up my top half! He then just kind of motioned toward my chest and said “You can put the gown back on your shoulders”..and I detected a slight laugh in his voice..lol..

I'm stripped down, but given a paper drape to put over my lap.

I'm stripped down, but given a paper drape to put over my lap.

There is a lot of false modesty in a doctor's office. Perhaps it is protecting those who are terribly shy, which probably is more the case than back in my day, but I have always felt that if you (the doctor) are eventually going to be handling my penis and my testicles and sticking your finger up my butt, there is no reason to stay covered up before that.

I always appreciated being nude from the start if I was going to end up that way, and I had several doctors who did that.

I was given a gown and the doctor asked me to lower it so that he could examine my breasts. Then he asked me to lay back on the couch and lift the gown to my waist…he disappeared back to his desk for a second. When he returned I was naked apart from the gown rucked around my waist, as he hadn't told me I could cover up my top half! He then just kind of motioned toward my chest and said “You can put the gown back on your shoulders”.

@Laura_L It sounds like your gown's opening was in the back, that you had to lower it to have your breasts examined. So when he asked you to lift it up to your waist, I guess to be exposed as much as the gown was already lowered plus how much you raised it to make your waist and below visible. Hence the chuckle.

I guess I always have been 100% nude for at least some of the exam. From the first exam I can remember which was pre-kindergarden until I was 21 and changed doctors, I would be told to strip down to my shorts (underpants) and have a seat on the table while I waited for the doctor. He would do the interviewing and most of the exam with me there in my undies with no gown. Then he would have me stand up and tell me to lower or remove my underpants and he would check my penis and scrotum and then do the hernia check. I have never been totally nude for the entire time but I wouldnt mind.

Once I was 21 I changed doctors and they would have me get 100% nude but then have me put on a gown. The fun thing about the gown is that it is always one of those paper ones, and always too short for me (i am 6'-4") and I cant tie it in the back so it falls off 5 minutes in and i just end up sort of discarding it and am more or less nude for the entire exam nowadays.

Haven't had to strip down in several years. Doesn't feel like a real physical if I don't have to strip my pants and briefs off at some point. Even the dermatologist wants me to leave my briefs on for the exam, which I don't understand. And my urologist hasn't checked genitals in years, only does a DRE once a year Last time I removed pants and briefs was a little over a year ago at the GI doctor's office for an anoscope exam.

I think it depends on the doctor. When I was visiting my Uncle and his family in New Mexico I got sick. Unc was a no nonsense type of man and told me to shower and he'd take me to the doctor. He took me to the base. I was told to get undressed and take off everything. It was sort of blunt and surprising since I had fever and a sore throat. The way he told me and the look my Uncle gave me was a little scary. So even though I was shy I did what I was told. The doctor and my Uncle talked the entire time I got a check up. Then someone came in and they gave me two shots. I'd always been terrified of needles so that might have been part of the reason. It didn't take them any effort to flip me onto my belly and stick me. On the way home my Uncle told me he was proud of me. He said it was okay that I was afraid of the shots. He hated them too. That made me happy because he was a high ranking officer and helicopter pilot. I figure that's why we never saw a waiting room. You'd have thought I was there for heart surgery the way they swarmed around us.

That was the first time I remember. Later and even now I've been told to strip to my shorts. The doctor said there was no reason to worry with a gown. After checking throat, ears, eyes etc. He worked his way downward. I'd be stretched out on the table for him to poke and prod. He listened to my chest and belly. Then he'd smile and say it's time to check out the “water works”. He pulled down my shorts. I'd turn on my side when he'd change gloves and pull out the KY. It usually wasn't bad except one time I had prostatitis. Massaging the prostate was excruciating. I had to come back several times over the next couple of weeks for another massage. That was rough every time. It wasn't like a full appointment. They'd just show me into a room and he or his PA would have me drop my pants and lean over the table. For what felt like hours they'd massage my prostate. It was not fun in any way. After he'd squeezed out some of the fluid forced out for testing. Now that was embarrassing. He'd wipe the rest off with a piece of gauze. Before the infection cleared up it was a yellow color. Later it was clear. He did give me the best prescription I ever had though. He told me to have sex or masturbate at least once a day preferably more. At twenty something that was not a problem. My wife at that time didn't have a problem with it either.

It's odd but in the 1960's and 1970's every doctor i saw I was asked to strip nude , Half the time no gown or cover . The last three times just here lately , in the past five months I had to have my catheter changed five times and they barely had my pants down to about mid-thigh and I couldn't help but wonder about contamination of the catheter , me leaking on my self , and the just awkwardness of trying to clean my penis and change the catheter . …????…W.T.H. you would think that if you are going to replace a catheter they would like it as clean and bacteria free as they can get it . Could that be why I have had three U.T.I s ? If i should start changing my own catheter , And I do believe I should start , I would be cleaner and more though than any I have seen until now . Understand I am not talking about catheter play but real nurses and two Doctors in a real clinic . I actually believe I could find someone here that is into medfet who would do a better job .

@Tighty_Whiteis_Now the paper sheet was just to cover myself while the nurse did my initial stuff. It wasn't much more than thevsizevof a paper towel. Once the doc came in, it came off. Was surprised more than once by the nurse while being examined. With the door open, everything was in view from the hall, fortunately no one walked by

@Tighty_Whiteis_Now the paper sheet was just to cover myself while the nurse did my initial stuff. It wasn't much more than thevsizevof a paper towel. Once the doc came in, it came off. Was surprised more than once by the nurse while being examined. With the door open, everything was in view from the hall, fortunately no one walked by

When I was a kid, and being examined nude by my pediatrician, my neighbor and friend's doctor did the same as yours. He stripped nude and was given a square of the same kind of paper as the exam table paper put on his lap. Once the doctor started examining him it was impossible to keep it in place and he ended up as nude as I was for my exams. We both thought that the paper was silly.

At the sexual health clinic where I work we just ask the patients to drop their pants and underwear to perform the appropriate exams and tests. However i hear from the veteran staff that they used to make all patients strip naked and female patients received gowns and the male patients got towels to wrap around their waist . This would make it much easier to get access to important body parts and it was also easier to check the entire body for lesions etc. However the practice was discontinued to make patients more comfortable and cut down on costs.

In the USA there is very little undressing for general examinations, but a play examination is a different story.

I wish. I'm paying for a physical, not a tap on the knee and a prescription refill.

a square of the same kind of paper as the exam table paper put on his lap. Once the doctor started examining him it was impossible to keep it in place and he ended up as nude as I was for my exams. We both thought that the paper was silly.

That was like the early stages taking action to show care for modesty, while dealing with the dichotomy of showing care over one's modesty vs having access to thoroughly examine the patient at the same time. This thin paper was the acknowledgement that wearing any type of gown would counteract the purpose of being there to be thoroughly examined.

Who knew the next step was gonna be not even undressing at all….

This thin paper was the acknowledgement that wearing any type of gown would counteract the purpose of being there to be thoroughly examined.

Who knew the next step was gonna be not even undressing at all….

This is a somewhat logical result of two factors: the mixing of cultures through immigration by which some cultures have a strong aversion to any kind of nudity, however justified the situation. This seems to result in the more prudish culture winning out in the end as a means of showing mutual respect and avoiding problems and conflict.

The second factor is the growing influence of (in this case, the dominant) religion in promoting prudish and anti-sexual notions in society.

I can't remember the last time I had a nurse ask me to remove anything to prepare for a physical. The last 4 or 5 doctors I've visited have been perfectly satisfied beginning the exam with me fully clothed. Disappointing, imo.

The only doc that has me get undressed for an exam is my dermatologist who has me strip down to underwear and hands me a sheet for my waist.