Embarrassed to admit doctor visits?

Is anyone else mortified by DR talk? I’m embarrassed to tell anyone I have a DOCTORS appointment. I would never tell anyone I’m going to the DR for a physical!

I did recently tell my BF that I had a doctors appointment and they did an abdominal exam that made me uncomfortable, but he seemed to think nothing of it. It took a lot of courage to tell him that .

Is anyone else mortified by DR talk? I’m embarrassed to tell anyone I have a DOCTORS appointment. I would never tell anyone I’m going to the DR for a physical!

I did recently tell my BF that I had a doctors appointment and they did an abdominal exam that made me uncomfortable, but he seemed to think nothing of it. It took a lot of courage to tell him that .

You are incredibly wound up. Your desire to tell somebody about your medical appointments justifies my opinion. Get help.

Yes. I can never understand how people can tell others they’re going to the doctor. It’s a totally normal thing, and it shouldn’t be taboo, but I keep it to myself.

I tell friends here where it is encouraged. With people I interact with daily that aren't on this site, I only tell them if it's necessary.

I’ve told workmates about going to the doctor. Especially the time I got a surprise physical including a DRE. It was for a consult about my migraines. I explained that was why I was walking so funny. It’s just no big deal to me. Almost everyone goes to the doctor.

I’ve pretty much limited my discussion regarding doctor’s appointments, with those who may be affected by it. My manager, and my wife. My manager, only because I might have to take time off from work, and obviously, my wife, because she is my marriage partner.

What is the source of the embarrassment? Being reserved may be related to it.

“Iatrophobia” is the fear of doctors and medical tests. There's also Tomophobia - fear of invasive medical procedures - I have that to some extent.

I tend to not tell anyone about doctor appointments because many don't really care about sub or myself. So they don't care about the appointment and what the doctors may have to say.

What is the source of the embarrassment? Being reserved may be related to it.

For me, the embarrassment is akin to telling somebody that I’ll be having sex after work. I know that the other person doesn’t know about the dread before, the thrill during, and the masturbation after, but to my head and my body, it feels the same. If the other person brings it up in conversation, my clit throbs the same way it does if I watch porn.

... I know that the other person doesn’t know about the dread before, the thrill during, and the masturbation after, …

Well said! That sums up going to the doctor perfectly.

Why embarrassed? Because others would know or assume that you’re going to get stethed or palpated and that to me is embarrassing. Regular people discuss it so openly, it’s as normal as going to the grocery store for them. But I find it something I can’t openly discuss.

Daltonclancy hun, get off here if you’re going to suggest someone get help for discussing something that is very personal to them. If you are reading this, but have no interest in it, and you are just passing time or curious, please get a life!

I have a female friend who just went to have a complete checkup head to toe and when I went to ask her about it she was embarrassed and felt awkward talking about it with me when I brought up the subject and started asking her about the checkup.

I agree with @examine_me and @patientlee. It's actually not a bad thing to talk about doctor’s appointments, but I don't like doing it either and I'm also embarrassed to talk about it, especially about upcoming physical exams.

Actually, that's always been the case for me. It started when I was young. It wasn't until I went to the doctor that I got to know this feeling of embarrassment caused by intimacy, a stranger's unusual proximity and touching of erogenous parts of the body. Without that embarrassment, I might not be here with Zity today. Only here do I feel comfortable talking about it.

feeling of embarrassment caused by intimacy, a stranger's unusual proximity and touching of erogenous parts of the body.

This too

have a female friend who just went to have a complete checkup head to toe and when I went to ask her about it she was embarrassed and felt awkward talking about it with me when I brought up the subject and started asking her about the checkup.

The word “checkup” is a trigger word for me. More than “exam” (I teach SAT and ACT exam prep, so different association.) and even more than “physical.” My ped gave me “checkups,” not “physicals,” and the fetish comes straight from the ped‘s office when I was little.

Why embarrassed? Because others would know or assume that you’re going to get stethed or palpated and that to me is embarrassing.

The same with me.

I've told friends before going for a physical exam and I sometimes share about my experiences at the doctor's, and they do too.

It's a way of exchanging knowledge about doctors, state of the art, medical tests, health conditions and warning signs to look out for.

We talk about our experiences because health issues outweigh any embarrassment from having our bodies intimately investigated by a medical professional. A friend once told me she was going to see the doctor because she noticed a dark lump in her armpit. Turns out it was aggressive breast cancer and thankfully she caught it in time. Another friend shared explicit details of her bowel problems....like her poop coming out like a string....and her visits to several doctors. Rectal cancer was eventually diagnosed.

You can't have too much knowledge when it comes to medical matters. Sharing experiences gives access to first hand knowledge.

I have never been embarrassed about going to a physical or even talking about it after. That is what started me wondering about rectals from male doctors vs female doctors. I have friends who go to male doctors and the majority have never had a rectal. But everyone I know who goes to a female doctor has had rectals. Plus being a nurse makes it easier to talk about things.

I can certainly remember being embarrassed about it when younger - as a child at primary school we had to write about our week and I had been off sick (I think with Tonsilitis) and had to visit the doctor. I didn't want to write about it at all and made something up instead.

Many years later the thing I made up did actually take place, so maybe it was more a prediction than anything else.

Yes, I think talking about doctor's appointments is important, as long as it is with people that you trust. It is a good way to exchange information, as others have stated in this thread.

I’m fairly comfortable in discussing exams as an adult, but I used to get so embarrassed as a child when I’d been examined by the doctor for an illness and for the following two days I’d hear my mother discussing my examination with her friends. Probably nothing more than mothers chatting, but it was humiliating, especially when my school friends would listen too.

Around other women not at all, in fact I encourage it! I usually book my medicals after work but once had one during work hours and had to inform the manager I was going for my medical (they are workplace medicals carried out offsite).

Everyone knows what happens at the female medical so it was embarrassing being over heard by male staff who now knew I was going to get my vulva examined during the medical. It is common knowledge that the lady at the clinic pulls our lips back, lifts our hoods, then opens our inner lips and inserts 2 fingers for a kegel test.

I once had a female coworker who was scheduled for a lower GI test. As it happened we were driving upstate on a work assignment before daylight.

As I drove through the darkness, she started telling me that she was going to have the test and was wondering what it involved.

I asked if she wanted me to explain the test. She said, yes. So I took advantage of the darkness and my love of giving beautiful women enemas.

I used kind words but I was pretty graphic in my description of the medical test ahead of her.

I started by asking her if she knew what an enema was. When she said, “sort of,” I asked if she had ever had one.

She said when she was very young her mother gave her something in her bootie but she didn’t remember much about it.

So I told her this particular test involved having a barium enema before X-rays that would be taken of her lower gastrointestinal track to see if there was any abnormalities or blockages that could be causing problems.

Then she asked about the barium enema. This was my opening (no pun intended). I told her that she would be given a series of cleansing enemas before the test and that the procedure might vary depending on the procedures her doctor prescribed.

She asked what I meant by varying procedures. I explained that there were several ways of giving enemas, and her doctor and nurses could give each enema the same way by having her simply lying on her left side with her right leg flexed, which would give the nurse easy access to her anus and rectum.

She said, “Ok but what if it’s different?”

I told her in that case, they would have her assume different positions for each enema.

In an alarmed tone in the darkness she said, “Each enema! How many do they give you?”

I explained that in the situations I had knowledge of, the patient usually received six enemas in different positions.

When she asked what positions, I went into great detail about left side, on her back with her legs raised back to expose her anus and, of course, on her knees with her breasts and shoulders on the bed.

She asked, “You mean like the doggie sex position?”

I couldn’t help but chuckle and tell her, “exactly.”She said, “Oh my gosh, that will be so embarrassing.”

Then I told her the equipment they would use could vary too depending on the usual procedures her doctor prescribed. Next came her question about what did I mean by different equipment.

I got to tell her what I knew first hand and what other people had told me about their experiences. I told her about various types of enema equipment, bags, bulbs, nozzles or speculum, quantity of liquid, types of mixtures.

She asked several questions about the equipment she might experience and I took great joy in explaining colon tubes and the insertion process.

As I talked, her voice went for normal volume to quiet. I figured she was having a physical reaction from my descriptions.

Then I got to the positioning she would be asked to assume and the size nozzle used for the barium enema itself. She listened in silence as the light of the break of day was making her face visible to me.

Finally, we got to the X-rays and I described the positions I knew about. I could tell she was pretty grossed out, but to put her mind at ease a little, I told her there was an upside to the whole experience.

She asked, “Pray tell what that would be.”

I chuckled once more and told her that I would let her tell me about that after her test.

And did she?

When I was young, as in preteen/teenager and in my 20s, I was usually very loathe to let anyone know I was having a doctor's appointment.

It wasn't so much about embarrassment in the classical sense of involving intimate body parts, but more because it implied there was something wrong with me or that I was ill. And showing weakness to others was something that I was apparently brought up by my parents not to do. Never complain, never cry, never admit you are ill to others. I suppose it was a sort of stiff upper lip thing in a way. Something you were not expected to admit to.

I never tell anyone.

I'm not embarrassed by it now, but I was embarrassed about people knowing about it when I was a kid and teenager. Though, in a way, those moments are kind of cool to think back on now. I remember my family being at my grandparents house once and my grandparents asked if my siblings and I wanted to sleep over. My parents said something like “they can't. the boys have doctors appointments tomorrow.” My grandma said “oh, are they not feeling well?” and dad said “they're fine. they are getting physicals.” That was so embarrassing then but I kind of like thinking about it now.

Interesting to read all the responses here and seeing that there's frequently some level of keeping doctor visits hush-hush! People where I am often have no reservations saying that they have a doctor, dentist, etc. appointment. Obviously, the specifics are not discussed unless one wants to share. I believe the openness comes from all of us knowing that everybody has to visit the doctor every once in a while, whether it's for something chronic, acute, or simply for the annual physical.

I find it extremely embarrassing. I was at meeting for work after I had my most recent physical and my boss ask if I was feeling ok then he suddenly remembered and blurted out “oh sorry I forgot you had your annual physical. I could have died.