Full Nude Gynecological Exam with No Gown or Drape

Hello everyone,

I hope you are all doing well. I wanted to start a discussion today about gynecological exams and whether there has ever been a real examination performed without a gown in full nude. I have seen this happen in an old medical training video from Eastern Europe

As we all know, gynecological exams can be uncomfortable and anxiety-inducing for many women. However, some women may have had an experience where they were asked to remove their clothes but were not provided with a gown to cover themselves.

I wanted to ask if any of you have ever had a gynecological exam without a gown. How did it make you feel? Did you speak up about your discomfort or did you feel too embarrassed to say anything?

So, please feel free to share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below. Thank you for your participation.

Here is the screenshot from a Polish video that did it

https://i.imgur.com/fCXS6Kj.jpg

I understand the element of wanting to be covered. It provides us with a sense of comfort and maybe even control what the doctor is allowed to see; however, I'm of the opinion that being fully nude may allow the doctor to be able to perform more extensive exams given he or she is able to see the patient in full. Plus, as uncomfortable as it may be, an embarrassed and submissive patient may be more willing to provide the doctor with more indepth information about their body because at that point, the doctor has been given consent to see the patient in their full vulnerability. Just a thought, anyways.

No real gyno exam has ever asked me to be fully nude nor have I ever had more than a female gynecologist examine me, in a real setting, that is.

Have always had a gown and lap drape and would accept nothing less.

There is no absolute truth.

In France, total nudity to undergo a gynecological examination is not taboo.

During a classic consultation, after the initial interview to take stock with the patient, when I say that we have to go to the examination room, I always specify that we will start with the chest.

Some women only undress from the top and wait for me topless. But most immediately take off all their clothes.

It is not part of our culture to provide a paper shirt, but it is no problem if patients prefer to show their breasts first and then dress the top before moving on to the abdominal examination.

I don't think that practitioners have preferences and it is clear that a woman who goes to consult her gynecologist knows very well that she is going to reveal her intimacy to him. Naked or not, it does not change her state of mind, whether she is anxious or not and there is no relationship of submission to the examiner.

@Franklin58200 Isn't it very old fashioned from a physician to expect this in France?

@Pecan_nutjob

I don't think it's the doctor who generates the way patients deal with their modesty.

In France, customs seem to me to be well anchored and no doubt inherited from this post-sixties so-called liberated generation which has modified the relationship between women and their nudity.

There is a huge difference between the French approach and that of Anglo-Saxon countries.

I can assure you that I do not find that the younger generations are more prudish or prudish than their elders.

Finally, and this is not anecdotal in the current context, many doctors are contracted and consider that the amount allocated by the CNAM does not justify investing in paper folders, some even dare to ask the patient to buy a speculum to UU before its consultation (while the obligation of means is part of the code of ethics).

@Franklin58200 I was not referring to paper gowns, but to, for instance, doing the breast exam with lower garments on, then putting top garments on and removing lower garments for the pelvic exam, instead of being nude throughout.

@Pecan_nutjob

In fact, this happens quite regularly, because the breast examination that starts the consultation begins with the patient in a seated position.

Then lower the backrest of the table to have the torso in the lying position and feel the tissues against the costal grid.

At this time, the patient may still have her bottom garments on.

Only then is he asked to strip the lower part and settle into the stirrups.

Some take advantage of this change in position to quickly iron a small shirt and cover their chest.

Of course, we are no longer at the time when their mothers systematically wore a combination under their dress and only lowered the straps for the breast examination before the bottom was raised on the abdomen for the vaginal examination.

In a RL medical setting in the US a patient would NEVER be fully nude. In fact it would generally be considered a breach of medical ethics by the State licensing authority to be examining a fully nude patient. It's also a breach of ethics to fail to wear gloves during a pelvic /rectal exam, at least in California where I'm licensed.

In a RL medical setting in the US a patient would NEVER be fully nude. In fact it would generally be considered a breach of medical ethics by the State licensing authority to be examining a fully nude patient. It's also a breach of ethics to fail to wear gloves during a pelvic /rectal exam, at least in California where I'm licensed.

@Pollux Would this be just for female exams? Here in NH with my doctor of 30 years I was always nude for the whole physical exam which lasted about 30 minutes. Then 10 years ago he retired and I had to find a new doctor. She never has me remove any clothing for the whole 5 minute exam. He always did a DRE but I felt like a pervert asking her to do it.

I'd say it would be true for male as well as female exams but doctors, like all humans vary. I was always just taught that patients should have a modicum of modesty and dignity in a setting where they otherwise kinda don't. I only had one totally nude woman patient in my 30 years of practice and she was a consultation I did in a mental hospital. I was NOT comfortable but couldn't let it show...she didn't care.

That's actually an example of the difference between RL doctoring and play. In RL nudity just isn't done or acceptable or comfortable -- by me anyway whereas in medfet play I love nudity.

I think it's changed over the years , and it mainly due to ligation rather than modesty and dignity. It was very common in the 70's and early 80's in the UK for GP's to examine women fully naked without a nurse or chaperone. Their modesty and dignity was preserved by having a sheet placed over them after they undressed. Exams were performed like this and it was normal practice which was accepted.

Nowadays they undress only what is required i.e. topless for a breast exam or bottomless for a vaginal exam and there is always a nurse or chaperone present. It's all to do with litigation rather than modesty and dignity in my opinion.

You could well be right. One of my early humorous anecdotes was from when I was a 4th year medical student in GYN clinic. We'd learned the basics of pelvic exams and were set free to practice. We were told after an exam we could consult with an attending physician if we had questions or problems but the clinic did not have sufficient females to provide chaperones in every case. We could ask for one if we thought it necessary. So one of my student colleagues, a very straight laced guy, had been in a room for a few minutes when he came running out saying "I need a chaperone!" An attending standing there asked if he'd had a problem. He said "Not really but she said it felt really good!" Hard to imagine I guess but it sure unnerved him.

In china it is customary at the gyno to keep the trousers on on one leg, just taking the other leg from them to bare the pussy. The other leg stays clothed.

Strange but sexy in its own way.

N.

Here is the screenshot from a Polish video that did it

https://i.imgur.com/fCXS6Kj.jpg

There is an inscription suggesting the 80's. In those years in Poland, women were rarely examined naked. Usually, before the examination, the woman took off her panties and remained in her own skirt. Examination gowns came later.

In the 1950s, gynecological examinations are often done naked. At that time, it was believed that the doctor should have access to the entire body of the patient. My aunt, who underwent mandatory gynecological examinations in the 1950s, said that it was normal for women to strip naked behind a screen. Then they were examined naked. Then such research disappeared, although I do not rule out that some doctors could also examine patients naked in the 80s.

I understand the element of wanting to be covered. It provides us with a sense of comfort and maybe even control what the doctor is allowed to see; however, I'm of the opinion that being fully nude may allow the doctor to be able to perform more extensive exams given he or she is able to see the patient in full.

I know this post is in the gynecology board, but I think this holds true beyond this specific field of medicine. The balance has swung in the opposite direction from where it used to be where patient modesty/being covered really wasn’t considered. Now it’s a huge focus. I’m not advocating that we go back to the old days in real medical settings where it wasn’t a concern. But I do think there needs to be a balance. @Shygirl17 makes a good point. Things get missed when so much is done over clothes the way it is today.

@Shygirl17 I agree. If you're covered, the doctor may never notice the irregular mole on your back.

My wife had her first breast and vaginal examinations when she went on the pill in the mid 70's. There was no chaperone, just her and her male GP in the room. He asked her to take her knickers off and he did the internal examination upskirt, she was never naked at any point.

It was quite normal during my first examinations here. It changed slowly from 1990 onwards, when you only had to undress underneath. I could leave the top on until the breast exam. Then you were short naked with the top pulled up.

I've never used a gown but I only had to undress partially. Either top and bra off or pants and panties. I think being completely naked for the exam would be awkward.

Have always had a gown and lap drape and would accept nothing less

@HeartbeatLilly what if I said "please"?

@matt83

I'd say "no, thank you."

In a RL medical setting in the US a patient would NEVER be fully nude. In fact it would generally be considered a breach of medical ethics by the State licensing authority to be examining a fully nude patient.

I disagree with this. I've personally been fully nude for the majority of my exams with my primary care doctor (I don't see a separate obgyn). Of course, if I wanted to wear a gown, she would be fine with that. But I've been going to her for a long time. I think gowns are annoying, and she's perfectly content to not have it in the way.

I had an allergic reaction to a gown that was given to me and was not given another. I had to take it off in front of the doc and nurse, and just proceed without. There was a debate if there should be an additional person because of the exposure but they ended up going forward with just those two. The carefulness and extra courtesies were meant to make me more comfortable, but I feel like they had the opposite effect and made me even more aware that I was fully naked. The most embarrassing part was the “scooch” down to the edge of the table. I was given the standard white cover, but it didn’t provide a lot of modesty.

@Reman I had been learn more about 50. and didn't know about naked, mandatory checks ups but from some point of view I understand why. My last, retired gyno perform naked exams on me. We was alone. But from other hand I was happy that know that I am fine. We talk about my other health issues, hospital work etc. For people who didn't know- we have massive amount of women cancers..

Here in Italy it is normal to be naked at the gynecological visit; my wife has always done her gynecological examinations completely naked, I don't see what's strange! After all, every woman is aware that for the gynecological visit she will have to completely expose all her private parts and be observed and touched in a way that often doesn't happen even with her partner.... it's all "that visit" that creates shame, embarrassment , which implies "leaving out the door" all modesty .... being completely naked I don't think is the biggest problem.

I always accompany my wife when she goes to the gynecologist, so she always dresses in a skirt and a blouse. After an intake interview, the doctor asks her to free herself. In a changing room she takes off her bra from under her blouse but leaves the blouse completely open, she also takes off her skirt and panties. So everything is free, with her blouse only around her shoulders she is completely naked.