Gynecologist's Non-Dominant Hand - Ungloved or Gloved?

Hello everyone,

I've come across some older training videos where gynecologists leave their non-dominant hand ungloved when it comes into contact with the inner thigh or external areas like the pubis mons. In some rare cases, I've even seen videos where the dominant hand was ungloved while manipulating the labia majora during speculum insertion.

I'm curious if any of you have experienced this during your visits to the gynecologist, and if so, is this a common practice? Additionally, how do you feel when the gynecologist presses down on your lower abdomen or pubis mons area with their ungloved hand, experiencing the human touch as opposed to the touch of a gloved hand?

I would also like to ask how you feel about having skin-to-skin touch near your intimate areas during a gynecological exam. Does it feel different to you, and if so, in what way?

Thank you for sharing your experiences!

Screenshots from Real Training Videos with Ungloved Dominant Hand and Contact

https://imgur.com/a/ZrBQWoG

A loooooong time ago I recall this. Like maybe early 80’s. Certainly not in the post HIV world.

I found this video from a Japanese gynecologist explaining how she performs pelvic exams, and she says she only gloves one hand. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yGmferqbEM

This is how naive I was! When I first read of a doctor wearing a latex glove while examining a woman, I thought it had something to do with modesty or propriety. Somehow, if there wasn’t skin-to-skin contact, it was less intimate or personal.

I think that we must distinguish several stages during the classic gynecological consultation.

In a 1st time, the examination of the chest and the palpation of the breasts. This is done on healthy skin so directly without gloves.

The next part which concerns the external vulvar examination, the insertion of the speculum and the smear. Here I recommend that each hand be gloved, if possible with thin latex-free gloves to avoid allergies.

Finally for the vaginal examination, I use a finger cot that covers 2 fingers with a "skirt" to protect the hand concerned, the other hand which only serves to mobilize the organs through the skin of the abdominal wall can stay naked. For the final stage of recto-vaginal touch, we obviously change the finger cot.

With regard to @ Nurse Phillips' remark, I consider that the HIV risk is not proven when one is in contact only with a cutaneous surface without effraction.