Annual digital rectal exam

Not sure if this has already been discussed but who gets an annual digital rectal exam every year?

I get an annual PSA blood test because of previous prostate problems & rarely get a DRE, but did get one a few weeks ago due to an episode of prostatitis.

I saw a female GP doctor who I had not consulted with before and she was really thorough, urine test & cultures, BP, weight, temperature, full genital exam retracting foreskin, testicles and then a DRE, she prescribed a 4 week course of antibiotics. Really didn't expect such an exam, the surprise & embarrassment made my penis shrivel up.

@rapide040 I get the psa blood test and the rectal, I get the rectal because of my issues with urination and a tiny potential of kidney stones, hopefully I never get kidney stones

The doctor I have been seeing now once I turned fifty has been doing a DRE every year for my annual. And a PSA test every third year.

I get one from my urologist to monitor bph. The appointment lasts 5 minutes start to finish.

Not any more. Used to have one yearly. The DRE has largely been discontinued in favor of PSA testing.

@rapide040 I'll be seeing a female np for my urologist appointment in July, looking forward to it cause she will have smaller fingers lol

I did not get a genital exam last time but I'm thinking I probably will this time cause I did get a cystoscopy this past summer. I'm going to request one regardless anyways. Figure since I'm getting my back end looked at I might as well get the front end checked as well

Yes, I do a PSA in advance of my yearly check up with my urologist. He performs a DRE during my exam.

@aniceguy ah yes I do my psa bloodwork before I get a rectal as well

@Tingue77 I had patient once who admitted to me that he'd gone to a female doctor hoping for an exam with smaller fingers. He told me "never again." By the time she was done he was expecting her to pop out of his mouth. Smaller fingers, it seems aren't long enough to examine everything without going a "bit" deeper.

Me! 63 year old male here that has had a yearly physical exam for at least the past 25 years. All of my examinations have included a DRE. Bloodwork, urinalysis, and an electrocardiogram have been included as well. I would estimate that 85% of my rectal exams have been conducted with me completely naked and bent over the exam table.

DocH2O ah good point. I honestly don't mind the doctor having to go a bit deeper as long as it doesn't hurt but I get what you're saying

Yes, I've had a digital rectal exam every year since age 38, and the occasional one at doctor's visits back to age 22. No physical would be complete without one, imho.

@Bobbee would that be at your urologist or primary doctor?

Every year at my annual physical exam I get a rectal exam. This has been happening for the past six years.

Every year for the past forty years.

Annually at my physical with my gp. except for 2020 when the c-19 epidemic shut everything down.

@Tingue77 That's at my primary care physician.

Wow! I'm not sure what to think! I am currently 52 years old, and had to have a prostatic urethral lift done back in July because of BPH. The only digital rectal exam that I have ever had was the one that I had when I went to the hospital for appendicitis at the age of 25. Neither my GP of the last 7 years nor any of the urologists that I have been going to for the last 2 years have even suggested doing a DRE. They just insist on the PSA, even though there is a high occurrence of prostate cancer in my family.

@Bobbee ah lucky, my pcp won't even look at me down there lol

@timberwolf421 yep I get a rectal at every annual appointment at my urologist

@Tingue77 I think that I would have been more comfortable having a rectal exam done, rather than the two flexible cystoscopies and the rigid cystoscopy that I have had in the last year.

My first DRE was at age 28. It was on sports physical form that my trainer at the time wanted done, and my doctor didn't skip a thing!! Even at the age of 28. I had another DRE at age 35, I was having some back pain, but the doctor wanted to make sure it wasnt the prostate, due to the area of the pain. I turned 40 this year. Last year I didn't have a DRE with my new doctor. But I am not sure what this years yearly exam will bring. But I will let him do what he thinks is best.

@timberwolf421 Wow! You were diagnosed with a condition affecting your prostate, went to a specialist for it, and had surgery to correct it all without having a simple, cheap, in office 10 second exam of it even once... ??? I'm not sure if I'd go back to that doctor. Did they diagnose bph just from PSA test? Did they at least do some other imaging?

@timberwolf421 I have to agree with @BenDover here. If you were diagnosed and went through surgery for Prostate problems without receiving a DRE, I think they fell below the standards of care.

The first 2 urologists that I saw were in the same practice. Both diagnosed me with prostatitis and, after my first flexible cystoscopy, diagnosed me with BPH as well. They did diagnose me solely on the PSA and urinalysis results and the cystoscopy. After going back and forth with them for just over a year (because they wanted to watch and wait) and things getting worse, I went to the third urologist in a different practice. He looked over their notes and said that he was pretty sure that he knew what the problem was and ordered a simple ultrasound of the prostate (viewing it through the bladder). He then did another flexible cystoscopy on me and explained his findings then and there. The medications that the other two had put me on were wearing off later in the day and my symptoms were returning. I couldn't take a higher dose, so we got the insurance company's approval to do a prostatic urethral lift. Four implants later, I am having a much easier time urinating. Because of how bad my prostate was restricting my urethra, I now have an enlarged bladder and some pretty bad loss of sensation in my bladder, all because the first two wanted to watch and wait for over a year. The urologist that I am currently going to basically had to hurry things to keep my problems from getting worse. I was told by the current urologist to expect the DRE at my 6 month follow up after the urethral lift. To think of how much time and money would have been saved, if the first two doctors had only done an ultrasound or a DRE at the start is actually sickening.

@timberwolf421 I bet they would have had a more definitive answer if they would have done a rectal on you. That's crazy that they wouldn't do that I know that the dre is used less nowadays but i think it should still be used no matter what. I get the psa blood test and the rectal when I go. My urologist is very thorough.

Yep, every year and I should have chosen a female urologist because the guy I go to is not very gentle with his insertion!

@ToyPlayer I will be seeing a female urologist next year, I'm really looking forward to it.