What’s your experience with the pinworm test?

I grew up in Asian and in 1st snd 4th grade we have mandatory pinworm sticker to bring home to complete. It was quite embarrassing because at the time I wished nothing to be near there by an adult. I also remember wishing to do it to my classmate (sadly it didn’t not happen nor did I know how to make it happen). What’s your experience with the pinworm test?

I don't recall ever having a pinworm test growing up but it was just assumed that all kids got pinworms over the winter from their classmates in school so every spring during the Easter holidays my cousins and I were given a "Spring Cleaning" that involved being made to eat prunes stewed in senna followed by a large dose of Castor Oil at bedtime and a soapsuds enema the next morning to empty out our bowels. We weren't allowed to eat anything that day, only water to drink, and 3 times through the day we were given a dose of bitter tasting worm medicine washed down with a small glass of senna tea that kept our bowels moving repeatedly through the day usually just passing yellowish liquid, sometimes with threadlike worms in it. An hour before bedtime we were given a dose of Epsom Salts that had us on the toilet within an hour. Then the following morning we were given a soapsuds enema with a teaspoonful of turpentine added that was supposed to paralyze any worms still attached to the lining of our bowels and flush them out of us. What came out of us usually had threadlike worms in it. As an adult I usually just take itching around my anus as a sign I might have worms and take a dose of Pamovin Tablets in the morning and a laxative at bedtime to clear out my bowels the next morning and I sometimes notice dead threadlike worms in my runny bowel movement.

Had to have it a couple of time when I was a kid in wrestling, I suppose after some other kid got them. I remember all the mats having to be steam cleaned. But one of the times, I don't recall an incident, so maybe it was just preventative because of earlier episodes. They did it with scotch tape, pressing around on the rim of my anus and then I think the tape went on a slide.

I've never had this happen to me.

I did have pinworms from time to time but don't remember ever been tested for it with tape, let alone by a medical professional.

I’ve never had this test.

My biggest dread about going to the pediatrician for a "check-up" as a teen was the inevitable pinworm test that so often accompanied each visit. (Don't ask me why the doctor always did this!) I agonized for days before an appointment and worried especially that my mom or a female nurse was going to be in the exam room to watch me on my stomach having my butt "taped" to check for worms. By the time I turned fourteen, I was under the delusion that I would no longer be subjected to routine tape testing, however when I got into the exam room for my 14 year check-up my eyes went immediately to a microscope slide with my name on the label and a strip of Scotch tape curled up on top – positioned on the Mayo stand next to the exam table. Thankfully, the doctor asked my mom to wait outside and closed the door – and there was no nurse in the room when he undressed me and stretched me out prone on the table. While he was applying the tape he kept telling me to "relax and think about baseball" – because I guess I was squirming around at the noise of the tape and the embarrassing feeling of being exposed like that.

I stayed with the same pediatrician throughout mid adolescence and got my last pinworm test when I had just turned 16. I hated it every time. Those experiences left a lasting impression and were fodder for many subsequent off-the-beaten-path fantasies. In retrospect, I think all of those tests were pointless and unnecessarily humiliating. But there we are.

@Doogster The doc doing a pinworm test during a visit does sound unnecessary or over the top. Testing for pinworm eggs should be done in the morning before washing IF there’s some indication. Later in the day or after showering wouldn’t be the tight time to check.

Did you grow up in an area where pinworms were a common problem?

I had pinworms when I was about 5 or 6 years old in the mid 50's. I was diagnosed because when I wiped my butt I could see the worms on the toilet tissue and I showed it to my mom. I think that she kept it in a bottle and showed the doctor and that was the diagnosis. I never had the "tape test" then, nor later. Everyone in the household had to take some vile tasting medicine and I had suppositories every night for 3 or 4 nights. It was my first memory of getting a suppository, and they turned my poop purple. My poor mom had to wash everyone's sheets and towels daily for a while.....and that was back in the day when the sheets were cotton and had to be ironed.