Totally unnessessary breast exams

A few weeks ago I submitted a story about TUBEs {totally unnessessary breast exams} performed on my wife. I would be interested to hear of other peoples thoughts and experiences on this subect

This is not uncommon in the UK and few years ago Dr Phil Hammond ran a feature on it in his TV programme. Several women explained how they had visited their GP for various complaints and all had received an unexpected breast exam. I would also be interested to hear if any one here has been subject to this. A work colleague ( an attractive blonde) once told me that her doctor always asked to examine her breasts when ever she visited him using the pretence that breast cancer ran her family. This may have been genuine but she certainly did not seem to mind.

I have never had an unexpected breast exam. I have had some exams that seems to take quite a bit of time, though.

I have fantasized about a breast exam from a Doctor while I was for something completely different, but in real life, it has never happened to me.

Heather, West Coast USA

I have never had an unexpected breast exam, I just assume that every time I go to the doctor I am going to get one. It does not bother me to get a breast exam, and the more thorough the better. I would rather the doctor spend more time examining my breasts, than having to find a lump he missed because he wasn't thorough.

My primary doctor never does a breast exam nor would I expect him to as that's saved for my ob-gyn. Everything seems to be specialized in our area. However a girl friend of mine was admitted to a teaching medical center after breaking her nose. While she was recuperating from her nose surgery several residents visited to check her condition and she received several breast exams (yeah she is quite an attractive strawberry blonde with 34 D breasts). She didn't mind at all.

Well, OB-GYNS and GPs can allways perform a breast exam on a woman by simply routine or even to instruct her about self-exams. I can see only a possibility of an unnecessary breast exam if it's carried on a woman that just told the doctor she had one last week from her gyn (and that did already happen to many women I'm sure). Some years ago a friend of mine went to see a cardiologist and got a breast exam after the normal heart exam, but then she was complaining of chest pain and he could find nothing wrong with her heart or lungs...

If the doctor is going to listen to a woman's heart, he/she might as well go ahead and do a breast exam since the breasts really need to be exposed to get a good listen all around a woman's heart. Never understood why breast exams should be left totally up to OB/GYN's--a primary doctor doesn't send a woman to a cardiologist just to get her heart listened to.

I totally agree with you steth, breast exams are not exclusively for OB-GYN doctors, GPs can and must do it in annual check ups or other occasions. So can another doctors such as cardiologists but specialists tend to look exclusively for their specific questions. My female friend went to the cardiologist by her GP advice because she was complaining of chest pain and he wanted to know a second specialized opinion about a heart murmur he thou gt he could notice (he had ask for an ECG which was normal). The cardiologist did on her a thorough heart/lung exam and then the breast exam...

Here in Canada, people don't go to a gynecologist for routine care. We get our BCP prescriptions, annual checkups, PAPs etc from our GP. I have never had an unexpected breast exam, in fact have had very few of them and with my current doctor have only had one physical in about 8 years of being her patient.

This is not my story. I got it from another site. It's one of my favorite stories, though:

When I was 17 I had only got to second base with my girlfriend at the time.

She was 17 and I was the first guy who had ever seen and played with her luscious and perfect 35C breasts, with perfect, large aureole. They were a light brown, and not a pink, and their contrast with her light skin was wonderful. Much to her horror, she once wore a white swimsuit, and they definitely showed through, and because I was the only one in her backyard we were able to laugh at the situation and be turned on by it.

It was also the first time I admitted to a girlfriend that I was excited over her being embarrassed by her own nudity. This was because a year earlier, when she was 16, and before I had met her, she was fully exposed for the first time in her life to a guy. The fact he was a doctor didn’t matter to her, as she had a deep fear of being seen nude.

When she was 16 she got a chest cold, and was taken to the hospital, and told to completely disrobe, and given (this seems strange, but I had heard of it) something like a thin, unfitted white sheet to wrap around herself.

The doctor, was about 33, she guessed, and she never met before. He did the usual preliminary stuff, and used a stethoscope, and didn’t remove her “sheet” from her, which she had wrapped around her body. Or course she was nervous over being exposed, and worried every moment that the exam would involve her breasts being uncovered.

Eventually, that was exactly what happened, and she was told to lower her arms, and the doctor pulled down the sheet (I’ll call it that, unless someone has a better term for it), and he became the first male since she developed to see her naked, 16 year old C cup breasts in all of their glory.

And it get worse. (Or better, depending on your point of view.) She was told to get off of the exam table where she had been sitting, and stand, and turn around. With an air of, “I’m a doctor and this doesn’t mean anything to me”, he had her do deep breathing while he had the stethoscope to her back.

Taking hold of her arms, one at a time, he lifted them above her head, the sheet slipping into uselessness with each repositioning. Finally, she was told to lower her arms and, while standing, the sheet fell to her feet and he continued to examine her breasts, while she was completely nude. He even lifted her breasts with ungloved hands, though he never touched her nipples, which were hard and pointed due to the cold.

All of it seemed for nothing, because she was given general over the counter medicine, and not anything special. This was in the mid 80s, and soon afterward, gloves for every literal procedure became the norm, as did AMA articles relating to how doctors were not to expose anymore of a patient’s body than necessary. But I did live through a time when the attitude was, “You’re at the doctor’s, there is nothing “sexual” about you at this time.” Other stories lead me to believe it was far “worse” in the 50s and 60s.

As my girl told me this story I asked her for details. The conversation began with my asking her if I was the only guy who had ever seen her breasts. She understood my getting excited over it, but assured me she was deeply embarrassed over the experience.

My wife once went to see a specialist who decided to listen to her chest and had to lift each breast to get his stethascope in!

This happened to my wife last night.I had taken her to the ER she had a choked on a piece of turkey and could not get it to dislodge completly from her throat.We got to the ER the Nurse took us back took her Vitals.She the gave her a gown told her to remove her shirt and Bra.She waited for the nurse to leave.The Nurse told her she needed to preform a Breast exam on her.My wife did as she was told and undress the whole time the Nurse watched her remove her shirt & Bra.The Nurse did her Breast exam.She asked the Nurse why and was told the doctor had requested this to be done prior to the Xray.During the Breast exam the Nursed asked when her last Breast exam was done and if she did self exam's and how often.Then doctor came in told my my wife how she was gong to remove the piece of meat from her throat.The Doctor never did perform a breast exam on her or mentioned any thing of it.My wife thought this was a little odd for the fact she(Nurse) waited and watched her undressed.She never once complained of any chest pain or discomfort.She said it was unusual getting a such a exam in ER and being done by a Nurse.

We always tease a female friend of ours when ever she says that she has a doctor appointment.

When she was in her 30's she went to the doctor for an earache and he talked her into letting him give her a breast exam.

Not all male doctors are like that, I can assure you!

And if you think that there are no female doctors that take advantage of their patients, you are sadly mistaken.

LadyDoc

My wife tells me that she gets a breast exam almost every time she goes to see our family doctor. He has her strip to the waist and put on a gown. The gown only stays on for a minute or so before he has her slip it off to check her lungs and heart. Since she has good size boobs, he takes several minutes to examine each one. I was in the room with her one day and after he and I made eye contact and I smiled, he took 5 minutes to examine each boob. It was very exciting to watch him examine her. Was it necessary? Probably not but at least he and I enjoyed it. My wife likes her boobs fondled so she didn't complain.

I think its a common practice. many females expecially pretty ones have all experienced them

My ex-gf told me a story about her 14/15 year old daughter.

She had to get a physical to be cleared to play lax, and the doc, who is in his 60's had her take her shirt off for a breast exam.

Needless to say, Mom and Daughter were both embarressed!

One of my friends, who had a nice rack, told me that when she went to her Doctor, he asked if his partner could give her a breast exam too. She agreed since she was quite proud of her "twins," as she called them, and had a friendly relationship with her MD's.

Hi, i've had occasions in the past where i suspect i've been on the receiving end of a TUBE.

My wife has had her breast examined 3 times in her life and all were part of the only 3 times she's been to the gyno for real. However, I do fantasize about having a patient in for a sore throat and saying "according to our file, you haven't had a breast exam in a while. I'd like to perform one today". Like another post on this subject said a lump can become detectable at any time so even if the Gyno had given a breast exam 3 months ago, why shouldn't the GP seeing you for something else suggest performing one again with a different technique perhaps.

I get a breast exam every time I go to the doctor's office. I am in my panties or totally nude with a gown. The gown is dropped and the breast exam starts. Most of the time, the gown is set on the counter and I stay totally exposed for the rest of the exam. My breast exam takes about 5 minutes sometimes longer. I guess that is what happens when you have 34DDDs.

Remember: The regular breast exam is absolutely necessary for the income of the docotor.

Remember: The regular breast exam is absolutely necessary for the income of the docotor.

@Ricini I do not know how your country's health care works but in my country we do not have breast exams for doctors' income. When you get older you get a bit more regular checking and mammograms but it is important you do self-exams and know your own body. My husband examines my breasts actually and he is the best person to do it. He would not miss a lump if it was there.

Amethyst

Here in Germany the regular breast exam is essential for the income of all the doctors having the apparatuses for the mammography. In the case that you will not come regularly you will be remembered by an urgent letter from the doctors' office this even in the case that the woman will no more have any breast that could be examined by the mammography because of an ablatio mammae due to breast cancer on both sides.

While he had an acronym for it, the OP never defined a totally unnecessary breast exam. I guess to some people, any exam that doesn't find a lump is totally unnecessary. I've known several women who have had breast cancer, some even twice. I think every one of them would tell you they'd rather have a hundred exams that didn't find anything then one exam that does. And they are very thankful for that one that found something in time.

The concept of a Totally Unnecessary Breast Exam ( TUBE) was made famous by Dr. Philip Hammond who is a British physician, comedian and commentator on health issues in the United Kingdom a few years ago , with reference to medical students performing breast exams to gain experience and not specifically related to the presenting symptoms or condition.

@Quincy its not that

I guess to some people, any exam that doesn't find a lump is totally unnecessary. I've known several women who have had breast cancer, some even twice. I think every one of them would tell you they'd rather have a hundred exams that didn't find anything then one exam that does. And they are very thankful for that one that found something in time.

that can be justified because of their differential diagnosis and frequent breast exam would be advisable. I have a colleague that had " lumpy breast" . Fibrocystic breast disease (FBD) is now referred to as fibrocystic changes or fibrocystic breast condition, is the most common cause of "lumpy breasts" and affects more than 60% of women. The condition is very common and benign, meaning that fibrocystic breasts are not malignant (cancerous). that required her to have 6 monthly breast exams and mammograms , it was during one of these that a malignant lump was detected and she opted for a double mastectomy with reconstruction.

With regards to TUBEs these exams are performed without any medical justification.

The following extract posted by a medical student:

One answer came from a brave medic writing in a student journal.

"A 19-year-old woman was admitted to hospital for cystoscopy to investigate the possible causes of a series of urinary tract infections. I immediately noticed that she was very attractive. I began clerking but got nowhere, as I found myself staring into a pair of inviting blue eyes. The patient appeared to have developed an affection for me. As I plugged away with totally inane questions, I realised how devious I could be. I ran through a list of differential diagnoses trying to find one that would require me to examine her ample breasts that were being shoved towards me ..."

To his credit, the student bolted before following through with the exam .

But this is more in keeping with the concept of having a TUBE performed .

I'm not a lady, but wanted to add a comment regarding an experience that I once witnessed.

My girlfriend at the time was 19 or 20, back home from college, and having stomach issues. Her mom made her an appointment with a gastroenterologist. I went with her to the appointment. The doctor came into the exam room and after a brief interview he asked her to unfasten her jeans and pull them down below her hips. He did a quick abdominal exam as she lay there with her pretty little polka-dot panties showing. After he was done he told her he needed to do a complete physical. He wound up doing a FULL physical, including a breast and pelvic exam. When he was finished with the pelvic he did a rectal exam with her still in the stirrups. When he was done he told her she could sit up. He then folded up the stirrups, slid them under the table and then asked her to turn around and put her elbows flat on the table. He snapped on a new glove and had her spread her feet apart. He then lifted the bottom part of her gown up and folded it up onto her back and did a second rectal exam with her in the standing position. It was quite a sight! It was the ONLY time I have ever witnessed a woman receive two rectal exams and it was the only time I have seen a woman receive a rectal exam from behind while she was in the standing position. It doesn't sound like this is very common, but then again, I never really thought the guy was on the up and up... After all, what legitimate doctor gives a girl a breast exam when she comes in for stomach problems?

I have to say that I feel breast exams are important parts of a thorough physical and of course a gynecological exam. Now on this particular subject of TUBE. If a woman goes to the doctor for a stomach problem, joint issue, ear ache, etc then in that situation a breast exam is not warranted. A woman should say to the doctor "No, I do not need a breast exam." It is your body and you are in the drivers seat.

I think that one needs to be careful in this regard so as to avoid unnecessary procedures and creating an impression that breasts are being routinely evaluated no matter the reason for the visit. ! For me, a physical or gyn exam shall include a breast exam but I don't receive one if going in for a cold or congestion! My bra remains on and its a relatively quick visit.