Hip X-ray: Pants and Skivvies Down

One of the strange parts of my physical exam at age 17 occurred when the internal medicine doctor, for reasons that are still unknown to me, decided that I needed an X-ray of my hips.

It was a routine physical exam, and I had made no complaints about my hips, but for some reason it was felt necessary to X-ray them.

The doctor had an X-ray table in his office, and I was asked to lie down on it on my back. (I was fully clothed at this juncture.) When I stretched out on the X-ray table, the male medical assistant unbuckled my slacks and then pulled them and my underpants down to my knees before performing the X-ray.

To this day I have no idea why the procedure was done. I've always suspected that the assistant/x-ray tech just wanted to get a look at my body parts.

I agree that it seems strange to do hip x-rays when no apparent problem was reported. That said, it's even stranger that you were stripped from the waist down for it. I could see removing your pants, since you might have been wearing a belt with a buckle that might get in the way. But unless you were wearing lead lined boxers, I doubt your underwear would have posed a problem.

The doctor may have noticed something going on with your gait when you walk.. i agree that unless there was something wrong with your boxers/underwear, you shouldnt have been completely naked. I can see tho if your underwear had metal eyeloops in it (for a drawstring) they may choose to have you remove it, but you should have been given a sheet to protect your privacy.

That seems to be a very odd procedure, but it is also very intriguing...

I don't get why they took your underwear off? Or at least explained to you why they were doing it or what it was for. 17 or not, it should have been explained!

I agree with the others....it does seem very odd. I could understand your trousers / jeans being lowered if there were metallic parts on your belt....but your briefs/ boxer shorts (or whatever underwear you had on) would have no effect on the XRay. Maybe you were right about the asistant!!

This x-ray episode took place in the context of my first "adult physical exam." I remember it vividly ... especially the feeling of my bare butt against the chilly medical table. If the assistant was interested in the private facets of my body, he eventually got his eyeful during the actual examination, since they made me take off all my clothes and get naked. (Or at least that was how I interpreted the doctor's command to "take off your clothes.") I remember being cold during the exam – so much so that the doctor even commented on the fact that my nail beds seemed a bit purple, as he examined my hands. They gave me a sheet to cover up during part of the time, but it was moved around and finally removed for the inspection of my genitals. I felt shy and embarrassed by the whole procedure ... especially when I discovered the purpose of the "blue and white tube" laid out on the Mayo stand. (Think KY gel.) Without going into detail, that was another first for me!

I am still intrigued by the background / context of this examination. What was its purpose? You were 17...were you still at school? Doesn't sound like a school physical? So was it a potential employer where having a physical before comnencing work was mandatory? You are a similar age to me...so I tnink that it was fairly routine in that era for doctors to get their male patients to strip naked. Had you previously never been required to be naked, say, during school physical examinations? It is also not common for the doctor to have an assistant / orderly present throughout the exam. But..,the MOST bizarre thing is tbe hips X ray...that is plain weird. I had to have a chest X ray ( -see my post in UK medicals)..,but that was because I was training to be a teacher and it was a government requirement ( to rule out TB). The year was 1970 (I was 18 and butt naked for a lot of my exam). What year did your physical take place??

The purpose of this examination was a check-up because of persistent worries by my grandmother that I was "too skinny." I had been to a pediatrician a couple of years earlier – and subjected to an embarrassing examination where I had to be naked. I guess I thought that going to an "adult doctor" (i.e. internal medicine) would be different, but it was similar in many respects. My recollection is that this internal medicine exam took place around 1970. The doctor had his office in an old two-story building. Lab testing was done upstairs, and the actual exams took place in what appeared to have been the original living room area. This was the first time I had ever had my blood drawn from my arm, rather than just a finger stick, so there was anxiety associated with this new procedure. I also had an EKG done for the first time, in addition to the x-rays. Of course the rectal exam was absolutely new and unexpected. I was fully humiliated and ruminated over that for a long time afterwards.

A hip X-ray at that age was most likely done to check if you'd stopped growing . The only reason I know this is because a few weeks ago my daughter had one to check if she'd finished growing . She had a gown on with her underwear on underneath. She lay on the table on her back but had to frog her legs and put the soles of her feet together. Pictures were taken . We then went back to the orthopaedic Consultant . He looked at the x-rays and said that her growth plates had all joined nicely and it was highly unlikely that she would grow in height anymore. My daughter does have left sided hemiplegia ( cerebral palsy ) though .

Nik

Thanks Nik. Thanks Darth. It all makes sense now. I would guess that, as you had to be examined intimately and thoroughly, they figured that you may as well be naked during the Xray procedure too. Yes, I am sure that so many of us who have had naked and intimate physical exams have this 'fetish' / interest so many years later. Being examined etc when you are mostly clothed just isn't the same!!