Hearing things you shouldnt be while in the exam room

So on my last visit to my doctor i noticed how quiet the office was. I could hear the doctor and patient speaking in the next room, to the room I was sitin' in waiting for the doctor. The conversation with the male in the next room over was a real private conversation!!!

I was real surpised by how the office doesnt do things to conceal noise better. No small radio speaker playing light music in the hallway, and exam rooms! NOTHING!!

I think personally this is not an aceptable thing!!! I used to work for a mental health organization. In our department offices we had to have a small speaker installed in the ceiling that would put off a light static sound to help block any sounds from the room next door, since the therapy center was directly next door. I think more doctors offices need to be putting in similar systems to help protect our privacy!!

Have any of you noticed similar problems while at your doctors office???

The building that my doctor has is older and the walls between the exam rooms are not insulated. It makes it possible to hear sounds from one room to another. They are so muffled, though that it is difficult to make out words.

Speed

I was in a hospital emergency room once with my son. The beds were only separated by curtains. A lady was being seen in the next bed for back pain. I was listening, as I am sure many others were, as the Doctor asked her to roll over for a rectal exam.

I too have tapped into conversations next door between my ob/gyn and another patient. One conversation I heard, he told a lady that the results of her Group B Strep test were positive 😮.

Another occasion, when I had my first glucose test - drinking that yummy drink, the lady next door couldn't seem to stomach hers. 😶 I even heard her journey out the door and into the bathroom down the hall!

I can also hear when my doctor is about to walk in 😄, shuffling through my papers, haha!

I actually enjoy trying to hear what's going on in the room next to me. Not to necessarily listen in on their private conversation. No, I listen to try and figure out what the doctor is doing to them. That's especially interesting if you have an early morning appointment and they're doing a physical exam on the patient next to you. It's fun to listen and imagine what they're doing.

For example, you can usually hear the sound of the patient getting up on the table, or standing up. The table usually makes some kind of noise that is a clue for you. When I hear that my imagination usually runs while. I think of the patient getting up off of the table and standing before the doctor. I imagine that they're getting ready for a genital exam. Then when I hear two coughs come from the next room...my suspicions are confirmed.

I love overhearing conversations at medical facilities. As a young man, I visited the local ER many times. I remember one incident where a young woman in the "stall" next to mine was complaining of stomach pains. We were on gurneys and only a thin curtain separated us. I heard the young lady say she couldn't hold the thermometer in her mouth. They were the electronic type with the probes on the curly leash. The nurse was bothered and told her "turn over. Why do you have your gown on backward? The opening goes in the back." I heard the rustling of the paper sheets and drawers opening and shutting fast and hard. The RN was mad, but I heard her say" Pull your panties down and relax." I was so close I heard the gloppy noise of ky being squeezed out of a tube and the sharp intake of breath when the rectal probe was inserted. I was rock hard, as I had seen the women when I was brought back. She was in her late teens maybe twenty. She had long wavy hair with auburn highlights. Her face was pale with freckles and I remember a twinkle in her eyes when she saw me through the gap in the curtains. Noting was said for what seemed like forever. Then a "beep" broke the silence. I heard the nurse eject the probe cover and pull some tissue out of the box. She then surprised me by pulling the curtains back halfway. I could see the girl lying on her side facing me" bummer" and I could see her bare legs with the gown still on backward but twisted over her pubic area and the band of her underwear clinging to her hips. I watched her hand dart down and pull the back of her panties up and she quickly rolled on to her back. The nurse was no closing on me and asked sarcasticly "Can you hold a thermometer under your tongue?" loud enough for the girl to hear. I just shook my head affirmatively and the blue probe went under my tongue.

I think I was 14 and in for a physical. I heard the nurse ask a woman in the room next to me to remove all her clothing except her bra and put on the gown. I sat imagining her undress. Fortunately the doctor came in after my erection went down.

I have as well and may have indicated such somewhere else here. I heard most of the exam, paper crinkling, comments, etc. of one exam of a male patient I had seen in the exam room coming into my abutting exam room and, worst, the doctor's theories about what we should and should not eat repeated verbatim.

I was advised a TVU due to stomach pain in my recent illness about which I have already described in the stories section.

I was asked to empty my bladder and wait in the waiting area. But as soon as I was done my turn came and I was called in. I wanted mom to come for support but she wasn't allowed.

After my scan I was asked to wait for the report in the waiting area again. There was a boy waiting for his turn as well. After I came out the next patient in line was called in.

I could hear the radiologist giving instructions to her. " Raise your shirt " " Pull down your skirt a little" Then maybe the exam started so I could hear her saying " yeah it's paining here " " you have a gall stones " the radiologist said.

I then looked at the boy sitting next to me. He seemed lot younger than me. He was listening very carefully.

But before I could think of something else we got our report and left.

As we were leaving mom saw me looking at that boy. " Its ok " Mom had sensed the question in my mind.

I still asked " He must have heard everything "

" So what he is a patient too , and a total stranger " We didn't discuss this further as we reached our destination

A girl hearing about a girl's exam is also not right but is still acceptable because atleast the gender is same. But I couldn't digest the fact that me being asked to change, raising the gown to expose down there and the measurements of my lady parts is head by a stranger male.

As the first post says there should be some arrangement so that voice from the exam area doesn't come out else it affects the privacy of the patient.

Readers may find it weird but this is just my personal opinion.

I can understand your concern. Perhaps you should have informed your doctor about the situation. With HIPPA and the privacy issues that go along with it maybe your doctor would have valued your input. Speak up.

As @Cute26 is Indian, I'm assuming it took place in India.

Would love to be in a room next door to someone having a prostate massage and be able to hear what he was saying and being told. Maybe overhear a little moaning? I know...it is a fantasy, sigh.

So on my last visit to my doctor i noticed how quiet the office was. I could hear the doctor and patient speaking in the next room, to the room I was sitin' in waiting for the doctor. The conversation with the male in the next room over was a real private conversation!!!

I was real surpised by how the office doesnt do things to conceal noise better. No small radio speaker playing light music in the hallway, and exam rooms! NOTHING!!

I think personally this is not an aceptable thing!!! I used to work for a mental health organization. In our department offices we had to have a small speaker installed in the ceiling that would put off a light static sound to help block any sounds from the room next door, since the therapy center was directly next door. I think more doctors offices need to be putting in similar systems to help protect our privacy!!

Have any of you noticed similar problems while at your doctors office???

Ugh did I screw up my response. Apolowoligies (Clockwork Orange fans take note). Anyways. Perhaps you should have spoken to the doctor regarding the paper thin walls so he could have taken some sort of corrective action.

I had my yearly physical this morning and was in the exam room next to an elderly gentleman who was in for a follow up to some tests. I heard way more than I should have so I do agree that some sort of sound barrier needs to be put in place. Of course I'd never do anything with the information, but it was a little alarming that a private conversation was not that private.

I have experienced it both ways.

When in the waiting room I once saw an attractive girl go into the exam room leaving the door ajar so I could hear the nurse tell her to pull down panties and bend over for a shot. The thought of her getting it in her shapely bare bottom really excited me.

The reverse was when I went for an injection from a nurse whose cubicle was just screened off from the waiting room so everybody heard her tell me to drop trousers, pull down pants and bend over to get it. I felt humiliated at the thought that everybody could hear where I was being injected.

As @Cute26 is Indian, I'm assuming it took place in India.

Yes this happened in India

I remember visiting a relative in a hospital ward when the lady in the bed next to us was obviously having her lungs listened to as I could hear the doctor say that he was going to come behind her and for her to lean forward and breathe deeply through her mouth. I could hear the ladies breath as she exhaled. I assume she was topless for the exam as after he'd finished listening he said to the nurse to help her put her top back on.

I have experienced it both ways.

When in the waiting room I once saw an attractive girl go into the exam room leaving the door ajar so I could hear the nurse tell her to pull down panties and bend over for a shot. The thought of her getting it in her shapely bare bottom really excited me.

The reverse was when I went for an injection from a nurse whose cubicle was just screened off from the waiting room so everybody heard her tell me to drop trousers, pull down pants and bend over to get it. I felt humiliated at the thought that everybody could hear where I was being injected.

Your one and only thought is slowly dying of loneliness.

Many times at various doctors I have been able to hear into adjoining exam rooms. Most times I can hear conversations but can't understand every word, it's mostly muffled voices. Sometimes I'm able to piece together the general conversation, sometimes it's a complete mystery. Occasionally, usually at medical offices in older buildings with thinner walls, I am able to hear almost word for word everything being said in the next room or hallway.

When I am able to listen, it's not to gather any personal information or know a certain diagnosis. It's because I like mentally picturing the physical exam that might be taking place at that time. Curious how the patient might be dressed or undressed at any specific moment. I like hearing the instructions given and how the patient responds.

Of course, besides words and conversations, there are other telltale signs and noises that let you know exactly what is going on next door. The paper on the exam table crinkling, the foot extension or step sliding in or out of the table, stirrups snapping into position. But my favorite is the cough, pause, cough.

My PCP's office happens to be in an old office, so I can hear very clearly the conversations in the next room as well as the nurses station/ reception area that is just outside my doctor's exam room. Not only do I love listening to others, I kind of like the idea that I know others are listening to me. Sure, it's embarrassing, but I think that's what I like about it.

In the exam rooms at my general surgeon, they have two really small speakers in the ceilings that play nothing but static. It is really subtle, only noticable to me when it is quite in the exam room. I am able to hear that people are talking in the next room, but never can hear what is being said at all. The static does a great job of masking conversations and keeping your privacy.

I can hear voices in the next room while waiting at my GP's, but cannot make out what they are saying.

Years ago, when I was new to a city, I was at my new doctor's office. His setup was that there were two exam rooms, one on either side of his private office. When he was really busy, he'd use the private office, too. At one of my first appointments there, I was put in that office. While waiting, I could hear him chewing out a patient in one of the exam rooms. I could make out every word he was saying. I felt so bad for the patient and thought it was poor form. I ended up not staying with him, for other reasons (I suspected he had a financial interest in the pharmacy in the basement as he did not like patients going to any other pharmacy).

Some exam room walls are either paper thin or only have a drape covering the entrance as in some of the quick stop places. It's a funny feeling being able to hear what is taking place next to you. It's a mixed blessing of maybe leading to curious arousal to heightened nervousness as to what you will encounter when it becomes your turn. I guess it's the voyeur in all of us that makes it interesting; sights and sounds of what happens at the doctor's.

I have my colonoscopies done at an “assembly line type facility”. During my last one about five years ago, after the procedure, I was brought out to the recovery area which was nothing more than a medical bed with a thin curtain around it. There were beds on either side and across from me. When each patient became alert, the doctor would go over the results with them. There was an older lady next to me, just a couple feet away, who received some really bad news from the doctor that I really should not have heard. Honestly, I REALLY did not enjoy hearing any of it. I wonder if the medical profession might look at doing this in a better way.

Most doctor's exam rooms these days, as well as hospital ER rooms, are pretty well sound insulated. I once was in a doctor's office a few yeas ago with paper thin walls and could hear what was going on in the adjoining room. On the other hand, about 20 years ago I was in an ER where the cubicles were separated only by a curtain and the same was true at the time of the PACU units at the hospitals. The last procedure I had (this past summer) there was a bit more sound protection in the pre-op and PACU units...

Most of the time what one could hear was muffled or boring, but every once in a while, there might be something that would pique the interest of someone on Zity...

If you want, you try to hear what you want to hear about otters. Why?

I can hear voices through the walls but it's generally too muted to actually hear the conversation. Growing up though I could definitely hear screaming at the pediatrician's office when someone was getting a shot!

True story... it happened yesterday. I had to see my doctor to get a prescription, nothing serious, and I knew I wasn't going to get an exam. When I walked into the waiting room, there was this guy sitting there, probably in his 40's, a big burly guy. The doctor opened the door, and he walked in. Now, to walk to his office, you first have to walk through the exam room before you get there. So there's no way you could overhear what is being said there. On the other hand, the exam room being very close to the waiting room, sometimes, it may happen. But to be honest, I never really paid much attention, and it would be too muffled anyway. Or so I thought.

A few minutes later, I heard they were back in the exam room, and I distinctly heard the guy asking in a loud voice "on all fours?", and the doctor going "mhm" like he was nodding. I still wasn't sure what had just happened when I heard the sound you would make when you squeeze a tube of lubricant. That was VERY loud... and now it was pretty obvious what was going on. A few seconds went by, I heard the doctor say something again, and the sound of someone getting up. And a few minutes later, the guy came out of his office, no visible sign of embarrassment, acting like nothing happened. That was very unexpected...

My doctors surgery has a waiting room and when your name is called you walk through a doorway along a corridor to the doctors examination room, so no chance of a conversation being over heard. Whereas when I've visited medical centres where they do things like x-rays and ultrasound scans, you find the department you want and there are seats right outside the examination room. It is usually silent except for the voices on the other side of the door! On my recent visit for an ultrasound scrotum scan I turned up a couple of minutes before my appointment and could clearly hear the nurse telling a patient that the results would be with his doctor in a week and to give them a call etc.

When he came out and i went in there was nobody else waiting after me so the thought of people listening didn't even enter my mind. She performed the ultrasound scan and discussed the dimensions of my testicles the sperm tubes, scrotal pearls, etc, I even quizzed her about a bulging vein on my penis. When i left the room there was a man a woman sat together right outside the door, it was obvious they had been listening by the smirks on their faces, I left very quickly!

Yes I once went for a physical for a driving job and it was in an older building with weird vents and I could everything in the room next to me. I thought it wasn’t good but I wanted the job. A female nurse practitioner did the exam and during the genital exam thought she felt something on one of my testicles. So after a long feeling session she said she had to order a testicular ultrasound and asked if I could come back tomorrow? I said ok and she wrote on the paper that I needed that to be cleared. I gave it to the girl outside the room at the desk and she kept smiling so I knew she heard the entire exam as she asked if I could be there first thing in the morning for the testicular ultrasound?

As some others have posted, at my doctor's office you could hear muffled conversations from the next exam room. He did physicals in the mornings so you knew what the person in the other room was seeing him for. With that knowledge, I at times could piece together what was being said. Was fun to think of a what was happening in the next room knowing I would be next.

The ER here in town is really bad at that everybody can hear everybody next to them every time

I hear the gynecologist giving pointers about patient to the nurse, in the current clinic. Not all of it but yes I can hear when she is loud by mistake. For example I have heard comments on breasts symmetry or nipple discharge while waiting for my turn on certain appointments. I just can't control to imagine what the doctor is doing to the lady. But as I said, this doesn't happen every time.