A couple of years ago I had a terrible back spasm. A muscle in my lower lumbar region seized up and bent me severely to the side… seriously, my shoulders were probably offset about 3 or 4 inches further to the left than usual.
Living alone at the time, I spent a day in bed swallowing ibuprofen. The next day I managed to drive to the nearest urget care / doc-in-a-box. They took me back to the exam room almost immediately. After asking me why I came in, a middle-aged nurse took my info, insurance card, and vitals. Then she informed me that the nurse practitioner on duty would be in shortly.
After a few minutes a rather heavy-set woman in her mid-to-late 50s came in and introduced herself. After asking a lot of questions she asked me to stand and remove my shirt. I did so with difficulty and she had me face away from her and stand up as straight as I could - which wasn't much. She then had me bend forward as far as I could (again, not much) and when I had difficulty straightening back up she stepped closer and helped by offering physical support. As I straightened up there was a corresponding sharp pain in my lower abdomen that shot down to my left testicle.
I explained what happened and she had me sit back down on the exam table and lay on my side - practically in the fetal position. She asked more questions about the shooting pains and explained that it was probably referred pain from a nerve impingement in my back, but that she would need to do an exam and probably send me to the hospital for imaging. But before the exam she'd have me apply an ice pack on my back for a while.
A few minutes later the nurse came in and handed me a gown and said that I needed to get completely undressed and put the gown on “opening in the back” (seriously- how many people would have to have put the gown on with the opening in the front for nurses to have to add that instruction?!?) Anyway, I started to sit up but didn't make it. It was obvious that getting undressed by myself was going to be impossible. The nurse quickly moved in and helped me to sit up on the edge of the exam table. She asked if I would need assistance getting undressed and I said yes.
The first thing she did was take off my shoes (slip ons - no socks - no way in the world I could have bent over to put socks on. Then she unfolded the gown and had me slide my arms in and stand up. She reached under the gown and undid my belt, unbuttoned my pants, and lowered my zipper. She slid my pants to my knees, lowering the gown at the same time. She had me sit back down on the edge of the table and slid my pants the rest of the way off and placed them on a chair in the corner where my shirt was.
At this time my back spasm still had me curled forward and slightly off to the side. She had me stand up again best I could while I continued to hold on to the exam table for support. She told me that she needed to remove my underwear as well. The gown came down to just above my knees and she lifted the sides of the bottom of the gown to reach the waist band of my underwear and slide them to my knees. There was no way I could step out of them so she had me sit on the edge of the exam table again and she lowered my underwear to my ankles and removed them, laying them on the chair with my pants.
She then came around back and tied my gown and helped me lay back down on the exam table. She got a pillow for my head and helped me roll on my side so she could position the ice pack. She then rolled me back and covered me with a blanket and left the room.
About 10-15 minutes the nurse and the nurse practitioner came back in the room. The nurse practitioner asked me how I was doing while the nurse removed the ice pack. Lying flat on my back she asked me to point to where I had felt the shooting pain. I indicated that it had started on the left side just below my belt line and progressed at an angle roughly in line with the edge of my pubic hair and ending just above and left of the base of my penis.
She asked if the pain was still present and I told her that while I could still feel it, it was more of a dull throb. She then asked me to confirm that the pain was present in my testicles as well. I told her that it was only my left testicle and that while it had been a sharp pain that it was now just a dull ache.
The nurse practitioner then lowered the blanket to my knees and palpated my abdomen along the area that I had traced (over my gown) and then did the same on the other side. She the told me that she was going to raise my gown and continue the exam. She raised my gown to about my navel exposing me from there to my knees - and proceeded to palpate both sides of my abdomen again from about my belt line to the base of my penis, making comments while the nurse took notes. She then told me that she was going to examine my testicles. She turned to the counter and put on a pair of gloves, came back and moved my penis aside and felt the spermatic cord on my left side down to my testicle and felt the epididymis before rolling the testicle between her fingers. She then repeated the same on the right side.
She then asked me to spread my legs a little bit - which I tried to do but couldn't because of the pain in my back, so the nurse assisted and spread my feet about 18 inches apart. The nurse practitioner then slid a finger into my inguinal canal on the left side and asked me to “bare down” with my abdominal muscles. She then did the same on the other side.
When she was done she lowered my gown while the nurse pulled my blanket back up. She confirmed that she believed that the shooting pain had been referred pain and nothing serious - but that she would write me a referral for a CT scan of my abdomen and an x-ray of my lower back. She prescribed a muscle relaxer and a dose-pack of steroids.
She asked if there was anyone to drive me home and I said no, so she said that they would alternate heat and ice on my back until I could move better. She assured me that they weren't busy and didn't need the room. So I stayed for a couple of hours with the nurse alternating ice packs and warm compresses.
When it came time to go, I was feeling better and had regained a great deal of mobility with my back. The nurse brought my clothes over to the exam table and asked if I'd need assistance getting dressed. I chuckled and told her that while I was feeling better, there was no way I'd be able to reach my feet. So after helping me up to sit on the edge of the exam table, she shook out my underwear and guided each foot through the appropriate leg hole and pulled them up to my knees. She then helped me to my feet and raised them to my waist. I sat back on the edge of the table and we repeated the process with my pants. She the helped me remove my gown while I fastened and zipped up. She then helped me get my short on and let me button up. Finally, she helped me slip my shoes on. By that time I had a friend show up to drive me home. The staff had assured me that my vehicle would be fine parked in their lot overnight.