External exam

I completely agree that the external exam is the best part. When I look at exam images online, those are what I look for, but there never seem to be many. My favorite exam stories are ones that include a detailed description of the external exam - if I come across a story and the pelvic exam description merely consists of an abrupt insertion of the speculum, or the doctor immediately inserting his/her fingers into the vagina, I stop reading.

In real life, the only times I've had much of an external exam were: as a child at the pediatrician, where the genital examination was only external (frog leg position, gently spreading the outer labia); dermatologist skin check, where the folds of my vulva were inspected; and once when I had an ingrown hair that I thought might be a std, so I asked my gynecologist to look at it.

If I were to participate in a play exam, I would definitely ask that plenty of time be spent on a thorough external exam, where I'm positioned in a wide frog leg with the soles of my feet nearly touching. The doctor would start the pelvic by gently separating my outer labia for a nice long visual inspection of my vulva, then slowly palpating both inner and outer labia, carefully retracting the clitoral hood to inspect my clitoris...

I have very puffy outer lips that stay closed even when my legs are apart, so i find that having them spread open is the most embarrassing and thrilling thing. The doctor is exposing and inspecting everything in between them that was previously hidden - my most private parts, especially my clitoris. All I can do is lay there and stare at the ceiling, even though I'm crazy excited.

Sorry for rambling, but yes. External exams are the best part.

I agree as well - Internal can be sort of mechanical and occasionally painful if rushed. External is sort of intimate but I haven't really had that detailed of a viewing (yet 😃 ) so it is more the "thought of what might happen"

... typically just moving my lips around and when I had hair down there a quick separation of the hair to see the skin (presumably looking for spots / lesions etc.)

I've never had a really thorough external exam as part of a real gyno exam; my doc always just spreads my labia briefly before inserting the speculum. In a fantasy/play exam, a thorough external inspection is an absolute must. Feeling my lips being spread apart, the heat of the light between my legs, knowing they're not just touching but looking and carefully inspecting everything... it is the best part of the exam.

I came across this older thread and was intrigued by the enthusiasm for the external exam, yet the thread lost momentum relatively quickly. It also seems as though modern day gynecologists don't do much of an external exam, from the comments here, at least.

Is this true? Ladies, does your ob/gyn give you a thorough external exam?

As an aspiring play doc, the external exam is definitely one of the parts I'm looking forward to the most. After all, it's the external genitalia that varies so much between women. From the clamshell look where you can't see much of anything until you separate the labia, to the lovely labia minora that protrude outwards to resemble a lily, or a Georgia O'Keefe picture, there's just so much variability and so much to appreciate. Though, I suppose that's not a terribly professional/medical opinion, is it?

Still, I truly think that a doc (or play doc) who takes their time to do a thorough external exam would trigger a lot of those feelings of embarrassment and shyness – as @jill2doctor wrote, with the exam lamp exuding its warmth onto the scene, and the obvious visual attention being paid to a woman's most private places, how could it not?

-g

The external exam is the best part. The initial touch and spreading of the lips…

I think if I would have had a thorough external exam, I might have developed a medical fetish sooner. The first time I watched a pelvic exam video, I thought to myself that a doctor has never done that to me. I don't even remember a doctor palpating my bartholin and skene glands.

I wonder if the nurses or chaperones notice if certain doctors only thoroughly examine certain women.

The problem for "quality" real life external exams is likely now rooted, even in medicine, in the taboo to touch any perineum part in any but fast and simple way. While female respondents here might appreciated/crave/enjoy such, the external female exam is generally visual, looks behind the labia, but does not palpate them from anterior to posterior of the entire two sets, UNLESS there has been a specific complaint. Why? Because most serious lesions are external, not inside the labia… they are skin based. Women generally notice lumps and bumps, and point them out. (Bartholins, rare other sebaceous or follicle abscess.) So in one sense… it's the nature/biology of the exam that drives the exam. The returns from a complete labial and other than skin exam are small. Times change as evidence based medicine and frivolous lawsuits affect us all!!! Best.. B