I ask because growing up it happened almost every single year to the point where, whenever I went to the doctor, I would get severe anxiety. I got a physical once for nursing school and the APRN said my heart sounded like I was having severe anxiety, I was 20 something years old.
I understand that, generally, providers do this to check on people’s development, such as testicles dropping, hair, deformities, etc.
But then I hear people talking about how that was never their experience. Ever.
When I have kiddos, I want them to feel safe around the doctor. I want them to feel like they have autonomy over their own body, not the doctor just pulling your shit down and touching you while you are laying down.
TIA
Yeah, as part of a yearly exam for sure.
The “hold em and cough” test is for hernia, inguinal in specific. Those are possible without any specific external cause in childhood and teen years, and it isn’t something you can do yourself. You can refuse it though. Thing is, they’re better off being detected early. Should take no longer than two or three coughs.
Same goes for a testicular exam, but if you aren’t checking your own regularly, let the doc do it until you learn how to do it right. A proper testicular exam for abnormalities can take a bit longer, though only a few minutes at the outside by someone well practiced.
Otherwise, you’d only expect visual exams by most doctors.
Generally, if the young person has a penis and testicles, their primary doctor will do the exam, and that’s often a pediatrician even well into the teen tears. Young people with vaginas and vulvae may or may not have this equivalent exams done by a gynecologist, though it is more common once puberty hits afaik.