I can only imagine how uncomfortable an exam must be, so I would assume they would use lubrication to make it more bearable.

They use KY jelly like lubricant.

Does it make it leas uncomfortable?
How uncomfortable is it to get an examination?

I assume you are male, just wait until you get older and need prostate exams, then you'll have some idea of what's it's like to have a doctor sticking their fingers all up in there. It's not a direct comparison, of course, but close enough for the Internet.

Indeed I am male and not prepared for it haha.
But we must do what we must do.

Can confirm same with colonoscopy cameras. It's not exactly a relaxed or sensual moment - the lubricant makes it possible, but they're pushing in ready or not. You're definitely a little bit sore afterwards.

Depends on the woman. It doesn’t hurt me at all.

Yes they use a lubricant. Its not comfortable, its a doctors appointment and someone you don't know is sticking things inside of you. It is also normally not painful, if it is painful that is something to discuss with your doctor.

Start practicing now, and by the time the doctor does it, you'll be a pro. Might even look forward to it!

im knocked out for my colonoscopy. Either that or its so horrific I block all memories of it.

ill take it over. Now cough. They actually seemed to stop doing it so im guessing it was not really helping with anything but if your old enough and male you will know what im talking about.

It can be frigging cold, though.

I have been knocked out each time. No discomfort after so it must have gone smoothly each time.

Please do not make it weird for the doctor!

oh man I had the worst experience with it exsacerbating a hemmroid.

Once someone has their finger in someone else's ass, they've already made it weird.

Same here. Knocked out, no problems afterwards. As a bonus they checked my prostate while they were in there.

Not if it is clinical.

I love prostate exams I always get the biggest erection.

It's a blood antigen test now

Even bigger than the doctor’s?

I wanted to hear from the experiences from different people. How the hell is this question gross?

Drugs don't work on me anymore (genetic hyper metabolizer of most drugs). I just watch on the monitor. It's pretty interesting once you get over having a tube wiggled around your colon.

I have had 15-20 over the past 15 years. The worst part is the prep. 🤮

yeah my bad experience im not sure how much was effects of the prep vs probe. I do know the doctor did not mention anything and when I called back in pain it was very no challant no big deal with the response. I sorta have a negative view of gastros now.

Looks like loads of the replies have been put under too!

I took a peek at your profile and a few of the others just to confirm - I suspect the difference is down to countries.

I'm from the UK. Broadly speaking, the NHS won't risk using general anaesthetic if it's not needed. My appointment was just an out-patient affair. On the table, on your side, bum out, think happy thoughts... The whole thing took probably thirty minutes at most.

The best part of being awake is that you can ask questions. I could see the screen and the doctor pointed out what he was looking for when he found it (and to answer the obvious follow up question, it was just a weird blood vessel thing).

not for me, I'm in America, I can't afford a doctor.

if I have problem in there, grindr will inspect it for free

that applies to every question. making this site useless

I could see that being useful and I recall seeing that on king of the hill so maybe its more common in texas. Here its like. oh yeah and we snipped a whole bunch of things out. They are not that concerning but better safe than sorry lol. I can't imagine them snipping if you are awake though. I mean that has got to hurt.

Is that something you could've sought damages for?

I mean everything technically is but realistically no.

So sorry to hear that. Probably same in my location.

It's not gross, just inquisitive. Kinda nice to have people be curious about what things are like for others that are different from themselves.

And to answer it: yes they use lube. It's more cold and uncomfortable than painful.

Thanks, it was really a curiosity about something I'll never experience. I also thought I'd ask, because I think there is still too much taboo around female heath topics.

I think its impossible to get away from the uncomfortability of it, but happy to hear from several people already that it is not painful.

If you are tense and emotionally uncomfortable and/or the doctor is rough or rushed or just uncaring = it can be a bad experience.

Generally speaking the speculum is not comfortable but not painful. It is there so they can use a swab to get a sample from the woman’s cervix to check for abnormal/cancer cells. Some women don’t even feel the swab and others find it painful - most feel it but don’t find it particularly painful. If they do find problematic cells they cut a little bit off the cervix for testing.

I have always had nice doctors - when I was younger I felt a little weirded out - but never uncomfortable or in any pain. Until I had a cervical biopsy- which did hurt and left me cramping for a bit. But it hurt at around the level it hurts to get stuck with a needle when you give blood. Yes, it hurt - but not severe.

It’s just much much more scary to hurt in a sensitive area then it is to hurt on, say, your arm.

Thank you for the detailed answer. It's really insightful.

Considering all the issues women gave in the medical field (like doctors often downplaying symptoms and complaints), I wonder what percentage of doctors are rough.

Yes, they do.

Edit: also a lot of people seem to be weighing in about whether or not it's painful. Every vagina is different. It was quite painful for me despite them using the smallest speculum. I think it probably does have to do with whether or not you receive vaginal penetration regularly, cause a lot of my lesbian friends report the same issue.

Fun fact: piercers also often use lubricant

I always heard the cold was bad. Also I always heard a obgyn with "sausage fingers" didn't help either.

Just a side note: I am not the proud owner of a vagina. Although I have been in the room ladies are getting checked up on in.

The thing that's always fucked me up is speculums. Those things look sort of frightening. Duck bill ass torture devices or something.

🧐

If you think stuff up your butt is an analogy to stuff up your vagina. Oh man, I hope you never have to have a cystoscopy. Bro I have had a doctor stick a camera in my dick hole like at least six times now and like the first five they didn't give me anything for it. Eventually dude decided to give me 5 mg Valiums so I could take one an hour before the procedure because he was tired of hearing me complain I think. But yeah I can only imagine OBGYN stuff.

Some nice places have heated stand for tools.

I used to work in a pharmacy, and one of the techs I worked with would always joke, to be fair, she was a real good tech, but she would say "hope everything comes out okay!" As they walked away with their giant jug of prep.

She was a queen

You main acount had a tempban. That just got escalated to a permanent ban. Nice.

They do use lubrication. It's very cold. The procedure isn't comfortable at all but it's also usually not painful (not true for all women and not true all the time for most women, the muscles sometimes have a mind of their own). Most doctors are trained to be mindful of their patients' needs but occasionally you get someone who clearly doesn't get it. One time I was in pain and was told flatly that that's impossible. So it's always scary and stressful going in, because you just never know.

I also find that they always use like three times as much lubrication as is needed, so when it's all over you can continue to feel cold and uncomfortable and wet with it all slowly oozing out as you walk out of the clinic.

Yes. It doesn't help as much as you'd think.

Those are going the way of the dodo, in favor of other forms of testing for antigens.

There's really only minor benefit to palpation to begin with, as there's other methods to use as a general indicator of prostate health overall. Don't get me wrong, when it was really the only option that was realistic it was absolutely necessary. It's just that times have changed.

There are still niche cases where it can be useful, but the antigen testing goes back forty-ish years of easy availability. Back in the eighties, doctors were more used to palpation, and it made a certain amount of sense you keep doing them, but it wasn't necessaryafter the test was proven a reliable early detection method. Superior to palpation, btw.

And it's not like palpation was/is a significant determinant of outcomes. That comes down to treatment options and the test's timing more than it contributing directly to improved outcomes. Most prostate cancer is slow to progress, usually comes later in life, and isn't difficult to treat compared to other cancers. Mind you, fifty years ago, there were not as many options for treatment.

But now? Docs just don't do it as part of an annual exam. Even urologists don't do them unless there's a clear benefit for a specific case, which is passingly rare.

The last appointment I had, they used disposable plastic. I'm kind of glad it wasn't heated.

They do, it's still excruciating, but I have problems there and it's unrelated to the exam that's making it painful. Most gynos are understanding. Some have been...really shitty about it though.