OBGYN explains difference in pelvic exams!

[Grandmagravy]

You approach me with that big one and we are gonna fight lol

[Kaails]

The way she just casually kept grabbing LARGER torture devices 😮

[Yuallsomad]

This made me cross my legs STRAIGHT away😂😂😂

[Feman]

WHAT?! I haven’t gone back because the last time I got that check up, I said it was ok for a training doctor to do mine (main doctor was right there with her). She started shoving it in me, I started crying it hurt so bad. The main doctor asked if she had used lube. She forgot. I was hysterically crying (mind you I was no virgin). The main doctor turned to me and said if I could get myself together we could continue, otherwise I would need to make another appointment. I sucked it up and never felt more violated and invalidated. I secretly loathed them ever since. I live in a different town, but won’t go back to get a pap. HELL to the NO. That was up there in my worst experiences ever.

[SweetNightmares_]

“Oh they have to get smaller”
*keeps showing them getting larger*

“SMALLER RIGHT?!”

[weesh]

At my last check up with new gynecologist she told me she would use the small plastic one for me and it hurt way less than usual! I was happy but so confused and hurt that they’d be hurting me for so many years when it wasn’t necessary!

[colettelee-k]

THANK YOU, I was trying to explain this to some male friends and they kept insisting it didn't matter because the vagina stretches. It does, but that doesn't mean they aren't different sizes/ depths to begin with, which matters a lot! It took me longer than necessary to realize this because it's not often discussed, especially in contrast to male genitalia.

[johexxkitten]

I needed a womb biopsy & the dr doing it was a man. He tore my vagina and then rolled his effing eyes at me cos i cried. I bled like crazy and i ended up staying overnight after an outpatient procedure.

I filed a complaint, he said afterwards why didn't you tell me you had never had children.

I DID, i also knew there was a tilt because i need to raise my butt to help get pap smears.

The nurse with me actually said after he said that "she did tell you dr"

Also i found out later he could have used something for the pain, instead he just kept saying "almost done, almost done, almost done" like he was soothing a baby or repeating "calm down" patronisingly.

I now have to have extra care with pap smears because of scarring and anxiety. After this one Gynae i saw asked how long it was since i was SA'd... Apparently my bits resembled that of a R survivor.

I cant use tampons since then and i have vaginismus & anxiety.

What happened to him??? NOTHING, he was just to receive extra training & was "strongly advised" to learn that not every woman over 40 has had children, he just got snarky cos "all women over 40 have loose vaginas"

[ziddlius]

Somethings got to change. I literally avoid checkups because of these borderline torture devices including mammograms. There's got to be better ways OR actual pain management provided not just gaslighting that we will only feel "a little pinch" then come out bruised or bleeding.

[theblackbaron]

Holy shit that's not a speculum that's a friggin shoe bill bird's beak.

[lowtideflut]

I wish some OBGYNs would listen to patients when it comes to these things. I always start my appointment by telling how much pain the examination always causes and most of them reply with a variation of "Oh many people say that before but afterwards they're surprised by how painless it was!" And when I inevitably end up telling them how much pain I'm in, it's always "Just try to relax your muscles better / keep your butt to the exam table / take deep breaths" etc. instead of them doing anything differently.

[Sylaise]

I'm a virgin but ended up getting a pap smear for a full exam regarding a genetic health condition. I told the OBGYN, casually in coversation, that I was nervous because it was my first time and I mentioned besides tampons I've never had anything inserted and heard it was painful.

She immediately froze and switched out to a smaller size. She didn't even ask me before hand or look at my paperwork (mentioning that I had never been sexually active).

Even with the smallest size, I was a shaking sobbing wreck and had to tap out of it.

I really really don't know how people can power through that. If I get cancer, just put me down. I'm not going through that torture ever again.

[critical_awareness]

I had an obgyn tell me "vaginas are just really dirty places" she said with a disgusted look on her face, and yes, she OWNED her own. That was the last time i saw that obgyn.
They self cleanse, how do you not know this as a vagina specialist?

[weesh]

I just saw an ad for a company that is making a “painless” cervical cancer screening test, it’s shaped like a cylinder lmfao.
Who invented the speculum. Arrest him.

[TheTeslacoilz]

Surely we can redesign these items to be better for women

[TWBFBR]

I had a med student help with my exam and God bless her—not well trained on using the speculum or taking a Pap smear. She pinched the inside of my vag walls with the speculum and then was scraping away like she was taking paint off shingles 🤢 horrible experience. And then I had to get the pap done again because the first one didn’t take.

There is nothing on this earth I dread more than a gyno visit.

[madmaddy]

Have we seriously not found anything less invasive and uncomfortable? It’s been over 70 years and they are still the exact same. No wonder so many woman go their whole lives without seeing a gynecologist. It just crazy to me how everything in the medical field has evolved but this.

[brittanylight]

my first exam, the doctor used too large of speculum. it was one of the most painful things I have experienced. she refused to listen to me when I asked her to stop, telling me I would just have to do it again if she stopped. I didn't know any better because it was my first exam ever. I had spotting and terrible cramping for a few days

my mom was PISSED be cause she knew how afraid I was going in and she had told me it would not be painful, just awkward and uncomfortable.

this doctor then told me I have HPV, but when I got a second opinion, I did not have any signs of HPV.

also, I have never had exam be painful ever again after the first one. and I'm now 29. but still, try to have someone who knows what should happen go with you

[Leelz]

Ask your provider for a pediatric speculum. So much more comfortable and anyone with a modicum of skill can still see/maneuver well enough to perform a pap smear, etc. Their job is to care for YOU, not to make things easy on themselves. It's shocking, but not all medical providers in this field know much about vaginismus/pelvic pain.

[joosoo]

I've only had 1 exam in my life and I was half-asleep on painkillers due to being hospitalized with kidney stones and a serious infection. I was only 19 and the doctor saw I hadn't been to an OBGYN. They come into my room, rouse me and ask me if they can exam me. I said yes (not understanding what they meant because English is my second language) and they start propping me up, telling me to lift my legs, etc etc. Confused, but I'm thinking maybe something was wrong with my kidney/urethra so I follow along. Then this big speculum comes out and I start shaking because I still don't understand what is going on and struggling to communicate. The male nurse grabbed my knees and pushed my legs open because I curled up and he told me to hold still. Female gyno shoves the big speculum in and I was whimpering and crying in pain because it was far too big. I was on strong painkillers and still felt like throwing up from how painful it was. It was horrifying. I have never gone back to a gyno. I can't trust them.