# Erection During Medical Exam **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 20, 2004, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erection-during-medical-exam/260761 "2004-08-20T18:52:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Logan84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Logan84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Logan84)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erection-during-medical-exam/260761/1 "2004-08-20T18:52:31Z")
Suppose a female doctor is giving you a medical exam (down there) and you get an erection. Would the doctor get offended or is this something that happens often and wouldn’t even be thought about? Sorry if this is in the wrong forum. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erection-during-medical-exam/260761/2 "2004-08-20T19:06:05Z")
Never had that occur. I suspect it isn’t uncommon and is no big deal. Reminds me of the joke about two nurses chatting. One of the nurses says “that patient I just bathed has a tattoo on his penis that says SWAN.” The next day the other nurse explained, “When I gave him his bath, that tattoo read SASKATCHEWAN!” ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erection-during-medical-exam/260761/3 "2004-08-20T19:28:23Z")
I work in a medical center, though not directly with patient examinations, and I suspect that doctors/nurses/techs have seen just about everything, including erections. As long as you don’t do anything obnoxious with it, most doctors would simply go on about the exam in a professional manner. (Some of the newer docs might look a bit flustered due to their inexperience with that but similarly try to just continue with the exam.) ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erection-during-medical-exam/260761/4 "2004-08-20T19:39:59Z")
Whatever you do, don’t point at it and waggle your eyebrows. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erection-during-medical-exam/260761/5 "2004-08-20T19:44:49Z")
Nor waggle it and point at your eyebrows. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erection-during-medical-exam/260761/6 "2004-08-20T19:46:50Z")
> [@Doctor Jackson](#): > > Nor waggle it and point at your eyebrows. I have no idea what this means, but I’m cracking up. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Asbestos_Mango)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erection-during-medical-exam/260761/7 "2004-08-20T19:48:30Z")
Nah. Any doctor who was any kind of decent human being would just ignore it, unless it was obvious that the patient was having some embarassment issues. In student clinic, I had clients I was giving massage to get erections on a pretty regular basis. No big. I pretty much made it standard procedure to put an extra layer of draping, maybe a pillowcase or small hand towel, over the pelvic area when I had a male client supine on the table, more to keep him from becoming embarrassed than anything. It’s just a physiological response the body has to being touched. Anyone in a health-care type profession would be aware of this. To do anything other than simply ignore it and go about their business would be unprofessional. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erection-during-medical-exam/260761/8 "2004-08-20T19:49:06Z")
Endoscopic exams of the urethra or bladder can actually trigger involuntary erections. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erection-during-medical-exam/260761/9 "2004-08-20T19:56:03Z")
If porn has taught us nothing else, it has at least taught us that in this situation, the doctor should look concerned and vaguely turned on, then offer to help “take care” of it for you. Bakka-chikka-wow-WOW! ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erection-during-medical-exam/260761/10 "2004-08-20T19:59:38Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > If porn has taught us nothing else, it has at least taught us that in this situation, the doctor should look concerned and vaguely turned on, then offer to help “take care” of it for you. > > Bakka-chikka-wow-WOW! “Dear _Journal of the American Medical Association_, I’ve read your magazine for years but I never thought it could happen to me…” ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erection-during-medical-exam/260761/11 "2004-08-20T20:01:50Z")
> [@SolGrundy](#): > > “Dear _Journal of the American Medical Association_, > I’ve read your magazine for years but I never thought it could happen to me…” : Golf Clap : ---
**Author:** ![Pyrrhonist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/919ad9/32.png) [@Pyrrhonist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyrrhonist)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erection-during-medical-exam/260761/12 "2004-08-20T20:02:55Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > If porn has taught us nothing else, it has at least taught us that in this situation, the doctor should look concerned and vaguely turned on, then offer to help “take care” of it for you. Maybe with Blue Cross Blue Shield. Hell no with a HMO. ---
**Author:** ![ZebraShaSha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/eada6e/32.png) [@ZebraShaSha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZebraShaSha)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erection-during-medical-exam/260761/13 "2004-08-20T20:06:35Z")
> [@The Asbestos Mango](#): > > Nah. Any doctor who was any kind of decent human being would just ignore it, unless it was obvious that the patient was having some embarassment issues. > > In student clinic, I had clients I was giving massage to get erections on a pretty regular basis. No big. I pretty much made it standard procedure to put an extra layer of draping, maybe a pillowcase or small hand towel, over the pelvic area when I had a male client supine on the table, more to keep him from becoming embarrassed than anything. > > It’s just a physiological response the body has to being touched. Anyone in a health-care type profession would be aware of this. To do anything other than simply ignore it and go about their business would be unprofessional. So, you are saying to me that any professional knows that in order to save the patient from embarassment it is better to dress up an erect penis with a tiny ghost outfit? Trust me, that doesn’t make it disapear. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erection-during-medical-exam/260761/14 "2004-08-20T20:21:21Z")
> [@ZebraShaSha](#): > > So, you are saying to me that any professional knows that in order to save the patient from embarassment it is better to dress up an erect penis with a tiny ghost outfit? Trust me, that doesn’t make it disapear. Caspar, the VERY friendly ghost. ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erection-during-medical-exam/260761/15 "2004-08-20T20:33:11Z")
One of the regulars over at alt.tasteless, a medical professional going by the unenviable online alias “NurzRatchet,” claims that there’s particular place you can \ with the ol’ waggly fingerwhip that will cause an erection to instantly subside. I can think of several places where that might be effective, myself, but I believe she was referring to the glans. ---
**Author:** ![Chastain86](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Chastain86](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chastain86)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erection-during-medical-exam/260761/16 "2004-08-20T20:44:40Z")
Offended? Nah. So long as you’re not at the dentist when this happens. ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erection-during-medical-exam/260761/17 "2004-08-20T21:04:55Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > …Involuntary erections. Band Name! ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erection-during-medical-exam/260761/18 "2004-08-20T21:54:44Z")
> [@Chastain86](#): > > Offended? Nah. > > So long as you’re not at the dentist when this happens. If your penis is exposed at the dentist, I don’t think they can be offended by whatever happens next. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erection-during-medical-exam/260761/19 "2004-08-20T22:23:02Z")
“Now SPIT!” ---
**Author:** ![Danalan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@Danalan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danalan)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erection-during-medical-exam/260761/20 "2004-08-20T22:29:52Z")
I know I’ve told this story here before, but can’t find it right now. About 20 years ago, I worked on a hospital ward for about 3 months. One of the nurses was fresh out of school, a beautiful blond who was quite naive, for a nurse. We happened to have twin 13-year old boys on the pediatric ward one night. They were there after getting circumcisions (Yikes!). Some religious thing, I guess – they wore yarmulke, anyway. The boys needed dressing checks every 4 hours, and when the blond nurse came on in the afternoon, the (male) day shift nurse gave her a bottle of freeze spray, joking with her that she “might need this, if something comes up”. Wink, wink – nudge, nudge. Embarassed, she dropped the spray into her pocket. We thought she’d forgotten about it entirely, until later that evening, when we first hear her shriek, then we hear ‘ssssssshhhhhhsssss’, and then she comes running out into the hallway from pediatrics, red as a beet. Those poor boys, I bet they’re still getting therapy. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erection-during-medical-exam/260761.md?page=2)