# Please tell me all about this OB GYN stuff, as a bloke **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 20, 2012, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-all-about-this-ob-gyn-stuff-as-a-bloke/632013 "2012-08-20T00:42:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-all-about-this-ob-gyn-stuff-as-a-bloke/632013/61 "2012-08-22T17:16:31Z")
> [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](#): > > the doc will also palpitate the lower abdomen during the pelvic exam. [They](http://www.thefreedictionary.com/palpitate) [do](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/palpitate) [what](http://www.merriam-webster.com/medical/palpitate)? 😕 Cite (with pictures) please! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-all-about-this-ob-gyn-stuff-as-a-bloke/632013/62 "2012-08-22T17:21:28Z")
Not _that_ low. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-all-about-this-ob-gyn-stuff-as-a-bloke/632013/63 "2012-08-22T17:51:18Z")
> [@Motorgirl](#): > > Oh man, I remember the days when you had to get a prescription for Monistat (and its sister meds). Now that you don’t need a prescription anymore, I never get them. You have to be careful, though, because a lot of the OTC treatments for yeast are actually homeopathic. I don’t need any more C. albicans organisms, thank you VERY much, I want to reduce what I already have. In a few stores, the ONLY available OTC treatments were homeopathic. And I remember when you had to get a prescription, too, and you had to use the stuff for a full 14 days. If I get a yeast infection, I call up my doctor’s office, and ask for the doc to send a prescription for Diflucan to the drugstore. No cost to me. If I’m seeing the doctor for another reason, and mention that I’m pretty sure that my yeasty beasties are acting up, and ask for Diflucan, he’ll write me a prescription. He knows that I’m usually right when I suspect a yeast infection. Most vaginal yeast infection treatments consist of a cream or lozenge which is inserted into the vagina. Diflucan is a pill, taken orally, and usually ONE pill will take care of things. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-all-about-this-ob-gyn-stuff-as-a-bloke/632013/64 "2012-08-22T18:13:11Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > You have to be careful, though, because a lot of the OTC treatments for yeast are actually homeopathic. I was speaking of Monistat and its sistren. I thought that was obvious, since I used the word “effective” which cannot be applied to homeopathic preparations (see, I won’t even use the word “treatments,” since they aren’t). Unless you are confusing [homeopathic](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeopathy) with “natural” or “naturopathic” when they are not even slightly the same thing. Naughty Doper! Musn’t! ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-all-about-this-ob-gyn-stuff-as-a-bloke/632013/65 "2012-08-22T18:34:12Z")
It’s obvious to you and me…but not so obvious to a lot of folks. They pick up a tube of cream, see that it says it will solve all your problems AND do your dishes too, and they don’t read the fine print. They just see that it’s cheaper than Monistat, as well it should be, since it won’t do a damn thing except possibly moisturize your girly bits with an ointment that’s ineffective against the yeasty beasties. And yes, I’m aware of what homeopathic means. It means that you take the cause of the problem (in this case C. albicans), and dilute it and shake it, and keep diluting and shaking, and then when there’s probably not even a molecule of the offending substance left in a batch, you package it up and sell it for Big Bucks. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-all-about-this-ob-gyn-stuff-as-a-bloke/632013/66 "2012-08-22T18:38:08Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > [They](http://www.thefreedictionary.com/palpitate) [do](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/palpitate) [what](http://www.merriam-webster.com/medical/palpitate)? 😕 > > Cite (with pictures) please! 😃 They’re pressing or tapping on the “stomach” looking for the position and any tenderness of the ovaries and uterus. I’m not posting a link, but I’m serious when I say that there are full videos of the procedures on YouTube. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-all-about-this-ob-gyn-stuff-as-a-bloke/632013/67 "2012-08-22T19:41:39Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > They’re pressing or tapping on the “stomach” looking for the position and any tenderness of the ovaries and uterus. > > I’m not posting a link, but I’m serious when I say that there are full videos of the procedures on YouTube. I think he was confused because the correct word is “palpate,” to examine by touching. Palpitate is what your heart does when it beats really fast. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-all-about-this-ob-gyn-stuff-as-a-bloke/632013/68 "2012-08-22T19:58:00Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > I think he was confused because the correct word is “palpate,” to examine by touching. > > Palpitate is what your heart does when it beats really fast. Oh! I see now. Yeah, I totally failed to pick up on the wrong word being used, even when I should know the difference. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-all-about-this-ob-gyn-stuff-as-a-bloke/632013/69 "2012-08-22T20:01:22Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > I think he was confused because the correct word is “palpate,” to examine by touching. > > Palpitate is what your heart does when it beats really fast. Yes, I was curious to see this in a serious exam: palpitate verb 1. beat, pound, flutter, pulsate, pitter-patter, pitapat Her heart was palpitating wildly. 2. tremble, pulse, shiver, throb, quiver, vibrate Her whole body was palpitating with desire. This seems pretty tame by comparison: palpate verb 1. (Medicine) (tr) Med to examine (an area of the body) by the sense of touch and pressure [from Latin palpāre to stroke] ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-all-about-this-ob-gyn-stuff-as-a-bloke/632013/70 "2012-08-23T00:02:02Z")
> [@Erdosain](#): > > > [@Broomstick](#): > > > > I wanted to clarify my position so two pages from now I’m not having to deny that I suggested a GP for vasectomy or be accused of lying when I make such a denial. Such things have happened recently on the SD to posters. > > Thank goodness you nipped Vasectomy-gate in the bud. God knows how many pages of arguments we would have had to endure about whether or not you endorsed vasectomies performed in unusual places. Now I can confidently declare that Broomstick uses and approves Vast Difference: the Do-It-Yourself Nip and Tie Home Vasectomy Kit, available at CVS, RiteAid, and better retailers everywhere. And THAT ^ is _precisely_ the kind of bullshit response I was hoping to avoid. I advocate what you claim even less than going to a GP for a vasectomy. But hey, why bother with the truth these days, or even the courtesy of asking what my actual position is? It’s so much more fun to put words in other peoples’ mouths. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-all-about-this-ob-gyn-stuff-as-a-bloke/632013/71 "2012-08-23T04:19:43Z")
> [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](#): > > To Antigen’s description I would add that the doc will also palpitate the lower abdomen during the pelvic exam. WHOOPS my mistake. It should have been palpate, as was noted later.:smack: Coming back to this discussion, I wanted to chip in that there really is a spectrum that GPs fall upon. My family practice doctor is in a group where they each “specialize.” Although my doc handles every ladypart exam (and saw me through my pregnancy), he had a different GP in the practice insert my IUD, because that’s her thing. Others in the practice focus on sports medicine or other things, even while maintaining their family practice. ---
**Author:** ![Essured](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Essured](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Essured)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-all-about-this-ob-gyn-stuff-as-a-bloke/632013/72 "2012-08-23T08:44:28Z")
I’ve seen it mentioned a couple of times in this thread. What’s a “well woman” visit or exam? “Well woman” just sounds really, really odd to my ears, and I’m wondering exactly what it involves ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-all-about-this-ob-gyn-stuff-as-a-bloke/632013/73 "2012-08-23T10:02:45Z")
It’s basically just another way of saying “check up” or “physical exam” on a person who isn’t having a complaint. It usually consists of basic health screening. They measure weight, blood pressure, pulse - basic vital signs. These days it also seems to include diabetes screening, often a urine and blood test (in some cases these samples may be contributed in advance so the doc has the results the day of the exam), and assuming the same doc also does the “ladypart exam” that is when the pap smear, etc. are done (which, as noted, may be a separate office visit due to insurance coding requirements, which is stupid but then this is the American “system”). Anything else pertinent to a general exam of a healthy person is included and might also include routine vaccinations such as tetanus booster if needed, flu shot, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Essured](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Essured](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Essured)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-all-about-this-ob-gyn-stuff-as-a-bloke/632013/74 "2012-08-23T10:50:03Z")
Thanks **Broomstick**. A follow-up question: When men have a physical / check-up, is it called a “well man” exam? I guess I’m trying to figure out if the (odd to my ears) phrasing is peculiar to (US) women or peculiar to the US of both genders ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-all-about-this-ob-gyn-stuff-as-a-bloke/632013/75 "2012-08-23T11:21:11Z")
When men have the equivalent of a well-woman exam, it seems to be just called a physical, or physical exam. We do have well-baby and well-child exams. It’s an exam when the patient has no real complaints, just to see if the patient is doing normally. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-all-about-this-ob-gyn-stuff-as-a-bloke/632013/76 "2012-08-23T11:23:39Z")
I’ve never heard anyone say “Well Man” exam. And although I’ve heard “Well Woman” exam, I was for some reason under the impression that it was a _British_ expression. Now I see it’s not. But I don’t ever hear it out in the wild, so maybe it has gone a bit out of fashion. It sounds like the kind of thing that was invented as part of a public service effort to get women to have annual preventative checkups. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-all-about-this-ob-gyn-stuff-as-a-bloke/632013/77 "2012-08-23T11:32:14Z")
I hear well woman exam all the time. I get an annual physical at my GP and my annual well woman at my gyn (the practice doesn’t do OB, just gyn). I think my insurance policy even describes it that way. ---
**Author:** ![MarcusF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@MarcusF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarcusF)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-all-about-this-ob-gyn-stuff-as-a-bloke/632013/78 "2012-08-23T12:01:02Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I’ve never heard anyone say “Well Man” exam. > > And although I’ve heard “Well Woman” exam, I was for some reason under the impression that it was a _British_ expression. Now I see it’s not. But I don’t ever hear it out in the wild, so maybe it has gone a bit out of fashion. It sounds like the kind of thing that was invented as part of a public service effort to get women to have annual preventative checkups. Maybe not “Well Man” exams but there are certainly [Well Man clinics](http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/2378.aspx?CategoryID=61&SubCategoryID=619)in the UK. ---
**Author:** ![heathen\_earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/13edae/32.png) [@heathen\_earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heathen_earthling)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-all-about-this-ob-gyn-stuff-as-a-bloke/632013/79 "2012-08-23T12:56:55Z")
Why is OB GYN capitalized? Is it an acronym? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-all-about-this-ob-gyn-stuff-as-a-bloke/632013/80 "2012-08-23T13:04:00Z")
> [@heathen\_earthling](#): > > Why is OB GYN capitalized? Is it an acronym? It’s short for Obstetrics-Gynecology. Capitalizing the first two or more letters in an acronym is often done. COMSAT. SATNAV. Even RADAR. The military is especially fond of it. (COMPACAREACOGARD [JP 1-02] Commander, Coast Guard Pacific Area) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-all-about-this-ob-gyn-stuff-as-a-bloke/632013.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-all-about-this-ob-gyn-stuff-as-a-bloke/632013.md?page=5)