What exactly is the doc looking for when he tell you to do the
‘cough and turn’? and where are his hands while you coughing?
- he is checking your prostate
- His hand is on your (unless your a female) scrotum (i.e ball sack)
Your Welcome.
No no no.
The finger up the butt is the prostate check. Turn your head and cough is to check for inguinal hernias, and his hands are on your testicles.
I’m getting both done in a couple of hours, I’ll let you know how it went.
Right. His hand is on your testicles because if you have a hernia, when you cough, he’ll feel something bulge down that shouldn’t be there.
It’s been over 10 years since my last hernia check, but here’s what I remember. He’s not really checking your testicles, he’s checking the muscle wall of your abdomen. A hernia is a tear in your muscle wall that lets a bit of intestine out (surely someone will come along with a much better definition). The area around your scrotum happens to be a common place for tears to occur. The coughing flexes your abdominal muscles and lets him feel for weaknesses. I don’t remember that his fingers were on my scrotum as much as next to it where it’s attached. Certainly not on my testicles. Of course, there may be many ways of performing this test.
Right - it’s not your testicles that he’s feeling. Notice more closely next time and you’ll see that he’s palpating the inguinal ligament where the inguinal hernia can appear, where ligaments (and the vas deferens) pass through. He will push upward next to where the scrotum attaches. Yes, intestine can also bulge through, and he can determine the condition of that area. Coughing makes those muscles and ligaments tense and he can easier feel what’s going on. Turn your head just keeps you from coughing on him.