# You need to have your insides medically examined. Do you take a tube down the mouth or up the butt? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 3, 2010, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-need-to-have-your-insides-medically-examined-do-you-take-a-tube-down-the-mouth-or-up-the-butt/562736 "2010-12-03T00:40:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-need-to-have-your-insides-medically-examined-do-you-take-a-tube-down-the-mouth-or-up-the-butt/562736/1 "2010-12-03T00:40:22Z")
For starters, I know there’s a difference between an upper GI Endoscopy and lower GI Endoscopy. Obviously you wouldn’t have your choice between the two because it would already be known which one you specifically needed. But let’s say the doctors need to just take a look around the inside of your body for general purposes and that you have your choice of getting an upper GI Endoscopy or lower GI Endoscopy. In an Upper GI Endoscopy, a tube with a small camera on the end is put in your mouth and you have to swallow it. It then is pushed down your gullet and into your stomach, all while the rest of it is still protruding out your mouth. In a Lower GI Endoscopy–you guessed it–the tube is put in from the other side. Which would be easier for you to have? Would you be able to swallow the camera tube down your throat without gagging horribly? Or, if you couldn’t do that, would you be more comfortable having the tube shoved up your ass? If you had to choose, which would it be easier for you to do, personally? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-need-to-have-your-insides-medically-examined-do-you-take-a-tube-down-the-mouth-or-up-the-butt/562736/2 "2010-12-03T00:49:15Z")
I need three votes-everyone in the household voted “In the ass, Bob”. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-need-to-have-your-insides-medically-examined-do-you-take-a-tube-down-the-mouth-or-up-the-butt/562736/3 "2010-12-03T00:57:42Z")
I literally could not do a mouth-entry without gagging constantly the entire time. Butt, please. ---
**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:** [December 3, 2010, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-need-to-have-your-insides-medically-examined-do-you-take-a-tube-down-the-mouth-or-up-the-butt/562736/4 "2010-12-03T00:58:13Z")
Down the throat. Already had that one, and that was a walk in the park. Of course, the nice dose of Versed that I had helped a whole lot. To the point where I didn’t remember a thing about it. 😃 I had a boss who had the same thing done, and he had to drive himself home, so he said he’d do it without the Versed. I’m assuming he had a mess of topical anesthetics or something. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-need-to-have-your-insides-medically-examined-do-you-take-a-tube-down-the-mouth-or-up-the-butt/562736/5 "2010-12-03T01:17:29Z")
Considering that through the ass requires you to clean out with laxatives for 24 hours, I would never choose that. Down the throat for sure. Don’t ask for through the eye at all. ---
**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:** [December 3, 2010, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-need-to-have-your-insides-medically-examined-do-you-take-a-tube-down-the-mouth-or-up-the-butt/562736/6 "2010-12-03T01:36:34Z")
> [@](#): > > Of course, the nice dose of Versed that I had helped a whole lot. To the point where I didn’t remember a thing about it. I had both procedures done at once, and yes, Versed is my FRIEND. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-need-to-have-your-insides-medically-examined-do-you-take-a-tube-down-the-mouth-or-up-the-butt/562736/7 "2010-12-03T02:13:54Z")
I’ve done the down your throat thing - it’s a snap if you’re drugged enough. Up the ass means spending the day before on the toilet. Not fun. Down the throat in a walk. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-need-to-have-your-insides-medically-examined-do-you-take-a-tube-down-the-mouth-or-up-the-butt/562736/8 "2010-12-03T02:28:17Z")
I’ve had the down-the-throat thing done. Piece of cake, although the Valium and Demerol I got made it easier. (I didn’t care for the post-Demerol hangover, though.) Sitting on the toilet the night before a colonoscopy might not be that bad if I had a shower and enough reading material, but it’s really not something I’d go out of my way to do. Frankly, I’d mind the colon cleanse stuff more than anything else. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-need-to-have-your-insides-medically-examined-do-you-take-a-tube-down-the-mouth-or-up-the-butt/562736/9 "2010-12-03T02:43:29Z")
Damn, I voted before considering the prep and drug factors (voted indabutt, bob). ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-need-to-have-your-insides-medically-examined-do-you-take-a-tube-down-the-mouth-or-up-the-butt/562736/10 "2010-12-03T02:45:09Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > I literally could not do a mouth-entry without gagging constantly the entire time. Butt, please. That’s my problem as well. I have a feeling I’ll have to have an endoscopy someday, I’m hoping, well assuming rather, that I can get knocked out for it. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-need-to-have-your-insides-medically-examined-do-you-take-a-tube-down-the-mouth-or-up-the-butt/562736/11 "2010-12-03T02:49:58Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > I literally could not do a mouth-entry without gagging constantly the entire time. Butt, please. [Michael Scott] That’s what SHE said. [/Michael Scott] ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-need-to-have-your-insides-medically-examined-do-you-take-a-tube-down-the-mouth-or-up-the-butt/562736/12 "2010-12-03T02:56:03Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > That’s my problem as well. I have a feeling I’ll have to have an endoscopy someday, I’m hoping, well assuming rather, that I can get knocked out for it. I’ve heard/read that you can’t get totally knocked out for it because you’ve got to actually be able to swallow the tube and to exhale hard when they want to bring it back up…at least that’s what one of my friends said he had to do. Granted I don’t know any of this for certain and have no cites. I, like a few others in here, still feel I’d never ever be able to take a continuous tube down my throat without gagging and retching all over the place. :S ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-need-to-have-your-insides-medically-examined-do-you-take-a-tube-down-the-mouth-or-up-the-butt/562736/13 "2010-12-03T02:56:56Z")
It depends which way is shorter. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-need-to-have-your-insides-medically-examined-do-you-take-a-tube-down-the-mouth-or-up-the-butt/562736/14 "2010-12-03T03:07:59Z")
Um, I had both done at the exact same time. I was unconscious during the procedures and felt no discomfort upon awakening, so I really have no preference. I didn’t mind the colonoscopy prep, it was the fasting (which you have to do for either) that killed me. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-need-to-have-your-insides-medically-examined-do-you-take-a-tube-down-the-mouth-or-up-the-butt/562736/15 "2010-12-03T03:10:33Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > I had both procedures done at once, and yes, Versed is my FRIEND. Did they meet in the middle? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![statsman1982](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@statsman1982](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/statsman1982)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-need-to-have-your-insides-medically-examined-do-you-take-a-tube-down-the-mouth-or-up-the-butt/562736/16 "2010-12-03T03:39:21Z")
Just as long as they don’t go ass-to-mouth, I voted “ass.” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-need-to-have-your-insides-medically-examined-do-you-take-a-tube-down-the-mouth-or-up-the-butt/562736/17 "2010-12-03T04:06:06Z")
Having done both, I choose ass. Even sedated almost to the point of unconsciousness down the throat is just absolutely awful. Ass is just uncomfortable and humiliating. In fact, it’s exactly like an IRS audit. Down the throat when completely sedated is okay. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-need-to-have-your-insides-medically-examined-do-you-take-a-tube-down-the-mouth-or-up-the-butt/562736/18 "2010-12-03T04:13:06Z")
That’d be the butt, Bob. I can’t ever recall gagging rectally. ---
**Author:** ![Malienation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Malienation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malienation)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-need-to-have-your-insides-medically-examined-do-you-take-a-tube-down-the-mouth-or-up-the-butt/562736/19 "2010-12-03T04:34:22Z")
Done both, knocked out both times. No aftereffects to speak of either way, so I’ll go by the prep work. Ass prep is a pain in the ass (really…wipe your ass 40 or 50 times in a day and, believe me, you’ll be sore), so I’d go with throat. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-need-to-have-your-insides-medically-examined-do-you-take-a-tube-down-the-mouth-or-up-the-butt/562736/20 "2010-12-03T06:01:04Z")
The nasty prep pre-colonoscopy, and the fact that your intestines get puffed up with air for better visibility, means you’re shitting for days beforehand, and farting for days afterwards. I’ll swallow the damn tube, it’s easier! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-need-to-have-your-insides-medically-examined-do-you-take-a-tube-down-the-mouth-or-up-the-butt/562736.md?page=2)