Was the doctor right to do this?

Question

My girlfriend went to the doctors today as she has been suffering with a cold for the last week or so. She said that once there, the doctor who was male, asked her various questions before asking her to remove her top so he could listen to her chest with a stethoscope, leaving her in just her bra. Apparently her top wasn't too thick and she has worn it before to the doctors. He then moved the stethoscope all over her back and chest whilst asking her to breath in and out deeply.

Ladies whenever you've been to the doctors for a cold etc...

Did the doctor make you remove your top?

What about moving the stethoscope all over whilst getting you to breath deeply?

Did he listen to your chest for ages?

What do you think about what happened to my girlfriend?

Answer 1

Thats very weird.  My doctor has never asked me to remove my top and has only ever checked my heartbeat on my back not on my chest.  This doesn't sound right to me!!

Answer 2

Yes it's normal. There are 6 points on the front and back that a doctor will listen to, as the lungs are quite big. If you are implying that he should have listened through her top, no doctor will do that steths arn't that good.  

Answer 3

Totally normal, you are being paranoid.  

Answer 4

You've already asked this and several people have told you that it is normal.  How else would he know if she had a chest infection.

Answer 5

I have had my chest listened to many times and on one occasion the doc did ask me to remove my top. Not sure why but had a nurse present so sure its nothing dodgy!

Answer 6

this is completely normal, it happens all the time

Answer 7

Your description of the event sounds like she was examined properly by a competent GP.

Answer 8

The Dr was being thorough. It is easiest to listen to lung sounds without having clothing in the way. USing a stethoscope over clothing can create false noises. A good Dr will listen in all the lung fields to determine if there is an infection or something in the lungs. He may have taken extra time because perhaps he heard something in one part of the lung.

Answer 9

listening to the chest is very normal, so is the deep breathing, that is to see if air is filling the lower lobes of the lungs, if not this could be a sign or result in pneumonia. as for the removal of the top, not sure on that one, but anytime a Dr(male) exams a female patient, a female nurse should be present.  

Answer 10

Perfectly normal, how else is he going to check for a chest infection.  If she had been suffering for as long as you say I'm surprised he didn't ask her to remove her bra as well.

Answer 11

Of course the Doctor was right.  How else could he have checked her chest.  Surely everyone has had this done at some point in their lives?  The poor man isn't psychic.

Answer 12

It sounds wrong to me :S

usually they just put it through the top of you're top right?

If I was her I wouldn't do anything drastic but I'd change drs.

Just incase.

Plus - I'm assuming every drs got experience so I don't see why

he'd have to be doing it for ages.. hm weird.

Answer 13

lung sounds are heard from both the front and the back.  If your friend went because of a cold, the doctor would need to listen to her lungs to see if they were gurgling, etc.  since the lungs have stomach and other various organs in front of them, the doctor would listen from the back.  Upper right quadrant, lower right quadrant, upper and lower left quadrant, etc.  Your friend says apparently her top wasn't too thick because she has worn it before to the doctors.  To this particular doctor?  It sounds like he did nothing inappropriate Now if he would have copped a feel whilst listening, that's different.  

Answer 14

Moving the stethoscope all over her chest and back is normal for the doctor to build up a picture of what is going on in there, But i usually lift my top, not take if off completley, but i guess as long as your girlfriend felt comfortable its ok

Answer 15

Sounds to me that it was a good Doctor doing a thorough examination - would you be asking this if it was a female doctor ?

Be careful here !!

Answer 16

you can't be serious..of course he asked her to remove her top...there are several reasons for this...one to check that her lungs expand evenly, one side of the chest doesn't rise higher than the other, second, listening thru fabric isn't good as the sound of the fabric moving on the skin sounds a great deal like fluid in the lungs, you always want a stethoscope on bare skin, and a number of other reasons...it is not only acceptable it is essential.  Moving the stethoscope "all over" is also essential as the lungs fill the chest cavity and are divided into lobes, he has to move the stethoscope around to listen to each lobe and area of each lung.  And the longer he listens the more likely he is to pick up intermittent sounds that would give a clue to any issues....you need to grow up and use some sense.

Answer 17

Whether the top is thick or thin We are supposed to listen to your lungs with the stethoscope against the skin, otherwise the stethoscope is moving against the fabric while your chest rises and falls and that causes static noise which can be either distracting or falsely misinterpreted as what we like to call "adventitious sounds".

It's very important to listen to her lungs when she comes in for a cold to determine if there is fluid accumulating in the lungs. We must listen to both the front and back and alternate the sides or "all over" as you call it because each lung is it's own organ with it's own compartments called lobes.

So in short... that was perfectly normal. Don't try to read into things, if your GF is uncomfortable with a male doctor she can always ask for a female or ask for the female nurse to be present during the examination, as she should be anyways, especially if your GF isn't "of age".