Open in front?

I recently went to a new doctor for my annual physical and am curious to see if anyone thinks my experience was strange. I'm a 36-year-old male and the doctor turned out to be an attractive blonde woman in her mid-30s. For the exam, she asked me to undress and wear a paper gown but wear it open in the front. I didn't think anything was strange about it at the time, but now I'm not so sure -- aren't they always open in the back? Anyway, all of the gowns in the cabinet were a little too small on me. I'm 6'3" and perhaps they're fine for others but for me they didn't close properly. As I awkwardly held it together over my privates, the doctor came in and apologized and gave me a small piece of material, same as the paper gown, to hold over my genitals as she did the exam. When it came time to lay on my back, my hands fell to the side and the paper simply rested where it lay. I couldn't help but to feel turned on by this, since basically my penis was laying there right in front of this attractive woman, hidden only by this small piece of paper. Eventually she took the paper aside and examined me, first holding my penis with two fingers and moving it around, and then inspecting each of my testicles, one at a time. In my mind I was sure there was a bit of pre-cum seeping out of my penis but hoping there wasn't out of embarrassment. When she was done, she talked to me about how I should check myself about once a month, but she didn't replace the paper. It was all I could to to stare at the ceiling and mutter, "right, once a month," in order to force myself not to get hard. The exam ended and I went home but I just can't get it out of my mind how unusual it was to be asked to wear a gown open in the front -- a gown that was too small for me at that. What does everyone think about that?

I think it was perfectly normal. I have been asked to wear a gown open in front, open in back or not at all. I think it depends on the doctor. You should feel grateful that she did a full check on you -- many doctors skip it for fear of self- or patient embarrassment.

PS I don't think it would have been all that bad if you had gotten hard. My PCP is a woman and when that happens to me she says "good"...as in "glad to see that works well." Doctors aren't fools and women doctors in particular know how men react in such situations.

So, some people just don't care if they get an erection during an exam? I'd be uncomfortable to just relax and let it get hard myself.

Having the gown open in front is so the doc can examine your chest, or in my case breasts. I am given a drape over my lap which becomes a tent when the feet go in the stirrups.

As for the erection and pre cum and all that, it does not need to be embarrassing, that is how a healthy one works and you are being checked for health, right? So, just relax let it go, yours is not the first one she has seen and it won't be the last. The doc might wonder about you if you didn't get a little hard during the exam.

I am a male, same height and regularly go to a female physician for physicals. She always wants the gown open in front because most of the stuff that she checks is in the front.

The gown always falls open when I lay back for her to feel my stomach. I was concerned about it for the first exam. However, after she checked my prostate and testicles, I figured she has seen everything that I have...

The only thing that you mention that does sound unusual is that I have never had a doctor touch or handle my penis except for when I had a bladder infection as a child. I think if my current female doctor started touching my dick, I would definitely get an erection, which is probably why she doesn't do it...

At my physical exam in August, I wore a cloth gown, first with the opening in the back during the exam. After the exam, I had an electrocardiogram (ecg) and was told to reverse the gown, with the opening in the front, so the technician could apply the electrodes.

I don't bother putting on a gown if I'm given one. For a complete physical I like to strip completely and then sit there with just a paper drape across my lap. In the distant past, I did have one nurse that told me to put the gown on open in the front. That was back when I still wore gowns. I thought it was very strange at the time since I had always worn one with it open in the back. I think my insurance must have changed right after that because I don't remember going to that particular doctor again.

It often depends on the doctor and the purpose of the exam. I know that a fair number of gynecologists have the opening in front. It's easier to do the breast exam and then the pelvic without removing the gown.

Whenever I've been given a gown, it is usually opened in the back, but occasionally in the front. Usually, they don't bother. You open or remove your clothing as needed as the exam goes along.

For procedures like a colonoscopy, etc, I've always had it open in the back.

"if the opening is in the front what is even the purpose of the gown? you would be exposed anyway!"

Not sure I know the answer to this, but I will say that whatever the purpose is, sometimes I appreciate the gown as the only source of warmth available!

Let's face it, the real reason we have to wear clothes has more to do with body temperature than modesty. On more than one occasion, it's been chilly sitting around the doctor's office with no clothes...

Great answer to "if the opening is in the front what is even the purpose of the gown? you would be exposed anyway!"

When I go to my exams, they have me put on the gown with the opening to the the front. As stated in posts earlier, it is to facilitate easier access to examining the breast, and the pelvic exam.

I have had gowns open in the front before.

My Gyno Doctor always wants the opening of the gown to be in front. After all, she says that there is where everything that she is interested in is located!

Heather, Portland, OR and Los Angles, CA

I have never had a doctor ask me to put the gown on with the opening in front. My current doctor uses this idiotic small paper thing that you put on over your head and doesn't even cover your breasts and a paper sheet for the bottom. Not only do I not see the point but I don't like the wastage of using disposable stuff.

I felt compelled to comment how much I hate that silly little piece of paper that the doctor gives you to cover your bottom. My prior dermatologist would give it to me when I went in for a skin check. I would use it for 5 seconds or less before I would crumple it up and throw it away. It is a bit like having an oversized paper napkin in your lap with nothing to eat.

Forget about nudity or even semi-nudity for a minute and imagine being in a social situation where you were chronically holding your hands over your groin! Even if you have clothes on, where else will everyone look but at your groin since you are spending so much effort keeping it covered. That is essentially all that the piece of paper does, it attracts attention to the one thing that you are trying to cover up.

I think whoever came up with that idea was sadistic and just a bit twisted, personally. "You want modesty? Here! Here is a paper napkin, be as modest as you want. I won't look... I promise!" Yeah, right...

My wife says she always has the gown open in the back and she also gets a little sheet to cover her self when she gets in his stirrups.

Mine is always open in the back.And as far as the erection,I always get a little hard when my female doc does my genital exam.Its a natural reaction!

I have only seen and been in the gowns that are open in the back. I thought that the exam gowns for females were sometimes open in the front to make the breast and genital easier for the doctor. Also, I have never been in a paper gown, only cloth. I heard from a girl once that she was in a paper exam gown and that the doctor tore holes in it for the breast exam, which I thought was weird. Is that the point of a paper gown?

I think whoever came up with that idea was sadistic and just a bit twisted, personally. "You want modesty? Here! Here is a paper napkin, be as modest as you want. I won't look... I promise!" Yeah, right...

The more I think about the gown thing with normal everyday type medical exams, the more I think the practice has to do with using some people´s innate modesty as an excuse to charge for an extra, but unnecessary object - namely the gown. Cause rest assured, the cost (at a good markup from the wholesale price the doctor pays) of the gown will be included in what you are being charged. It may not be all that much, but every little bit counts for a doctor paying off student loans or whatever else ... and when this is done for every patient a doctor sees, then the little bits start to add up.

Ever wonder what the nation-wide number of exam gowns used in a years time might be? I have no real idea, but I´m betting quite a number of forests ...

So, when it comes down to it, the guy who came up with the idea for a gown was not really sadistic or twisted, he was just very smart at using modesty as a cover for raising the price of his consults.

The gowns around here open in the front or back depending on which way you put it on. The examiner will specify front or back depending on the exam.

At my current doc it is opening in the front. Exam includes an EKG, so it makes sense as it is easier for the tech to place the electrodes. During the exam the doctor untied the gown and slip it off my upper body to listen to my lungs and heart. It comes all the way off for the genital and prostate exam

I'd rather go to hell than wear one of those silly gowns. What's the purpose? They will be coming off anyway as the exam progresses, so save the expense!

For real life medical exams the gown seems useless, and it doesn't really matter to me which way it opens, but in fantasies and play exams I really prefer it open in the back. The back is already more vulnerable than the front of a person simply by virtue of being harder to see and reach behind one's own back, forcing the patient to wear a garment that exposes their already vulnerable hindquarters *is* mildly sadistic -- in a fun way! Especially in fantasies when it's not just an exam, but an extended time in the hospital, maybe having to walk around the hospital in just the gown, interacting with multiple hospital staff. Front-opening gowns just aren't quite as "evil".

In real exams, I usually sit on the folded gown to avoid the annoying crinkly paper on the table.

My GYN has a paper vest, with opening in the front, and a paper sheet to cover bottom half with. Other docs usually give a full gown and request the opening in the back, and then drop the top half down or lift the bottom half up as needed for examination.

Mine are paper and always open in the front.

My experiences have only been in cloth gowns open in back. Each time the nurse or doctor asked me to tie only top in the back. (Other exams have been with pants/shorts around ankles). I see that there is a new fancy gown out there that is quick to pull off all-together in an emergency, but the gown remains on the patient all the time during a physical...for "modesty."

For play exams it's most fun to have gowns that only CAN be tied at the top. If they've got strings in the middle of the back or at the bottom, cut 'em off!

Last time I went I was told to just skip the gown and I stayed in my jockstrap (not a great decision)-- the doc listened to my chest then did the genital check after I pulled down the strap. She finished in a few minutes and I was done. A little bit awkward but she wasn't super attractive so wasn't too bad.

Last time I went I was told to just skip the gown and I stayed in my jockstrap (not a great decision)-- the doc listened to my chest then did the genital check after I pulled down the strap.

Can you elaborate on why wearing a jockstrap wasn't a great decision for you? I've done the same thing in the past and have never really felt that it was a bad decision. Quite the opposite, I've always left those exams thinking that I received a fairly thorough exam, and also feeling a bit aroused. And isn't an exam supposed to be a bit awkward and embarrassing anyway?

In my way of thinking, every time you present yourself to the doctor with minimal (or no) clothing, you're sending them a message. You're telling them that you're comfortable in your own skin (so to speak) and that you expect them to give you a thorough exam. In essence, you're giving them permission to look over every bit of your body, which is a good thing.