Female Steth Exams Bra on or off?

In my experience it is very rare the doctor asks you to remove your bra for auscultation

Not now but in the future I will have to have my heart tested due to my mother has only just had 2 mechanical heart valves replaced at the age of 45 due to an illness when she was a child (scarrlet fever) .

As you age the illness stays in the body attacking the heart valves and they deteriorate, so you are leaking air into the heart .

I will have to go and have a topless check up and a monitor attached while I walk for a mile or so. I had broncitis as a child and have been told to get my heart and lungs checked out by my mother and doctor, but it's 20 years time .

Actually, Gynoslave, the problem with a faulty heart valve is not "leaking air into the heart." The four valves in your heart are like doors that are hinged to open in only one direction. The valves control the blood flow through your heart, allowing it to go the direction it's supposed to go but preventing it from flowing back the other way. The lub-dup sound you hear if you've ever listened to your heart is the sound of the valves closing. The first heart sound, s1 or "Lub" is the sound of your mitral and tricuspid valves closing. The second sound, s2 or "Dup" is the sound of your pulmonic and aortic valves closing. A faulty or damaged valve will create one of two basic valve problems, stenosis or incompetence. Stenosis (narrowing or constriction) means the valve doesn't open sufficiently to allow enough blood to flow through. Incompetence means the valve does not close tightly enough to keep blood from leaking back through in the wrong direction after the valve closes. The leaking back through in the wrong direction is called regurgitation. Hope that clears things up a bit for you. I wish I could take a good long listen to your heart with my cardiology stethoscope!

Ive never had my bra on. my breasts are too large anyway, they could never quite examine them throughly

The worst thing that can be done during cardiac ascultation is to simply lift up the shirt and bra - this due to the fact that the maneuver places an undue strain on the aortic arch - in my physical diagnosis class I have my students attempt a mild back bend - this produces in hmmm 80% of subjects a flow murmur. From the literature its even higher in kids.

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Certainly it isn't necessary, and I really enjoy feeling the graze of a palm against my breast before my gown is lowered... the bell of my doctor's stethoscope tucked under my breast while he listens...

It is probably unnecessary, but it is always necessary during a play exam!

One should never auscultate through clothing! The high-pitched murmur of mitral regurgitation (blood regurgitating (love that word - reminds me of getting car-sick at age five) back through the valve on the left side of the heart. Anyhow clothing filters out the sound of the murmur.

Even worse is to just lift up the shirt/and/or bra - this places a strain on the geometry of the heart and can produce a murmur in a great number of healthy individuals. I do a simple experiment in the class I teach - students are stripped to the waist (males) and sports bras (females). The protocol requires bending backwards. Statistically we can demonstrate a murmur in 47% females and 39% of males - the thinner the chest - the more evident the murmur. These are flow murmurs (innocent). I can hear the seismic ruminations of my professors rolling in their graves - they were of the school of thought that no murmur is innocent). We better not go there!

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My 'patients' are requested to wear front opening bras for ease in examination.

I've never been stethed naked unless it was when I was an infant and I don't remember that far back. Normal routine is shirt off, though I've had some just have me unbutton or pull up shirt or even listen through an exam gown. With my female "patients," normal auscultation procedure is to have her disrobe down to the waist.

The one time I went with a girlfriend to a physical the doctor had her take off t shirt and bra and listened first right at the top of the left breast, he then listened further down the left breast really just above the nipple, then just above the nipple of the right breast. After this he listened on her rib cage a couple of inches below her left breast, a couple of inches below her right breast, and then repeated listening below the breasts in exactly the same places.

i'm not sure if this is because she had pretty small breasts (a C cup), and I'm not sure why he repeated listening below the breasts...

Sounds like the doctor was listening to the lungs if he checked both left and right sides of the chest. Otherwise, he was possibly listening to the apex of the heart if the stethoscope was below the left breast.

I have gone to many doctor's appointments with girlfriends and none ever were topless. It's a major dissapointment...some even listened over the shirt.

I have seen and participated in many cardiac centered examinations during my career. Generally speaking, if the focus was on auscultation, palpation and visualization of the cardiovascular system, female patients were disrobed from the waist up, given a gown, and asked to put it on open to the front so as to facilitate access to the chest without having to expose them too much.

Do any females out there have to remove your bra under your shirt (or unhook it) for the steth exam?

For most female examinations - Not all, but some...one is required to wear a gown. That means everything off! Shirt, bra, jeans and panties. Socks are optional. So usually the doctor pulls open the gown in the back and steths the patient. So that would be a no bra-er 😃

In my experience, it depends upon what type of Doctor is performing the steth exam. For my GP and my allergist, they work around my bra and I have never been asked to remove it. For my Gyn Doctor, she has never listened to my heart.

For my play Doctors, well, my experience varies here as well. Some of the times, they want the bra removed first and at other times, they will work around it as well. But, with the play Docs, everything eventually comes off 😘 .

Lady Teddy

I'm sure most real doctors work around it, I couldn't imagine the woman being asked to remove her bra unless she were having a breast exam. Here in the UK the BP and stethoscope part of the examination would most probably take place before undressing for the more intimate procedures. They do have a policy over here of removing as little clothing as possible.

As a play doctor I normally work around it at first but perhaps use the stethocope again later once the bra has come off, and it will depend if my 'patient' is wearing a gown or not.

Any combination is possible and yes Lady Teddy your panties would have to come off as well 😁

Dr Philip - The UK Play Doctor.

If it's just a GP and I am sick with cold etc., I only need to take of my T-shirt, but if I go for some kind of prevention exam or with a chronic complaint, then I (and women generally, I believe) are asked to take of the bra. It's still taken as rather natural over here.

Bra removal is nearly never done any more for stething...sigh

Well in my experiences...and considering have a heart condition. My Doctor ( cardo), umm pretty much wants me topless! He's a great Dr., but I find it odd, plus he has face only a mother could love!!!! Ugh!

It depends on the doctor i go see. my regular gp does not require any clothing removal. My gyn requests that everything comes off except socks. I tried to get out of removing my bra, but no dice. the nurse actually had to tell me dont run away lololol

It seems there are almost as many different stories as there are examinations. The old literature states that cardiac auscultation must be unemcumbered with clothing to avoid false interpretation of sounds. In the school medical days when the 'conveyor belt' system reigned, girls were asked to 'undress to underpants' and then allowed to slip their blouse back on while waiting to see the doctor. Most girls slipped on their blouses but many didnt bother to button them up. On arriving in front of the doctor he or she could see that naked strip of flesh down the front to the knickers. After the prelimineries came those words that everyone dreams of saying, "Would you slip off your blouse please", leaving the entire upper body naked for the heart and lungs auscultation, front and back.

I've been auscultated topless, in my bra, up sweater etc over the years. I think it's very much something which varies from doctor to doctor as well as with the reason for being auscultated.

Here they always ask the patient to disrobe on the upper torso and then give them a gown with ample room for the dr to steth or examine under

I hope they do cuz I would love my breasts being exposed

My wife always has to remove her top and expose her breasts with her female doctor.

The bra should be removed to do a proper heart examination.

I usually remove my top and bra completely, but Ill take any chance I can to be seen without my clothes 😃

When my doctor exams my heart and lung iam always topless for it. most times iam already topless when the doctor enters the exam room