Like anything else, your sexual apparatus requires some care to ensure good health. Gynecologists are the doctors who have generously devoted their lives to the maintenance of female crotches. Sometimes they also deliver babies, in which case they are obstetricians as well (ob/gyn).
You should have your first internal exam when you're 18 or when you start to think seriously about having sex, whichever comes first. You should also try to schedule it for a day sometime in the middle of your cycle, when you will not be menstruating or on the verge.
If your doctor is a man, a female nurse probably will stay in the room during the exam. If a nurse doesn't stay, don't be embarrassed to ask for one. The doctor will first talk to you about your menstrual cycle and ask if you have any questions or concerns. This is the time to bring up birth control, if you are (or plan to soon be) sexually active.
Most doctors won't tell your parents or anyone else what goes on during your exam (unless you want them to know). The right to confidentiality in matters of birth control has been the subject of some controversy in Congress in the last couple of years, but no state has yet passed a law requiring parental notification for birth control. Some states leave it up to the discretion of the doctor, so you might want to make sure that you and your doctor are on the same page when it comes to informing your parents.
After you talk, the doctor will examine your breast and show you how to do a monthly self-exam (to check for lumps).
Next, you'll have to rest your feet in the stirrups (metal U-shapes) with your legs spread. This allows the doctor the right vantage point to see what needs to be seen. The physician sees dozens of vulvas a day and is completely unfazed by them.
|
