Please help

Posted by mylaptop123 @mylaptop123, Sep 17, 2019

I have been feeling very disturbed since I met my new physician last evening. I was there to just consult whether I had to continue my thyroid medication which I started a month ago. My TSH was 15 on August and after medication it was 7 yesterday. I mentioned about sudden palpitations which lasted for 3 days last month.

The physician told me that it might be due to stress about which I agree as well. The most important thing is when I asked him about if I need to concerned about my heart. He placed stethoscope on my upper left side few inches below clavicle, then placed stethoscope directly on both nipples of my breast one by one. This made me very very uncomfortable. I had visited cardiologist last month but the cardiologist never kept his stethoscope at my nipples.
I feel like I should report him. So, I want to know if it is necessary to keep stethoscope directly nipples of both breasts of a female.

Please let me know. I am unable to sleep as I felt abused.

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@mylaptop123
Hi there,
Itā€™s awful you had to be subjected to what Iā€™d consider abuse. To answer your question No, I agree he shouldnā€™t have done that. When Iā€™ve been with my mom Ive seen the nurse lift her left breast under her blouse or a gown and other times go under her blouse but never touched her nipples nor were her breastā€™s exposed. In the first place all that breast tissue is going to make hearing the heart sounds more difficult. There are some nurses here that Iā€™m sure will be along to explains proper placement.
I would call the the County Medical Society although your State licensing board might be a better place. But the nurses will probably have better guidance than I do. When I reported a doctor to the County Medical Society they didnā€™t believe me even though I had irrefutable proof of his incompetence, however we did prevail in court. In our experiences doctors support doctors and arenā€™t interested in facts.
I wish you luck,
Jake

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@mylaptop123 NO the Dr. should never check a lady with the stethoscope on her nipples . Nor expose her breast . I would report him to the AMA . American Medical Association. To hear your heart is done just on the left side only never your nipple and no exposure of your breast.

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@mylaptop123- I can understand why you are upset. I have been abused as a young teenager by a doctor. He rubbed himself up against me. Doctors actually can place a stethoscope anywhere within a certain area. Although I have never had a doctor place a stethoscope on my nipple, it really depends on where they are on your body. If you have very small breasts then perhaps your nipples were within the area to put a stethoscope. There are several sounds that doctors listen for and can only be listened to in certain places. Did your doctor put the stethoscope anywhere else on your chest?

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@jakedduck1

@mylaptop123
Hi there,
Itā€™s awful you had to be subjected to what Iā€™d consider abuse. To answer your question No, I agree he shouldnā€™t have done that. When Iā€™ve been with my mom Ive seen the nurse lift her left breast under her blouse or a gown and other times go under her blouse but never touched her nipples nor were her breastā€™s exposed. In the first place all that breast tissue is going to make hearing the heart sounds more difficult. There are some nurses here that Iā€™m sure will be along to explains proper placement.
I would call the the County Medical Society although your State licensing board might be a better place. But the nurses will probably have better guidance than I do. When I reported a doctor to the County Medical Society they didnā€™t believe me even though I had irrefutable proof of his incompetence, however we did prevail in court. In our experiences doctors support doctors and arenā€™t interested in facts.
I wish you luck,
Jake

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Hello!
Thank you for your reply. I googled whole night about proper use of stethoscope for checking heart beat in female. I even checked videos but like you mentioned earlier it should have been done in another way šŸ™ In order to be sure, I posted here. Iā€™m still very disturbed. Iā€™m an Asian . I think I should report it to Medical Association here. I hope no female has to go through what I unfortunately faced.

My dad was with me 5 minutes ago when I was waiting for a check up. I thought I would be safe like at the previous hospital where I was checked by a male cardiologist before. He never lowered his stethoscope around my sensitive areas. So, I told dad to pick up mom from the market. It was a grave mistake of mine.
I would never visit a male doctor alone from now onwards. I was wearing a loose official dress as I came right from office there. Never had I thought I would be abused like that šŸ™ He even did not ask permission for using stethoscope there . Other doctors would say like ā€œ Iā€™m gonna use stethoscope for this purpose ā€œ.

It happened all of sudden. I still canā€™t think straight ļŒ

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@lioness

@mylaptop123 NO the Dr. should never check a lady with the stethoscope on her nipples . Nor expose her breast . I would report him to the AMA . American Medical Association. To hear your heart is done just on the left side only never your nipple and no exposure of your breast.

Jump to this post

Thank you for your reply. I would report to the medical association here.

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Thank you for your reply. He placed it at upper left side few inches below clavicle. Then, that incident happened šŸ™ I'm sure now that he abused me šŸ™ I must report him.

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@mylaptop123

Hello!
Thank you for your reply. I googled whole night about proper use of stethoscope for checking heart beat in female. I even checked videos but like you mentioned earlier it should have been done in another way šŸ™ In order to be sure, I posted here. Iā€™m still very disturbed. Iā€™m an Asian . I think I should report it to Medical Association here. I hope no female has to go through what I unfortunately faced.

My dad was with me 5 minutes ago when I was waiting for a check up. I thought I would be safe like at the previous hospital where I was checked by a male cardiologist before. He never lowered his stethoscope around my sensitive areas. So, I told dad to pick up mom from the market. It was a grave mistake of mine.
I would never visit a male doctor alone from now onwards. I was wearing a loose official dress as I came right from office there. Never had I thought I would be abused like that šŸ™ He even did not ask permission for using stethoscope there . Other doctors would say like ā€œ Iā€™m gonna use stethoscope for this purpose ā€œ.

It happened all of sudden. I still canā€™t think straight ļŒ

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@mylaptop123- I'm with you and saddened that you experienced this. One time I was in the ER and on the table being prepped for some hand surgery. The nurse was short and didn't bother to use a step stool. She didn't walk around the table, but instead put the tags on me to monitor my heart and she couldn't help but feel everything on my chest. I spoke to my doctor and wrote a letter to the head nurse. Step stools and precautionary measures are now taken, although I do not go there anymore for surgery.
Before you leave the hospital can you find out where you might make a complaint? Or return and make one?

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@mylaptop123

Thank you for your reply. I would report to the medical association here.

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@mhylaptop123- By all means do what you must. You can describe in detail everything that he did and how he touched you, like did he linger or make any suggestive other jestures. Will you let me know what happens?

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@mylaptop123 You have great responses here. I have nothing to add except support for you, and agreement that the doctor was way out of line.
Please do report him. It's amazing and upsetting to me that some doctors think they can get away with improprieties like this.
JK

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Hi @mylaptop123, I agree with the comments that you've received from other members that there is no need to place the stethoscope on a patient's nipples during a cardiac auscultation (listening to the heart with a stethoscope). Here is an article that outlines how a cardiac auscultation should be performed while respecting the patient. You probably found this during your own online search too.
https://www.wikihow.com/Perform-a-Cardiac-Auscultation

Trust between you and your doctor is of the utmost importance as you manage your health and medical concerns. It sounds like you will need to continue seeing a doctor for your medical concerns (thyroid issues and heart palpitations), and you lack confidence in your new doctor. Are there other doctors in your area you can change to? Are you still experiencing the heart palpitations?

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