Hi, I Visited The Endocrinologist On Monday For The Third

Posted on Thu, 21 Nov 2019

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Wed, 20 Nov 2019 Answered on

Last reviewed on

Question : Hi, I visited the endocrinologist on Monday for the third time. The first time, I went with my partner and he did an exam on my thyroid and lower abdomen. The second time, however, I was alone and the doctor ended up doing some sort of breast exam. I was uncomfortable after that because I have a history of sexual abuse so I didn't see him until a few days ago. My partner and I were fighting, so I went alone and again the endocrinologist did a very strange breast exam. He focused like one minute on my actually thyroid glands but mainly the visit I was very uncomfortable because for one, he didn't ask if I needed a nurse present of the same sex and for two, he didn't explain why he was doing the things he was doing. Like, he had me stand up and pull my shirt up and stared at me with my shirt up. What I'm asking is, what is a typical exam supposed to consist of because I am very sure that he took advantage of me but I wanted to see if that was normal or not

Answered by Dr. Mirjeta Guni (-5 hours later)

Brief Answer:
About breast exam;

Detailed Answer:
Hello and thank you for asking!
I have gone carefully through your concern.

An endocrinologist can do a breast exam to see for nipple discharge.

In patients with the irregular menstrual cycle, one of the causes can be a high prolactin level and is manifested with milk production out of pregnancy or breastfeeding. Milk discharge while squeezing the nipple is an indicator of high prolactin levels.

That is why an Endocrinologist performs this physical examination.

Hope the information will help.

Best wishes,
Dr.Mirjeta

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Arnab Banerjee

Follow up: Dr. Mirjeta Guni (5 minutes later)

So is there any other reason why an endocrinologist would perform a breast exam?

Answered by Dr. Mirjeta Guni (7 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
About breast exam;

Detailed Answer:
Hi again,

Well, "lege artis" every physician should do a detailed physical examination including breast examination but practically a specialist is focused on the pathologies and the above mentioned is an endocrinological pathology.

So legally it may not be considered malpractice but a second medical staff should be present.

Regards,
Dr. Mirjeta

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Arnab Banerjee