When I was a teenager there was some concern that my rate of growth might not be fast enough. My parents booked me in as an out-patient, not having to stay, just visiting for an examination and possible treatment at the local hospital.
On the day of my appointment I was told to make sure that I washed all over because I would have to take my clothes off. I was going to the hospital with my mother, before going on to school afterwards for the rest of the day.
On the way to the hospital I could think about nothing else except what clothes I would have to take off. I decided (hopefully) that my mother was exaggerating and she just wanted me clean all over to be sure. I was still a very worried boy though. I was also worried that my mother might see me. You probably remember that at this age things like this are enormously significant. There was also the possibility of a blood test and I was scared of the needle. Injections terrified me.
When we arrived at the hospital there was a long wait and all through this I could think of nothing except injections and the possibility of having to strip in front of my mother.
Eventually we went into the doctor’s room. The doctor was a woman and she had a female nurse. At first, I sat down in a chair with my mother and the doctor and there was a short discussion, which I can’t really remember.
After a while I had to remove my shoes to have my height measured. Then I was weighed and I had to take off my school blazer for this. Weighing involved sitting in a kind of chair while sliding weights were adjusted. I remember how complicated the whole setup looked. I decided that my fears of stripping were ungrounded. After all - I had been weighed and measured and surely that was all they needed?
Wrong. (Of course - right? Otherwise I would be in a forum about NOT stripping…)
The doctor said that she needed to exam me and take some other measurements. She told me to take off all my clothes except my underpants. I did as she asked, but I was totally shocked. I was now having the embarrassing medical experience that you hear about but would never ever actually happen to me.
I was soon in my vest and brief underpants. I had to sit on the examination couch and she lifted my vest to use a stethoscope on me, front and back.
After this I had to lie down for the other measurements. I can’t remember all of these. It involved things like lengths of arms, etc. Most of it was fairly mundane, but apparently needed me to be undressed. My vest was rolled up for this, so that I had a bare stomach.
After a few minutes the doctor told me that she was going to measure “the lower segment”. She took hold of my briefs by the waistband and started to pull them down. She did not pull them all the way down. She stopped when they were just at the top of my penis. This meant that I was technically still covered up. In reality, my groin was exposed. I lifted my head and looked down. I could see my bare hips and groin, and the creases on each side of my groin. If my underpants went down another couple of millimeters I would be properly exposed.
The shock was too much. I felt naked and I could no longer lie flat. I started to bend my right leg in a futile effort to cover my groin. The doctor laughed (not nastily - quite gently actually) and said she needed me flat to measure the lower segment.
She positioned one end of the tape measure at my feet and the other end at the top of the crease in my crotch (i.e. where my leg started.
Before she could measure I bent my leg again, making it impossible for her to measure me. I wanted to cooperate - it just felt like I had no control. Eventually she got the measurement (or gave up!) and I was allowed to dress.
I was to be monitored for a year or two and an appointment was made for another checkup in a few months. These medicals were, if anything, worse.
The memory has stayed with me since. I know that this was quite mild, but when it happened it was a really big shock of not being able to believe what was being done to me variety. The worst aspect of it was that my mother knew what I had had done to me. I felt very awkward about it when I was coming out of the hospital with her.
I think the strangest thing about it was that adults always impress the importance of modesty on children. Being in a situation where the same adults see fit to strip you is very different from normal life.