Should i have a rectal exam

But "small" doesn't mean I escaped carefree. I had a near-microscopic cancer in a single core -- 1 mm long, with a low-risk Gleason 6. Seen once, never seen again. I go to the urologist twice a year.

I once wrote a story about researchers working with female primates who were trained to present for gynecologic tests. I feel something like that undergoing my biennial DREs. DREs were a key to diagnosing prostate cancer maybe back 30, 40 years ago before the era of PSAs and magnetic resonance exams.

Patients today whose cancer first is diagnosed based on a DRE apparently are rare, and they have more advanced cancers large enough to be felt on the exam.

These days, prostate cancer typically, but not always, is found early before things get to that point with biopsies and magnetic resonance imaging scans. I have found DREs mildly and momentarily uncomfortable but a definitely uncomfortable subject, one tinged with grade-school sniggers and embarrassed red faces. I remember a sketch with two famed doctors, one a urologist and the other a medical oncologist, at a patient-oriented meeting last year in which gloves were snapped on and fingers waggled.

Everyone laughed. The new Netflix TV series, "The Kominsky Method," features Hollywood veteran Michael Douglas as an acting teacher, Sandy Kominsky, dealing with the vulnerabilities and infirmities of aging, including low-risk prostate cancer. Wise-ass urologist Dr. Wexler snaps his gloves and says to Kominsky: "You complete me. Although DRE has long been used to diagnose prostate cancer, no controlled studies have shown a reduction in the morbidity or mortality of prostate cancer when detected by DRE at any age.

The reviewers also gave bad marks to urologists: "Urologists have been found to have relatively low interrater agreement for detecting prostate abnormalities. I attended a lecture he gave about his work exposing malpractice in medical journalism. He is a long-time critic of the way health journalism is conducted with promises of breakthroughs and ignoring the cost of care.

We see eye to eye. I introduced myself afterward. He impressed me in part because without prompting he knew who I was and praised my then year-old book, The Serpent on the Staff: The Unhealthy Politics of the American Medical Association.

No wonder he's my hero. But there are other reasons: Schwitzer is disturbed about the lack of skepticism in news reports containing unverifiable quotes from patients claiming screening tests had saved their lives. Jerome Kassirer on New Book Signs of Scleroderma can-improv-help-doctors conversation-about-bedside-medicine-gains-momentum.

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Rick Hodes. Happy Halloween! What is it? An interesting illustration of the physical exam If you put your stethoscope over this, what will you hear? A rectal examination is where a doctor or nurse uses their finger to check for any problems inside your bottom rectum. It's usually very quick and you should not feel any pain. Men sometimes need a rectal examination to check for problems with the prostate.

Your doctor or nurse should explain what's going to happen and why you need a rectal examination. First, you'll be asked to undress from the waist down.