Tips
For Parents of Teenagers
Parents often want their children
to go to doctors for checkups and certain problems, but they
fail to think about how their teenage children may feel about
modesty in medical settings and having opposite sex doctors
and nurses for certain procedures that are intimate. Many adolescents
are very sensitive about the opposite sex seeing certain parts
of their body because they are undergoing a lot of changes.
Most adolescent girls don't feel comfortable letting their male
pediatricians see certain parts of their body. Many girls don't
even like to discuss personal matters such as periods and breast
growth with their male doctors. There is usually no need for
teenage girls to have pap smears if they are virgins.
Check out our article about virgins and pap smears. Sometimes,
virgin girls have problems such as abnormal heavy menstrual
periods, severe cramps, or large ovarian cysts that need to
be taken care of. It is best that you find a female
ob/gyn for her if she has some gynecological problems
that needs to be addressed. Be willing to drive
as far as you have to find a good female ob/gyn for your daughter
if there are no good female ob/gyns where you live.
Many teenage girls have been
traumatized by having intimate examinations by male doctors.
Many teenage girls are uncomfortable with strange men including
doctors touching certain parts of their bodies. Some teenage
girls have made a commitment to save sex until marriage and
they also feel that their future husband should be the only
man in the world who can see and touch certain parts of their
body after puberty.
Many teenage girls are even
uncomfortable discussing personal matters such as their menstrual
periods, breast health, and some other female health issues
with their male pediatricians.
Help your teenage child to think
in advance about what parts of her/his body need to be examined
before she/he goes to the doctor. For example, if your teenage
daughter has an elbow injury, it would be best if she could
wear a short sleeved shirt instead of a long sleeved shirt so
she would not have to take her shirt off. Remember that it is
unnecessary for a girl to take off her shirt for the doctor
to listen to her heart. If she wears a sweater, she should have
a thin shirt under it. Encourage your teenage children to speak
up about what they want in regard to their modesty in medical
settings no matter how hard it is. Make sure they know that
they have the right to decide if they want same gender nurses
or doctors for certain things and that they can refuse to take
clothes off for certain procedures or even refuse certain procedures.
Be sensitive to the fact that
your teenage son may not want female nurses around when he has
certain examinations or procedures that would expose his male
organs. It is very normal for a man to be modest. There are
many men who want only male nurses and doctors for certain procedures.
Many teenage boys have been traumatized by the sports physical
examinations they've had to have in order to play sports at
school. Please check out an article, Are
Breast / Genital Exams Necessary for Sports Physicals?
If your child want an all same
gender team for certain procedures or surgeries, work hard to
advocate for his/her wishes no matter how hard it is. Your teenage
child will appreciate your sensitivity to his/her needs for
modesty.
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