Answerbox: Turn and Cough!

Dear Answerbox: why do I have to "turn my head and cough" at the doctor?

Honestly, I always thought this was a testicle thing, but it's not! If you are not of the male species, or a male what's never had a physical (which is unacceptable - contact me if you need help finding an affordable physical), there comes a point in a testicular exam where gents are asked by their health provider to "turn their head and cough". Although there's a hand all up in a guy's junk when this happens, the only connection to balls at all is that the top of the scrotum is a good place to check for what they're looking for: hernias!

"Yes, I'm an ophthalmologist...why do you ask?"

A hernia is a weakness in the abdominal muscle wall that can allow little bits of organs to slip through, which is HORRIFYING and WRONG. When a guy coughs, his abdominal muscles tense up all at once and can make hernias more evident to someone who knows what to feel for. The head turning is just so the doc's face isn't all germy from being coughed on all day.

Good to know!