Pelvic examination

A pelvic examination is an internal vaginal examination to check for any lumps, swelling or anything unusual in the pelvis.

The pelvis is the area of the body between the hips and the lower part of the body (abdomen). It contains:

• the womb, ovaries, cervix, fallopian tubes, vagina and the vulva
• the bladder
• parts of the bowel.

The doctor does the internal examination by gently putting 1 or 2 fingers of their hand into the vagina. They will be wearing gloves. They then feel around the vagina. While they are doing this, they may put their other hand flat on the tummy area (lower abdomen) and press down.

You will have a nurse with you during your examination. An internal examination should not be painful, but it may be uncomfortable. You may feel embarrassed during this examination. If you have questions or worries about this, tell the nurse or doctor. They can answer any questions you have.

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We want our information to be as clear as possible. To do this, we try to:

• use plain English
• explain medical words
• use short sentences
• use illustrations to explain text
• structure the information clearly
• make sure important points are clear.

We use gender-inclusive language and talk to our readers as ‘you’ so that everyone feels included. Where clinically necessary we use the terms ‘men’ and ‘women’ or ‘male’ and ‘female’. For example, we do so when talking about parts of the body or mentioning statistics or research about who is affected.

You can read more about how we produce our information here.