Create meetup in Berlinchevron_right
Select a place on the map to change the location.
I want to meet
Verified required?
want to meet at fmd_good Croquembouche
want to meet at fmd_good Market Square
want to meet at fmd_good Common Grounds
explore Berlin Guides
Berlin Hidden Gems (2026)
kirstin
Berlin on a Budget: Tips 2026
annette
Where to Stay in Berlin (2026)
frieda
3 Days in Berlin: Itinerary 2026
rabeakurth
Things to Do in Berlin (2026)
viktoria
Best Food in Berlin (2026)
bar_chart Trends in Berlin
Horrible experience at a doctor. What can I do?
I am writing here because I had a horrible experience at a doctor and I want to see if this happened to someone else and what did you do.
I went to a proctologist because I have a hemorrhoid… Hello,
I am writing here because I had a horrible experience at a doctor and I want to see if this happened to someone else and what did you do.
I went to a proctologist because I have a hemorrhoid problem and I wanted to get some consultation on what to do about it.
I don't have any health problems about it, though.
I went to a proctologist and explained my problem and explicitly told him that I think I might have anal stenosis.
The doctor told me to lay off because he needs to see inside my butt and do a proctoscopy.
He put his finger inside my butt, and it hurt because he forcefully did it. I told him that it hurts, and he then used a cream which is supposed to be an anesthesia.
Then he proceeded to do the proctoscopy and it hurt a lot! I screamed a bit and told him he is hurting me. He then tried to do it a bit slower. After he was done, he wiped me. At that moment I thought it was maybe stool, but apparently it was blood.
I am privately insured, and I was told I had to pay via credit card. Other people before me didn't pay on the spot. The invoice had a line where it says that I have to pay in the next 3 weeks and not on the spot, which seems a bit shady. I have never paid before on the spot. I was always mailed an invoice and paid via bank transfer. I am privately insured.
The doctor wanted to prescribe me one cream and suppository for the blood. I told him that I have no blood when going to the restroom. He then prescribed the cream only without saying anything.
On my way home, the anesthesia started going away, and I had A LOT OF pain. I get home and notice a lot of blood on my butt. It seems like this doctor caused an anal fissure. I have a lot of pain and my rectum is bleeding. I had an anal fissure a few years ago and I know the feeling. I hope this is just ONE fissure and not many. It does hurt a lot.
What should I do? What are my options?
I cannot prove, but I got a strange feeling from the doctor when I asked him to speak English. Also, there was no one when the doctor did the proctoscopy. I was at another doctor in the past and there was a nurse present.
As you can see, I am a foreigner in this country and I don't know what should I do now. Should I go to the hospital? How do I document that he caused me this? What can I do in this case? What are my rights? The pain is horrible. Please tell me if something like this happened to you and what did you do about it.
I am not asking for legal advice.
Thank you in advance.
Ugh, that sounds awful. For the immediate pain and bleeding, I'd honestly go to a Bereitschaftspraxis or even the emergency room at a hospital like Charite to get it checked out properly, just to be safe. For the billing issue, you can contact your private insurance and tell them the doctor demanded payment on the spot, that's not standard and they might flag it.
That sounds really rough. First off, for the bleeding and pain right now, you should go to a Notaufnahme or a Bereitschaftspraxis tonight. The Charite or Vivantes emergency rooms are your best bet in Berlin, they handle stuff like this.
For the billing thing, that's not normal even for private patients. Most doctors mail you a Rechnung and you transfer it within 30 days. Paying with credit card on the spot is a red flag, I'd call your insurance and ask if that practice has any complaints against them.
You can also file a formal Beschwerde with the Kassenarztliche Vereinigung Berlin. They handle complaints about doctors, and they take stuff like this seriously. You don't need a lawyer for that, just write down what happened with dates and times.
And yeah, a nurse should have been present during a proctoscopy. That's standard practice here, especially for intimate exams. You're not overreacting.
if you want to report this, the Landesamt fur Gesundheit und Soziales in berlin handles complaints about doctors too, not just the kv. i'd also recommend getting a second opinion at a proctology practice that specifically mentions 'schmerztherapie' or 'minimalinvasive' on their website, a lot of the older ones in berlin are rough with procedures. for the billing, check if the invoice has a 'Gebuhrennummer' from the GOA, if it's weird or missing your insurance can refuse to reimburse it. and honestly, a nurse should've been there for that exam, that's standard practice here, you could mention that in any complaint you file
What is the correct spelling for a street name that appears differently on multiple signs in Charlottenburg?
Worth noting that Berlin street names have official umlaut and ß rules that trip people up, so a sign showing "Strasse" versus "Straße" is not actually a spelling error, just an older transcription. Same with "ue" versus "ü" (e.g. "Kantstrasse" vs "Kantstraße"), both are considered valid renderings and you'll see the ß version on the blue Schilder and the ss version on older plaques or in databases that predate Unicode. If the difference you're seeing is between those two forms, there's nothing to fix and both are technically correct.
if the signs u mean are the old enamel ones on the house facades those are often protected as Baudenkmal so nobody's allowed to correct them even if the spelling is outdated. the binding version is whatever is in the Berliner Strassenverzeichnis plus the entry in the Liegenschaftskataster, so if u tell me the street i can point u to the right Bezirksamt Mitte or Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf page. tbh the merged district thing is real but the facade signs are a separate story, theyre basically museum pieces at this point
honestly thats super common in Charlottenburg, the district offices were merged from older Bezirke and nobody ever fixed all the Schilder. if its a real street you can check the official strassenverzeichnis on berlin.de, that list is what the Burgeramt actually goes by. which street is it? some of the Kaiserdamm / Kantstrasse signs are notorious for this.
load 1 more reply