Could I have been abused?

[Anonymous]

When I was 7 or so, I woke up with a red mark in my pelvic area, on the left side between my torso and thigh. I couldn't walk, and just so happened to have a doctors appointment that day. I was desperate to show I was fine because I didn't want to go to the doctor (typical kid) I was holding the wall and still limping.

The doctors drew my blood, but I just realized that it's odd they never did ant testing for assault. They said it was caused by me not eating enough yogurt (a prebiotic deficiency maybe? My mom just told me I need more yogurt) but my mom didn't seem convinced either. This is a medical mystery that I wonder about pretty often, and I can never think what it could be. I'm doing classes for childcare work and we're told warning signs... it kinda set off a red light for me for SA. When I look this stuff up, I can't find anything online about it as a medical explanation.

[laraWM]

Yes, it's possible. Could you talk to a psychologist, it could help you to find out?

[Anonymous]

I'm no medical professional, but can you elaborate on what sort of red mark?

[Asker]

It looked like a rash, it was oval and the size of my hand at the time

[Opinion Owner]

I can't really think of anything abuse-related that it could be. Like, if they seemed like tight rope-marks, that'd spark suspicion.

You say you woke up with it and then after that went to the doctors, so it's not like you woke up at the doctors (which would explain a doctor disregarding abuse signs since in that case he might be the abuser).

Considering the doctor almost certainly isn't the potential abuser, I have a hard time believing a doctor would see signs of abuse and then disregard it. If he did think it was abuse and disregarded it, that'd mean he either didn't want to bother or he supports abuse. Both seem unlikely to me, personally.

Though, you say you couldn't walk and you were still limping? Was that due to a prior incident or did you wake up and were suddenly having difficulty walking? Because if that was a sudden development, that could be concerning.

You mentioned not seeing any medical explanations online, but have you come across any SA explanations?

Lastly, I hope this doesn't come across as dismissive. I'm not trying to dismiss your feelings, I'm merely being honest about what I think, and secondarily I hope my perspective might even help relieve you of this concern you're having.

[InsectHusk]

Ask a doctor. Most of us aren't