The DRE is an important part of the exam, and one lots of men attempt to avoid, along with some doctors who are still not comfortable with it, or who think the man is too young to need it. The procedure itself is you drop your pants, bend over the exam table, the doc smears some lube on your anus, and his glove, he inserts one or two fingers into you, pointing them backwards toward your spine and feels/manipulates the prostate gland. Depending on the length of the fingers, he/she will feel as much of the gland as possible, feeling for rough patches, lumps and any other abnormalities. The exam is usually less than 30 seconds, seldom painful, usually mildly uncomfortable, but necessary for good health. You are usually left with a tissue to clean yourself, and a slight urge to defecate, which passes. By the way, if the doc is thinking he can use the residue on the gloved fingers to do a colo-rectal cancer smear and give you a 2fer.
Some doctors will preform the exam while the patient is lying on their side, legs drawn up in the fetal position. Patients with chronic prostatetis can also get a little temporary relief from the massage of the prostate, which can press out some of the infection. That being one of the ways that relief is obtained from chronic prostatetis. But that may be too much information....lol