Make The Most Of Your Doctors’ Appointment

I hear it time and time again in my Osteopathic practice – people go and see a doctor about either themselves or their children, they agree to any proposed plan(s) or treatments, don’t ask any questions and leave, often with worries and unanswered questions. I also hear all too often that the symptoms are persisting but they don’t know what to do next.

It can be very stressful at the doctors can’t it?  You might be going because you’re afraid you’re dying, you know you’re going to have to show them your bottom or, as you walk in you see it’s the doctor you REALLY don’t like and you know you’re just not going to get anywhere.  It’s also particularly difficult if the appointment is about your child because if they’re the wiggly sort, or terribly ill, your mind quite frankly is on the child, not what the doctor is saying. We all know there’s only a finite amount of time with the doctor, we may or may not fully understand what’s being said to us and often you need a certain amount of knowledge to be able to ask questions.

So what’s the solution?

I’ve put a few pointers together, which I hope might help you make the most of your doctors’ appointment and do remember, your doctor is a normal person. As they only have ten minutes to listen, examine and write any prescriptions they have to write down or enter into the database what you’re saying as you’re saying it. It’s incredibly unnerving talking to someone who’s so blatantly ‘not listening’ (their back might be to you and they’re almost certainly not looking at you) and all your experience with this display of body language tells you to gabble your piece and run. Tell yourself you’re just dictating a script to them and try not to be intimidated by it!

They just need to know these main things initially:

• Where is the pain or any other symptoms you might have?
• How long have you had it?
• Is it getting better or worse?
• Have you had it before and if so when? (giving a rough ‘X’ years / months / weeks is fine).

Then they’ll ask you questions, which you just answer as best you can.  If you don’t know the answer to any of them don’t feel bad about it, just say you don’t know.  If you or your child has a chronic condition then it might be helpful to take your folder of letters to make it easier for you to hand over your medical history or refer back to during the conversation.

If you don’t feel your symptoms are resolving, then really push for a referral to a specialist / another specialist / someone from another discipline altogether. It’s perfectly possible that the person you’re speaking to just doesn’t personally know what the problem is but that doesn’t mean there isn’t one! For example, it’s NOT normal for babies / children / adults to suffer from permanent diarrhea but the diagnoses I’ve heard people being given has been downright extraordinary. Don’t accept ‘infant diarrhoea, oh they’ll grow out of it, it’s just how it is for children’ etc. That really isn’t getting to the cause of the issue is it?  I wrote a post on this very issue called The Sickly Child…please do read it if you have a moment.

I’d also say always always ask if there’s any other discipline that might be able to help you. E.g. if you have muscle or joint pain an Osteopath is highly likely to be able to resolve your symptoms fairly quickly and if they can’t they will refer you back to your GP with a suggestion of which specialist you might need to see; if you have ongoing diarrhoea and cramps then you could see a Nutritionist and / or a Naturopath.  You may wish to try homeopathy or herbal therapy.  You may find counselling and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) or Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) just the thing.  None of us know everything and it really is a team effort using skills and knowledge from all sorts of disciplines sometimes.  The doctor may not be able to recommend a discipline or particular practice but that doesn’t mean they can’t help you.  Try a session and see if it helps.  The proof is in the pudding I always say.

If a doctor gives you a proposed diagnosis, writing it down can be helpful BUT remember it may not actually be this (unless they’re telling you it is after doing all the relevant tests). It may just be something they think it is and time will tell / they want to see how it responds to a certain type of treatment.

If you are someone who walks into a GP surgery and comes out feeling all flustered and cross with yourself, you may find this list of questions helpful to take in with you to jog your memory: 

• What are the expected timescales for getting better?
• Is it contagious and at what stage is it considered not to be? (so useful to know when your child can go back to school or nursery)
• When should you come back if no improvement is seen?
• Is it likely to get worse before it gets better? (helpful to know so you don’t go back in unnecessarily)
• Why do they want to do the tests they suggest? (If you don’t understand, tell them and ask them to explain again in a different way).
• Is there more than one treatment option?
• What are the consequence of not treating? Knowledge is a good thing…
• You may want to know if there’s any current research you can read or where to go to find some…
• You may need to know if any lifestyle changes required? i.e. Is it ok to try for a baby? Can you continue with any supplements or drugs you’re taking? Can you go abroad?
• Do they have an email address you can contact them on if needs be?  Consultants these days often offer up their email addresses and are relatively responsive.  Often a quick question and answer correspondence will negate the need for an appointment, which is great for all concerned.

Medicine is a wonderful discipline and has advanced so much in recent years. We really are so lucky to be alive today with all the medical knowledge that exists now!

Just incase you ever want to pursue the ‘seeing a specialist’ option but aren’t sure who does what:

LIST OF MEDICAL SPECIALTIES –
(taken from McLaren Health Advantage)