7 Questions Doctors Really Wish You Would Ask Them

Going to a doctor can be a whirlwind as you wait forever, your appointment flied by and then suddenly you are on your way home. Probably, this is when all those question you meant to ask pop into your head! And the same is also true of your doc-there’s a lot which is left unsaid on both sides during the rushed appointments. But this doesn’t need to be the case. You should remember asking the question below to your doctor as it will help you to stay on top of your health. After all, if you don’t bring them up, probably your doc won’t either.

1. Did you wash your hands?

This is something you should really ask nicely. Even if doctor tell you to wash up all the time, that doesn’t mean they heed their own advice. As per few sources, docs follow proper hygiene practices only 30 to 40 percent of the time. Researchers in a newly presented study for the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology have found that the healthcare providers who knew they were being watched were more likely to grab the soap. It may be an uncomfortable topic for broaching but this could save you from getting sick. So you can always soften it by saying, “I know, it seems crazy to ask you but I am just so paranoid!”

2. Could this be a heart attack?

If you are saddled with pressure or discomfort in the chest, shortness of breath, dizziness or nausea then these are a few signs of a heart attack. It is critical that you should act as your own advocate to your doctor. Often it takes persistence to get life saving help! About 30 percent of the heart attack sufferers have received the wrong diagnosis that has increased their risk of dying and women were about 59% more likely to be misdiagnosed. You should describe the symptoms very clearly, calmly and specifically using the phrase, “I’ve never felt like this before” as this will help the docs to diagnose you correctly. You may even need to ask if you are having a heart attack or request an ECG or a blood test.

3. How is my weight?

Do not assume you are in the clear just because your doctor don’t say anything about your weight. They are likely to not bring up this touchy subject themselves. The topic of BMI is ignored nearly half of the visits and about 70 percent of obese patient’s weren’t diagnosed as obese. If you know that you’ve gained or lost more weight than comfortable, do not be afraid to open up the discussion since your doc is likely to have ideas on where to start.

4. Can the nurse see me?

With the growing doctor shortage, it is more difficult than ever to get an appointment and sometimes you need to be seen like when you come down with the nasty cough or the mysterious rash. In most states across the US, the nurse practitioners can evaluate, diagnose patients and prescribe medications.

5. Is it normal to feel this way?

Whether there are problems with your in-laws, a health scare in the family or financial worries are making you feel down you do not discredit those feelings. Although there’s a push for more docs to screen for depression, the symptoms aren’t always obvious during an appointment, when you are there for a completely different reason.

6. What kind of sunscreen do you recommend?

Slathering SPF every day is one of the most powerful measures for protecting your skin from cancer. Doing so will decrease your risk of melanoma which is the most deadly form by up to 73%. It is even crazy to think, that the doctors keep mum on this subject. But they do looking at 18.3 billion patient visits over a period of 20 years, doctors mentioned about sunscreen less than one percent of the time, even if the patient had a prior skin cancer. Talk to your doctor which is the first step to practice good sun protective behaviours.

7. Can I use this app?

As soon as you feel the sniffle, you will probably hit up Dr. Google or a symptom checker app to figure out what is going wrong. However, you should be cautious with these tools as some have shown to be highly inaccurate. Docs don’t know about every app out there, but it is worth to ask about your go to that way you won’t need to be convinced that you probably need leg amputation when it’s actually just a bee sting.

Source:

https://healthcareandbeautytricks.wordpress.com/2016/08/05/top-5-questions-must-ask-for-your-lasik-surgeon/