5 mistakes women make at the doctor's office

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5 mistakes women make at the doctor's office

Postby buttgirl » 15 May 2008, 12:13

CNN
5 mistakes women make at the doctor's office
Speak up in your doctor's office, experts urge If you tend to freeze up, take along a friend who can ask questions for you Internet research is fine, but don't overwhelm your doctor with printouts
By: Elizabeth Cohen
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- For 10 years, Barbara's gut told her she needed to get a new doctor for her daughter, and for 10 years, she didn't listen, even as her daughter got sicker and sicker.
The doctor had diagnosed irritable bowel syndrome when Barbara's daughter was 13. Day after day, year after year, she had bloody diarrhea.
At age 23, weighing just 112 pounds at 6 feet tall, her daughter became so sick and malnourished she ended up in the hospital. Barbara's intuition told her the doctor wasn't giving her daughter the right treatment, but she just couldn't tell him.
"It was like my tongue was bolted to my bottom mouth, and I couldn't get the words out. I didn't want to offend him. I was paralyzed," said Barbara, a high-ranking university administrator.
"I'm well-educated. I have a Ph.D. I make decisions easily, and I say 'no' easily. But in this situation, it was like I had a different personality. I felt like I'd reverted to childhood," she added. Empowered Patient: Watch more on doctor-office mistakes »
Research on women's interaction with doctors is limited, but a number of women's health experts say they had noticed trends among female patients that didn't see as frequently in men.
Feeling paralyzed and voiceless in the doctor's office is one of the major health care mistakes women make, says Dr. Christiane Northrup, author of "Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom: Creating Physical and Emotional Health and Healing."
"Even very well-educated women freeze up and don't speak up" in some cases, she said.
Here, from Northrup and other women's health specialists, are five mistakes women make at the doctor's office.
1. Women don't question doctors
"Being at a doctor's office often puts the patient in the position of 'child' and the doctor in a position of 'parent,' " Northrup said.
Northrup's solution: "Always take someone with you who will ask the questions you are afraid to ask."
When you're alone, Robin DiMatteo, a distinguished professor of psychology at the University of California, Riverside, has this suggestion. "Say to the doctor, 'I realize I don't have the medical skills that you do, but this doesn't make sense to me logically. Can we think this through together?'"
2. Women tend to over-research
According to the Pew Internet Project, women are more likely to look up health information on the Internet. In a telephone survey, 69 percent of women said they'd looked up information about a specific disease or condition, compared with 58 percent of men.
Although doing your own research is a good thing, Dr. Pamela Peeke says her female patients are more likely to become overwhelmed by what they read.
"Women are much more likely to come in with hundreds of pages of Internet printouts under their arms, and they've become convinced they have all sorts of diseases," she said.
The solution: Some experts recommend doing research on the Internet and writing down the most important points rather than carrying in numerous printouts. That way, you can have a more focused conversation with your doctor.
3. Women don't recognize gender bias
Several studies have shown that women's medical problems are more likely to be interpreted as emotional issues or complaining.
"You should recognize that there is doctor bias," advised Dr. Nieca Goldberg, author of "Women are Not Small Men." "You don't want to go to a doctor who says, 'Now, honey, it's not all that bad.'"
Goldberg says she remembers going to a doctor who made a remark like that. "I said, 'I don't think we'll be continuing this visit,' " she remembered.
4. Women interpret their own symptoms
Goldberg says she's seen this over and over again: Instead of just giving the doctor the facts, women sometimes also offer their own interpretations, which can put their own health at risk.
For example, she's seen women who are having heart attacks tell the doctor that they think it's just indigestion. "This could be dangerous if you're in the ER having a heart attack," Goldberg says. "You don't want to lead the doctor down the wrong path."
Goldberg's advice: Just state the facts, and let the doctor do the interpreting. There'll be time for questions afterwards if you think the doctor's diagnosis is wrong.
5. The mother of all mistakes: Women don't trust their intuition
This is what happened to Barbara, who asked that her last name not be used for fear of retribution from other doctors in her small town.
She says her gut told her that her daughter's doctor didn't have the right diagnosis. When she and her daughter finally found a new doctor, he said her daughter didn't have irritable bowel syndrome at all; she had ulcerative colitis.
Last year, surgeons removed her daughter's colon. Her bloody diarrhea is gone, and her daughter now weighs a healthy 158 pounds.
"There are literally hundreds of situations in which a woman's gut intuition is spot-on, but she talks herself out of it so as not to make waves," Northrup said. "We women are suckers for wanting to be loved."
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Re: 5 mistakes women make at the doctor's office

Postby cherylk » 15 May 2008, 14:23

Thanks for posting this article. I can really relate to numbers 2 and 5. Part of the problem is also, I think, that docs are conditioned in medical school to think they are smarter than the rest of us. I have two brother in law that are docs. I will try to minimize my "materials" the next time I go to a doc.
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Re: 5 mistakes women make at the doctor's office

Postby Fissulyna » 15 May 2008, 14:45

I think that major problem is that most choose medical school for money and prestige , not because they really love that job or working with people per se. They perform basic exams like mechanic does for a broken car and by deduction make "estimate" of what went wrong. Rarely one will find doctor who will look at patient as a person and go into detail- do their own research or , God forbid, ask a colleague for sec. opinion. And even more rarely one will find a doctor who truly keeps himself up to date with new research and is taking additional courses or seminars and really finds a satisfaction in solving complicated cases.
Although my brain sometimes shuts off during painful exams I do not hesitate to ask anything or go for second opinion - it should be a golden rule for everybody !!! I happen to have rare conditions such as Fibromyalgia and Burning Mouth Syndrome and if I did not do research of my own I would probably still be without correct diagnosis and correct treatment - actually I would probably go insane from all that pain ....
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Re: 5 mistakes women make at the doctor's office

Postby juney » 15 May 2008, 15:04

i'm definitely guilty of 2 and 4. i do so much research on my symptoms that by the time i reach the drs office i'm basically just telling them what's wrong with me w/o even listening to them or letting them carry out their exams. that can be helpful in the case of incompetent drs, but harmful when i'm wrong. then i work myself up over nothing and cause more problems for myself
i agree w/ fiss though, a lot of drs don't even seem to care about their patients, they're just in it for the $$ and prestige...
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Re: 5 mistakes women make at the doctor's office

Postby Guest » 15 May 2008, 15:05

Intresting Image
Yes same here Fiss, i am not hesistant in asking !!
Very guilty of no5 too !
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Re: 5 mistakes women make at the doctor's office

Postby cherylk » 15 May 2008, 15:59

I want to come to the defense of my Mayo docs!! My Mayo CRS doc has returned my calls to her twice--one time after being in surgery all day, and my Mayo GI doc returned my call the last time within 2 hours after I called. Those are probably the exceptions, rather than the rule, but possibly some docs do really care about their patients--let's hope so!! I am sure that many get into the profession for the prestige and $$$, however, and I have certainly encountered my share of docs that are arrogant which is quite annoying.
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Re: 5 mistakes women make at the doctor's office

Postby Fissulyna » 15 May 2008, 16:57

All of my doctors always returned calls - that is their job - I do not see that as "special" LOL - but I am sure that Mayo doctors are special !
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Re: 5 mistakes women make at the doctor's office

Postby cherylk » 15 May 2008, 17:01

Mayo docs are probably not any more special. My Mayo GI doc helped my digestive issue after no one else would. That is why he is special to me. If he had been in my area, I would feel the same way about him.
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Re: 5 mistakes women make at the doctor's office

Postby Fissulyna » 15 May 2008, 17:06

I thought you were defending Mayo docs Image , sorry for misunderstanding.
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Re: 5 mistakes women make at the doctor's office

Postby Guest » 15 May 2008, 17:18

I like Christine Northrup but I don't see what is wrong with doing your own research and bringing materials to support your concerns. I find that I am the educator in many situations with Pudendal Neuralgia and am more up to date on treatments and stats than some doctors are.

I have really only had a few doctors give me the benefit of the doubt and trust my intuition and judgement. I am working on not crying if I feel like I am being misunderstood.
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