What s Your Excuse For Not Visiting The Doctor When You Need To?

There are many professions that suffer derision and ridicule: accountants are mocked for their pedantic adherence to rules, lawyers for the natural slime that sticks to their skins, and dentists for being failed doctors. Then there are the professions that are lauded and whose virtues are praised to the skies: doctors, for instance. Medicine is an admirable profession to be sure, but when you think about it, do you really like your doctor?

The doctor-patient relationship is reportedly one of the most important that you'll ever have. If you would rather hack up a lung or live with undetermined paralysing pain than visit your doctor, perhaps you need to consider why.

Some of the most common excuses that people use to avoid going to the doctor include:

The expense. Regardless of whether you have a medical aid or not, all medical care is expensive. Many governments do what they can to subsidise the cost, but when you leave your doctor, your wallet is invariably lighter than when you went in.

The invincible complex. Hypochondriacs aside, people are usually astounded when they fall ill, as they never get sick, their bodies never fail them, and whatever it is will undoubtedly fade in the face of their naturally virile good health.

The time. Doctors are notorious for running late. It's not uncommon to be kept in the waiting room for an hour or even two, before you're moved to the consulting room, where you inevitably wait some more. In today's world where everything has to be done yesterday, who has the time to see a doctor?

The dislike. You get all kinds of doctors: the friendly kind, the strictly professional kind, the warm and caring, as well as the cold and aloof. But if your doctor's bedside manner makes your skin crawl, and you would rather cut off your arm with a blunt Swiss Army knife than let him or her look at you, much less touch you, it's time for a change. Don't give it a second thought, and whatever you do, don't feel bad about it.

The fear and the embarrassment.

We don't like to go to doctors because they see us at our most vulnerable. It's not just the nakedness (which is bad enough). It's not just the embarrassing lumps, bumps, and rashes, or the admission of human frailty (although that does play a part). It's that we go to our doctors expecting bad news. We go hoping that they will be able to help us, but secretly dreading that they can't.

More often than not, the three hours of your day, the impatience, and the awkwardness that a doctor's visit entails, does the trick. You get your prescription, you're told what to do to avoid a relapse, what to do in the case of relapse, and within a few days, maybe even hours, you feel better and don't know what all the fuss was about. At least until the next time, and the dread and procrastination power up all over again.

Don't play with your health, as ignorance is not bliss, and what you don't know can kill you. You might shrug lethargy and fatigue off as overwork and lack of sleep, meanwhile, your blood pressure climbs with every hour that passes, a time bomb, ticking off the days before unleashing a massive heart attack. In light of that, a visit to the doctor is not the end of the world, but not visiting one might be.

09 Jul 2008 08:53:09

Senate Vote on Doctor Fees Carries Risks for Republican McCain - Bloomberg

Nashville City Paper Senate Vote on Doctor Fees Carries Risks for Republican McCain Bloomberg - Republicans have stalled Democratic-backed legislation to reverse the 10.6 percent cut in doctors ' fees by reducing payments to insurance companies instead. ... Local doctors urge Congress to abandon Medicare cuts Democrats Still in Search of One More GOP Vote on Medicare Doctor ... Sununu defends doctors ' fee-cut vote -

More details: http://bloomberg.com/apps/news

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