S E16: Ep 16 – Got a medical appointment? How to get the most from it…

Hello and welcome to the Pain Free Living Podcast with me, your host, Bob Allen.

And what I'm going to talk to you about today is if you have a pain problem, if you have an issue that involves getting involved with someone in the medical profession, whether it's privately or through, if you live in the uk, the nhs, one of the things that I see is people that are in pain, that have been to somebody in the medical profession and they come in to see me and they still don't really know what's going on.

One of the issues is that when you're talking to a healthcare professional who talks in jargon and they talk about, or they talk quite generically like they talk, they'll say things like sciatica or frozen shoulder or, I don't know, osteoarthritis is a good one.

So they'll throw a lot of names at you, but they don't necessarily relate that name to what's actually going on with you as a person.

And I know because I've met a few people that have been in a consultation and the consultant and sometimes a GP will throw a lot of words at them and they'll look at the GP or whoever it is and they'll nod and they'll smile and I say, yeah, absolutely, I understand all of that and I know exactly what you're going to do.

And then they'll walk out of that consultation room or they'll come and see me and they'll say, I have no idea.

Because it can be very difficult to concentrate on what somebody's talking about, especially if they use jargon, medical speak or language that you don't really understand.

One of the key things that I do is I very rarely if ever talk in jargon, because there's no point, because people don't understand it.

And I always try and evolve the person that I'm talking to, because any kind of medical treatment is a two way thing.

It's not me doing something to you, it's me working with you to get the best outcome for you.

So if you do have an appointment with someone, with someone in the healthcare profession, then little things that I would suggest are that if you can go into that appointment with someone else, because while you're there nodding and looking like you understand and take some of it in, but not all of it, you've got somebody else there who potentially could be taking notes and then when you get outside of that consultation, you can compare notes and you can say, well, this is what I thought.

And they can say, no, all he said was this.

So if you can take somebody to the appointment, do that.

If you can't, ask if it's okay to record the session or make some notes yourself and then you can kind of take it at your pace.

So if they say something you don't understand, you can have a little pause and say, okay, can I just write that down?

What was that term that you used?

And then that way you get a better understanding of what they're saying.

The other thing you can do is don't be afraid to ask questions.

If they say something that you don't understand, ask them.

If they then repeat something that you don't understand, ask them again.

Unfortunately, particularly in the healthcare sector, people will throw around terms, technical terms, which they don't necessarily understand themselves.

If they can't explain it to you, then that means they don't really understand it.

So if they keep throwing that information at you, just make a note of it and then when you're done with the session, go away, look it up and then you'll have a better understanding exactly what's going on.

The other thing before you go to your session is try and keep a little diary of your symptoms.

So going up or downstairs makes the pain worse.

If you're sat and you're driving and that makes the pain worse, try and make a note of those things because that always helps the healthcare person to then, then build a better picture of what's going on and they can give you better advice because they have a better understanding, because you don't always remember these things when you're in that, your 15 minute GP appointment, because they have a lot of things to get through in that, in that time span.

Other things you can do, you can ask about whether there's any alternatives.

If you've been on a medication for a couple of weeks or a month and it's not making a difference, make sure you tell that medical person that that particular treatment isn't making a difference and ask them about their treatment plan.

Ask them what they're hoping to achieve through the medication that you're on, what they're hoping to achieve through the treatment process that they've proposed for you.

Don't be afraid to ask questions because as I said, any medical consultation is a two way thing.

It's not just them talking to you about what they're going to do, it's about them asking you what you want, what can they do to help you?

So, yeah, that's it really.

If you have got any kind of medical appointment coming up or you got somebody to see or you're going back to see them again, don't be afraid to ask questions, don't be afraid to take notes.

And if there's something that they say that you don't understand, seriously, don't be afraid to ask.

Anybody in the medical world that's worth their salt will take the time out to explain what's going on.

And if they don't, maybe it's time for a second opinion.

But yeah, so that's it really.

If you've got a medical appointment coming up, don't be afraid to go in there, don't be afraid to take somebody else in there with you, make notes and try and make that session as proactive as possible.

So, yeah, if you've got any questions, drop them in the comments below.

And if you've got any friends who are in that situation and they've had an appointment, they don't know what actually happened or what is going on.

Yeah, again, get, you know, play them as podcast, get them to get in touch.

Like I said, drop.

Got a note in the comments and then if I can help, I will.

So that's it for now.

See you at the next one.