Simple Yet Effective Recommendations For Your Next Doctor’s Appointment

Unless you are God’s chosen one, you would have had a couple of medical issues that would have sent you to a hospital or doctor’s chamber. A doctor’s appointment is a crucial meeting where, in all likelihood, you are stressed and in physical pain or discomfort. In such a situation it is only human to be in a state where you are not able to say everything or are forgetting vital info. Additionally, many of us are worried about our symptoms and the possible diagnosis. This may make our ability to paint an accurate picture on the spot less efficient. As a doctor’s daughter and someone with her own set of health issues, I would suggest some simple steps here to ensure that you are fully prepped for your appointment and can maximize its value:

1. Write a note before seeing your doctor.

Noting down key points before your appointment helps to organize your medical information and allows greater clarity. Consider elaborating on the subheadings given below:

a. the problem- the symptoms, intensity, the activities/food/things that trigger it.

b. when did it happen first- and if the frequency increased/stayed the same since then?

c. what have you been doing to keep it under control/ fix it before this meeting with the doctor? Mention any home remedies or OTC medicines you have taken.

d. questions for the doctor- Ask estimated time of recovery, what can you do in addition to medicines (for example, what foods or exercises may help fix the health issue faster) and if you may have other questions/ SOS emergency, can you contact him or his assistant and preferred mode of communication.

Writing such a note before visiting your doctor and having it in front of you during the appointment helps the doctor get a clear and accurate picture of your condition. In case the doctor is short on time, structured and organized information will be extremely beneficial to him/her.

2. Carry your medical records and reports.

Any previous medical data that can be relevant to your current condition should be carried in hard copy in order of reverse chronology (from most recent to oldest) and soft copy which you can mail him/her if they prefer keeping a copy for their reference. Having it ready in an online folder would enable you to mail them within seconds in case they don’t have time to go over all the documents immediately or feels they would want to have them handy for later.

3. Keep a log of your symptoms.

It would be amazing if a single visit to the doctor can fix your health issue. But if that’s not the case and you will have to visit for follow ups, you should try and keep a record of your progress in the interim. Maintain a journal where you can record your symptoms and your progress and connect it with their context. In other words, if you experience a symptom, note the site of symptom(s), what were you doing at the time, the time of occurrence (morning/evening/before sleeping/after waking up/before or after a meal), duration, intensity of symptoms (mild/medium/extreme), nature of pain (throbbing/stabbing/constant/radiating etc.) what did you do to alleviate it, what helped and what did not. A written log of such information helps you monitor the rate of your improvement. It also presents a detailed picture for the doctor enabling him/her assess your health better when you visit next.

4. Maintain a medical journal and keep it up to date.

For any long-term health issue, keep these records or a summarized version of it, backed up online. Over the years, saving these logs and the prescription will provide you with a detailed medical journal. This will be vital if any symptoms reappear, or in case of any major health issue. You can always show these to any doctor in the future who may have questions about your medical history.

At least two of your family members/friends/ flat-mates should have access to this information so that in case of emergencies they can provide doctor with the information. If this is built as a habit by every member of the family, genetic health issues will become easier to spot and understand.

Noting down intricate details about your illness or health condition may seem unnecessary, tedious, boring, or saddening initially. But I am speaking from experience, having this knowledge about yourself helps you in more ways than one and once you make this a habit, you will thank yourself later. Considering that data is the new currency and we consistently feed data to external entities, it is only smart for us to have our own data in the same detail.

Finally, it is not a great idea to trust your memory entirely at the doctor’s chamber because our memory can be biased depending on how have we been feeling recently as opposed to how have we actually been. Phrases like ‘a lot of pain’, ‘very bad’, ‘little better’ etc. that we often use with a doctor are vague and often unhelpful. While we can’t quantify pain, information jotted down from before offers greater chances of a clear and objective picture.

While there are apps like Pharmeasy, 1mg and others that offer medicine delivery and a plethora of apps that aid with booking doctor appointments like Practo, Lybrate, Portea, Doctocare, Doctalk, among others, it is up to you how much you want to maximize your benefit from doctor’s visit.

Do you follow any other practices before visiting the doctor? Have comments you would like to share. Write to dikshajmaurya@gmail.com and do follow if you liked the article!