Stupid doctors...

The BBQ Pit
1

OK, so a couple of weeks ago I went to a Quick Care clinic because I was having severe back pain. Got trigger point injections on either side of my spine, and a prescription for Naproxen Sodium, even though I had already told the idiot that anti-inflammatories don’t do anything for the pain. The injections didn’t help that much either.

Whenever I’ve mentioned to a doc that the ONLY thing that does anything for the pain is benadryl, they just kind of condescendingly shake their heads and say, no, there’s no connection between your allergies and your back pain.

Also, anytime I’ve mentioned the idea of chiropractic care to an MD,the response I usually get is “Well,you can try it, but I don’t think it will do much good.”

I finally got hooked up with a good chiropractor. She’s given me two adjustments, and I’m not in a tenth as much pain as I was before.

What is it with the medical community that if they’re not dead set against someone going to someone who will put their hands on your spine and actually fix it, they at least aren’t very encouraging of patients who want to give it a try?

I’ve arrived at the conclusion that it’s greed. If you actually get your back fixed, you won’t constantly be in their office getting another exam and another useless prescription for the drug companies to make money on. Either that or they’re just so freaking narrow-minded that they don’t think that anything they didn’t learn about in medical school could possibly work.

I’m not even going to go into their attitude about other forms of alternative health care, herbal remedies, etc. but if any of y’all want to, flame away.

2

Actually it’s less greed than the renowned Physician God Complex. (tagline: “If We Can’t Fix It, No One Can!”)

3

I think that they’re mostly against any treatment that they can’t make a buck off of.

I’m not totally pro-chiropractors, but neither am I against them. I’ve heard a lot both ways.

4

The reason a lot of doctors don’t like alternative medicine is because, frankly, a lot if it just doesn’t work. Check out www.quackwatch.com.

5

FTR, my SO is an Internal Med doc, and I’ve been with her for 8 years.

I see a wide variety of doctors for various ailments, esp. for all the times I have to go to the ER for my diabetes, infections, etc. I get a lot of experience dealing with them.

There are a wide variety of Doctor’s attitudes. You need to shop around - find another through going to various doctors, through an 800-service, through testimonials of friends and people you trust. There is also a wide range of Doctor’s skill levels and committment to their patients.

I hope to whatever God you believe in that anyone who lives in KC who needs a doctor ends up being treated by my SO. She cares so much about her patients, is open-minded to any alternative treatment that does no harm and makes the patient feel better (not in lieu of the medical treatment - in conjunction with it), and has devoted herself to their care and well-being.

Here’s a typical scenario at Una’s House O’ Fun - from 3 night s ago. I wake up at 1:00 am, and I am alone in the bed. I go out and find her in her office, online with books scattered everywhere, crying. Why? Because she has a patient who is in horrible pain from kidney cancer, and she feels so badly that she cannot find a combination of drugs that will relive his pain for more than 2 hours at a time (no one can really, it’s just too bad). The same scenario happened the previous week, with a Crohne’s (sp) patient - she feels so badly if they hurt, or are miserable, and does anything she can to help them.

When she has a difficult case, where no one seems to know what the problem (or the solution) really is, she comes home and retires to her office for hours, not eating or resting, so she can go online, read her journals, and call people to try and find what can she possibly do to help this person.

It has been the largest strain on our relationship, and I wish she would just be like most other Doctors, and not worry so much. I wish she would just let the patients go when she comes home, but she won’t. All of her friends except one essentially blow the patients off after 6:00, and just don’t seem to care 25% as much.

And if we want, I’ll start telling anecdotes about truly assholic shithead waste-of-skin patients who lie to her, say cruel things to her, who are drug addicts and only trying to get painkillers, and essentially are just fucked. Which my SO, this kind woman who only wants to help, has to deal with. Things that make me want to drive to the hospital and re-enact a scene from The Matrix.

But I don’t think anyone wants that, do they?

6

In fairness to your doctor, many people who don’t respond to one NSAID may respond to another. It doesn’t make immediate sense that benadryl would help your pain, but my philosophy of medicine is “if it works, it works”. I’ve seen weirder things.

I don’t think that greed motivates doctors to be down on alternative medicine. As KJ points out, much of it is outright quackery, and many doctors find it easier to give a blanket condemnation to all non-allopathic methods than to separate the wheat from the chaff. (I don’t share this opinion; see my above philosophy.)

Chiropractors have been discussed quite a bit here, and the consensus has been that chiropractors can be very effective at treating back and other joint pain. Some of them, however, claim to be able to treat asthma, cancer, and any number of other ailments, and that’s when your bullshit meter should kick into yellow alert.

Dr. J

7

I deal with a great number of doctors, psychiatrists, and other medical personel through my work. I am fortunate to be able to deal with some excellent doctors and medical staff.

On the other hand I have encountered some that don’t deserve their licenses.

If you don’t like the doctor get a second opinion. I am a proponent of chiropractors and alternative medice as they have cured what “normal” medicine could not. I found a doctor who agrees with my ideas so we get along just fine.

8

I’ve heard that Chiros are quite good for relieving muscle problems and the like that stem from car accidents or other traumatic experiences. However, I also hear that going to chiros for minor but chronic backpain and other non-trauma related symptoms can be like an addiction. As soon as you stop attending the chiro, the back muscles simply cramp up again and the joints need to be popped again. Is there any truth to this or is this not accurate? Furthermore, what about the apparent problem that chiros have no real regulatory body? Is this true, and is it a problem?

9

I’ve been to good chiros and bad ones. The good ones were absolute heaven (I have a chronic lower back problem that the allopathic doctors I’ve been to just hand me painkillers for). There seems to be an unfortunate attitude among a lot of people that there are only two kinds of medicine: real doctors (allopathic practitioners) and alternative (everyone else from chiropractors and herbalists to crystal-rubbers). I have fornd that a lot of them have good stuff going on, but no single type of healer is right for everything. And, of course, some are just wishful thinking. You’ve got to educate yourself, not just rely on hearsay or a TV show to look into what’s best for you and your particular ailment.

Sure, if I have broken bones, a gunshot wound, or a tumor I’m going to go to an MD (preferably one with some additional naturopathic training). But I’m going to spend as little time as possible in a hospital setting and will endeavor to aid the healing process with nutrition and herbal supplements. For chronic problems like my back or recurring ovarian cysts I seek other help.

There is a small but growing movement among some MD’s to look into training beyond the standard curriculum. Several are supplementing their practice with additonal degrees in nutrition, herbalism, chiropractics, etc. If you are lucky enough you find one of these doctors (there aren’t many, but the demand for them is growing so hopefully more will be around soon) and use them for a variety of problems.

10

Hmmmm… maybe I should move to Kansas City…

11

I was thinking the same thing, agisofia.

Anyway, I’ve had good and bad luck with doctors. The good ones will work themselves to death for you. The bad ones don’t care if you’re hemorrhaging, if it’s after office hours. I find that I have the best luck with D.O.s, and even Physician’s Assistants (PAs). The very best health provider I had was a PA. His wife was diabetic, so he was very interested and informed about internal medicine. If he came across a problem that he couldn’t treat, he knew who to refer me to.

12

Yup, good and bad doctors. I have been with my doctor for years because she is the nicest, most caring individual to ever perform unpleasant, but necessary procedures on me… :slight_smile: I’ve stayed with her through changes in my insurance that made me pay for every office visit. To me, it’s worth it to have that relationship. (Of course, if I’d needed something major in those times, I’d have had to get a referral to someone on my insurance, but would have still kept her for my primary.) I have met some, though, that seem to see you as a piece of meat to be processed through the clinic and out the door as fast as they can get your co-pay and insurance info.