Tell you they don’t know what your medical issue is or what caused it
I had joint pain in the knees and hip and could not walk at all and was very concerned. Do you know this dumb doctor suggested I get some Tylenol??? Is that her idea of resolving a issue a patient has? I had to find my own solution to the knee and hip pain which turned out to be FISH OIL. So again what the hell is the purpose of a doctor? To take money out of your account and tell you they don’t know what’s wrong with you?
Whatever health problems you have already existed before you went to see the doctor. They don’t cause your problems so you shouldn’t blame them for your problems.
So what did you want to hear? That you had a serious health problem instead of a minor one?
I’ve never heard of anybody using fish oil for joint pain. I’m glad it worked out for you but I don’t see how you can blame the doctor for not prescribing it.
I tend to agree. The human body is far too complex for anyone to understand, but I’ve met a few doctors who think they have it all figured out. They offer a misdiagnosis, offer drugs that they feel will control the symptoms and when that fails they find a way to blame you (by saying you have a psychosomatic illness, or are non-compliant, or engage in a terrible lifestyle).
Western medicine is only 160 years old, it’ll probably be 200ish years before medicine truly understanding pretty much ‘everything’ about the human body and can not only cure virtually every illness but also augment the body/mind. We aren’t close to that yet.
With medical prices so high and the return on investment a total crapshoot (thousands of dollars in medical bills for a misdiagnosis is not uncommon. Some middle class people are paying the price of a decent used car for medical advice that can be a dead end) people have to become their own health advocates.
I take fish oil, I’ve never noticed any benefits (my TG are high despite me taking several grams a day). However maybe my joints would be worse, I don’t know.
At my old job which was more physically demanding several people noticed joint pain relief from taking fish oil. It could be due to the anti-inflammatory properties, I’m not sure.
Have you looked into Z-coilshoes? I’ve met some people with lower leg/back problems who swear by them because they take some pressure off your joints when you stand and walk. For me they helped with some issues but not with others.
They’re not wizards for Christ sake.
The onset of modern medicine, while not perfect, has saved many, many lives.
The fact that they can’t diagnose every little pain everyone has doesn’t make the practice fraudulent, just imperfect.
Now, I’m no fan of doctors. But I surely don’t think they’re useless or fraudulent, as a rule. I think they really do want to help people. Not all people want to do what it takes to be helped.
I don’t understand what makes GNC brand stand out. I usually take enteric coated fish oil, but as long as it is processed to remove heavy metals and organic toxins I don’t know if there is a difference between brands. I usually take nature made or kroger brand.
Medicine is an inexact science, as there is still so much unknown. Physicians have to go by trial and error, making their best, but informed, guess as to disease causes and treatments. Some doctors excel at this, working closely with a patient to come up with an accurate diagnosis and treatment plan, while others are less so. The trick, in my experience, has been to find a physician you feel a rapport with and to go back in for follow-ups. Follow their advice and let them know if something isn’t working so they can adjust the treatment plan accordingly.
No, they are fucking not. They aren’t a mechanic and your body is not a car, or more appropriately, they do not have a magic wand. They are paid to examine you and give you their best advice asked on education and experience on how to proceed. If you decide you’d rather not take a proven pain reliever and instead take something unregulated and untested instead for the placebo effect, go right ahead, but don’t blame the doctor for prescribing something sensible.
Since your particular situation does not follow the empirical evidence available about joint pain, I am not surprised your doctor could not help you. Look at it this way-your doctor spent years training in order to be able to diagnose and treat diseases according to the evidence available. The evidence shows that Tylenol is just as effective for joint pain caused by degenerative joint disease as an other medication. There is no evidence showing that fish oil is an effective treatment. You are paying for your doctor’s expertise. Since every person is different and you apparently respond to one particular type of fish oil that is not effective for arthritis in randomized clinical studies, you can’t expect your doctor to come up with this as a solution. It’s like saying that eating two fried eggs a day help you joints. Maybe they might but since there is no evidence for that, there is no reason for your doctor to recommend it.
As for diagnosing sciatica, that is something that should have been done before years of doctor visits. That said, sciatica refers to an inflammation of the sciatic nerve which usually causes a very typical type of pain. If you did not have typical sciatic pain it would be difficult to diagnose. Even without a diagnosis, there are treatment options for back pain that should have been tried.
Finally, remember that doctors cannot cure anything or even most things. We can make diagnoses and treat but the vast majority of conditions are only controllable, not curable. If you expect to go in and get fixed completely, you will always be disappointed. As far as making a lot of money, I wish it were true. With the overhead that doctors have, you can only make money by not spending any time on the patients. Unlike my lawyer, I am not compensated any extra for the 2-3 hours I spend on the telephone each day talking to patients or the additional 2-3 hours I spend reviewing lab and test results.
tl;dr Doctors mostly manage diseases. There are a limited number that they cure. You are paying them for their expert educated opinion, not necessarily to work miracles.