# This is why I hate going to the doctor **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 22, 2014, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-i-hate-going-to-the-doctor/696253 "2014-08-22T23:46:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![7e42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/7/51bf81/32.png) [@7e42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/7e42)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-i-hate-going-to-the-doctor/696253/221 "2014-08-29T02:19:38Z")
> [@susan](#): > > I’ve known several people who are made ill by opiates who were given Tylenol as their only pain reliever after major surgeries. They all said it worked well. Tylenol was not going to END the pain for good. That’s what the Fish Oil did, ended the hip and knee pain and I can now run like I did in 1999 ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-i-hate-going-to-the-doctor/696253/222 "2014-08-29T02:24:14Z")
> [@7e42](#): > > When someone is making six figures, I don’t want to hear the word TYLENOL, understand what I am trying to explain to you? nope ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-i-hate-going-to-the-doctor/696253/223 "2014-08-29T02:26:37Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Yeah. I never buy aspirin, because it doesn’t work for me. Acetaminophen, on the other hand, practically miracle drug. Ibuprofen is practically one of my food groups. It’s so great that we have different options for different people, with different needs and different metabolisms. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-i-hate-going-to-the-doctor/696253/224 "2014-08-29T02:29:19Z")
> [@AnaMen](#): > > You say “It’s a good thing I went to the doctor. Otherwise, \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_.” You’re trying to put the cat back in the box, it’s no good. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-i-hate-going-to-the-doctor/696253/225 "2014-08-29T02:43:22Z")
> [@outlierrn](#): > > Ibuprofen is practically one of my food groups. It’s so great that we have different options for different people, with different needs and different metabolisms. Team Naproxen, here. It’s the closest thing to a magic wand I’ve ever found (for me). 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Skara\_Brae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Skara\_Brae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skara_Brae)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-i-hate-going-to-the-doctor/696253/226 "2014-08-29T02:46:29Z")
> [@7e42](#): > > Tylenol was not going to END the pain for good. That’s what the Fish Oil did, ended the hip and knee pain and I can now run like I did in 1999 You’re \*positive \*it was the fish oil? There’s no possibility the pain just went away on its own? ---
**Author:** ![7e42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/7/51bf81/32.png) [@7e42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/7e42)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-i-hate-going-to-the-doctor/696253/227 "2014-08-29T02:57:21Z")
> [@Skara\_Brae](#): > > You’re \*positive \*it was the fish oil? There’s no possibility the pain just went away on its own? No, once I started taking the fish oil I was able to feel the pain slowly go away over time ---
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-i-hate-going-to-the-doctor/696253/228 "2014-08-29T03:12:46Z")
Ah, because pain never subsides due to time, versus intervention. Seriously, would you feel the same way if you spent $200 for a consultation with a lawyer - say, you wanted to file a lawsuit because your basement flooded during a hurricane - and the attorney declined to take the case, because it wasn’t actionable, and advised that you buy a sump pump instead. Perhaps you chose not to buy a sump pump, but instead, purchased a Super Duper Magickal Water-Go-Away Device. And perhaps the water drained away, due to natural circumstances… You paid the attorney for his expertise. Whether you chose to take his advice is on you, but that doesn’t mean that he gave bad advice. ---
**Author:** ![AnaMen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@AnaMen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnaMen)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-i-hate-going-to-the-doctor/696253/229 "2014-08-29T03:13:19Z")
> [@outlierrn](#): > > You’re trying to put the cat back in the box, it’s no good. I’m not saying you therefore should not have gone to the doctor. The cat was in the box or it wasn’t, whether or not you knew which it was. This isn’t metaphysical, it’s just normal logic! ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-i-hate-going-to-the-doctor/696253/230 "2014-08-29T03:26:36Z")
> [@AnaMen](#): > > None. > What information did you get from the biopsy, etc., to better address your physical health? > Also none. > > Imagine: > You have some random cold virus. You go to the doctor. The doctor decides to do some tests for random shit you’ve never heard of. The results come back negative. > > You say “It’s a good thing I went to the doctor. Otherwise, \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_.” > > What goes in the blank? > > Alternately, you say “Well, it turns out I needn’t have gone to the doctor, but I had no way of knowing that in advance, so I made the best choice I could at the time.” You know you need to rest, drink plenty of fluids, and keep yourself away from civilized people for a week. You know you probably have a contagious condition, even if you don’t know exactly what it is. You know that you should not take antibiotics for it, and therefore you can spend your cash on hookers and blow instead of yogurt and kim chee to keep your belly from trying to escape via your bum. You know you need to stop and the store on your way home and stock up on honey, lemons, black tea and whiskey to soothe the sore throat, because it’s not going away with a shot of penicillin. ---
**Author:** ![AnaMen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@AnaMen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnaMen)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-i-hate-going-to-the-doctor/696253/231 "2014-08-29T03:26:50Z")
> [@Lacunae\_Matata](#): > > Ah, because pain never subsides due to time, versus intervention. > > Seriously, would you feel the same way if you spent $200 for a consultation with a lawyer - say, you wanted to file a lawsuit because your basement flooded during a hurricane - and the attorney declined to take the case, because it wasn’t actionable, and advised that you buy a sump pump instead. Perhaps you chose not to buy a sump pump, but instead, purchased a Super Duper Magickal Water-Go-Away Device. And perhaps the water drained away, due to natural circumstances… You paid the attorney for his expertise. Whether you chose to take his advice is on you, but that doesn’t mean that he gave bad advice. Were you going to sue the hurricane? And why is the attorney advising you about how to deal with flood water? And if the water drained away on its own, it does seem to have nene bad advice. You shouldn’t be paying for this kind of consultation anyway. This analogy is crap. Fish oil has been shown to help rheumatoid arthritis sufferers. Maybe he was misdiagnosed. ---
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-i-hate-going-to-the-doctor/696253/232 "2014-08-29T03:39:05Z")
Okay, perhaps you bought your home in Hoboken, NJ in 2010. When Hurricane Sandy hit and half the city flooded, your basement sustained major damage, so you decided you should sue the previous owners for non-disclosure, despite the fact that no hurricane-type event had hit the city since your home had been built. Your attorney pointed out to you that, seriously, you had no case. The suit could be filed, you could pay for his time and court filing costs, but really, you had no case. You’d be better off spending your money on a sump pump. Instead, you bought the Magickal device. The water in your basement drained away, and hasn’t been back, because that’s the nature of a properly built basement in a city not subject to regular hurricane events. You injury has healed itself - whether you spent on a sump pump, a magickal device, or did nothing. Do you attribute the healing to Magickal Device, and complain that the attorney was just a big ol’ fraud? Not all attorneys have a free consultation, btw. It’s not required. ---
**Author:** ![AnaMen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@AnaMen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnaMen)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-i-hate-going-to-the-doctor/696253/233 "2014-08-29T04:06:22Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > You know you need to rest, drink plenty of fluids, and keep yourself away from civilized people for a week. You know you probably have a contagious condition, even if you don’t know exactly what it is. You know that you should not take antibiotics for it, and therefore you can spend your cash on hookers and blow instead of yogurt and kim chee to keep your belly from trying to escape via your bum. You know you need to stop and the store on your way home and stock up on honey, lemons, black tea and whiskey to soothe the sore throat, because it’s not going away with a shot of penicillin. Yes, and you knew you were sick without going to the doctor. Really, if you’re well enough to do all that shopping, what the heck were you doing at the doctor? But what goes in the blank? All that? That doesn’t make a sentence, let alone one that makes any sense. ---
**Author:** ![AnaMen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@AnaMen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnaMen)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-i-hate-going-to-the-doctor/696253/234 "2014-08-29T04:08:57Z")
> [@Lacunae\_Matata](#): > > Okay, perhaps you bought your home in Hoboken, NJ in 2010. When Hurricane Sandy hit and half the city flooded, your basement sustained major damage, so you decided you should sue the previous owners for non-disclosure, despite the fact that no hurricane-type event had hit the city since your home had been built. Your attorney pointed out to you that, seriously, you had no case. The suit could be filed, you could pay for his time and court filing costs, but really, you had no case. You’d be better off spending your money on a sump pump. > > Instead, you bought the Magickal device. The water in your basement drained away, and hasn’t been back, because that’s the nature of a properly built basement in a city not subject to regular hurricane events. You injury has healed itself - whether you spent on a sump pump, a magickal device, or did nothing. Do you attribute the healing to Magickal Device, and complain that the attorney was just a big ol’ fraud? > > Not all attorneys have a free consultation, btw. It’s not required. How are you better off buying anything if the flooding went away on its own? And I’m aware of how attorneys work, but why pay for advice you could have had for free? ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-i-hate-going-to-the-doctor/696253/235 "2014-08-29T04:18:38Z")
Analogies are good for explaining something to someone who is trying to understand. Otherwise, not. ---
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-i-hate-going-to-the-doctor/696253/236 "2014-08-29T05:10:04Z")
> [@AnaMen](#): > > How are you better off buying anything if the flooding went away on its own? > And I’m aware of how attorneys work, but why pay for advice you could have had for free? In between the time the flooding happened and the time it abated, you bought something that you thought would help - regardless of whether there is any empirical evidence that the device would help, or whether there’s a strong possibility that the flooding would abate through natural processes. The flooding abated. Is this because (a) natural “healing” processes? (b) unproven device? (c) fairies? I’m not saying that one could/should/would have paid for an attorney consultation. I’m saying that it’s unreasonable to think that paying for the educated advice and time of a specialist in any field will yield precisely the answer you think is reasonable. If you were highly educated in that field, there’s a strong chance that you could figure it out yourself. You’re paying for someone’s time and education. It’s like the joke about the engineer called in to fix a problem in a manufacturing plant. A critical machine won’t work, so the specialist is called in. He fixes the machine by pushing one reset button. Charge: $1000. The plant owner raises cain over the cost to push one silly button, so the engineer resubmits his invoice: "Pushing button: $10.00. Knowing exactly which button to push: $990.00. ---
**Author:** ![AnaMen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@AnaMen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnaMen)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-i-hate-going-to-the-doctor/696253/237 "2014-08-29T14:24:35Z")
> [@Lacunae\_Matata](#): > > … > I’m saying that it’s unreasonable to think that paying for the educated advice and time of a specialist in any field will yield precisely the answer you think is reasonable. If you were highly educated in that field, there’s a strong chance that you could figure it out yourself. You’re paying for someone’s time and education. > … You go to an “expert” and then evaluate for yourself whether what they said is right for you. They aren’t all created equal and will often disagree with each other, so they can’t all be right. Blindly following what anyone says is not the best idea and regardless of whether you can figure out your own medical problems, you can’t order your own tests or prescribe your own medication, so you are stuck relying on an “expert,” no matter how inexpert they are. I’m sure had the OP asked the doctor if he/she should try fish oil, the doctor would probably have said corroborated that it could help and surely would not hurt. I know it sounds like “snake oil,” having a word in common with it and all, but legitimate studies have shown it to have benefit for some types of arthritis. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2014, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-i-hate-going-to-the-doctor/696253/238 "2014-08-30T03:07:21Z")
> [@7e42](#): > > in 2013 I could not wake up without being in pain, my hip pain and knee pain caused me to struggle to get out of a chair > I was introduced to Fish Oil in January and now I can pop out of a chair, run for trains, and don’t have to put ice on my knees every morning before I get ready for work > Sounds like a cure to me Correlation is not causation. This is how superstitions start. Cut it out. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2014, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-i-hate-going-to-the-doctor/696253/239 "2014-08-30T04:18:05Z")
Anamen Being overly pedantic on the hypotheticals is not helping your case. ---
**Author:** ![AnaMen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@AnaMen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnaMen)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2014, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-i-hate-going-to-the-doctor/696253/240 "2014-08-30T13:23:39Z")
> [@outlierrn](#): > > Anamen > > Being overly pedantic on the hypotheticals is not helping your case. My case for or against what? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-i-hate-going-to-the-doctor/696253.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-i-hate-going-to-the-doctor/696253.md?page=13)