15 Healthcare Professionals Reveal What Patients May Not Know About Their Own Health

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Found on r/AskReddit

1. Allergies to meds. I can’t count the number of paitents I ask “Are there any medications you’re allergic to?” and they can’t answer it. They either don’t know the difference between an allergy and a side effect, or don’t know the name of the medication they’re allergic to, and don’t bother to wear a medical alert bracelet or anything. It’s almost like they don’t care.

gorammitMal

2. I have conversations like this daily:
Me: “I’d like to go over your medical history with you. It says here you have a history of high blood pressure?”
Patient: “No, that’s wrong.”
Me: “…Okay, I see on your medication list that you take hydralazine, what do you take that for?”
Patient: “For my blood pressure. I used to have high blood pressure but it’s okay now.”
facepalm

MadyLcbeth

3. You have to take your medicine for it to work.
Also, if you feel or get better with medicine, it doesn’t mean you can stop taking it. you feel better BECAUSE of it!

angryherbalist

4. I’m a pharmacist and have seen some pretty interesting “patient logic scenarios”, but I think some of my favorite include antibiotics … on more than one occasion I’ve had patients put a capsule into their child’s ear canal for an “ear infection”

Mabester

5. Being overweight IS bad for you. It might not be really affecting you right now, but it will. Being a normal weight isn’t just for aesthetics.
On top of that- people who don’t care about what they’re eating. Even if you are thin/normal weight, you won’t be healthy if you’re living on fatty, sugary foods. Even if you’re only taking in a certain number of calories per day, and not gaining weight, you’re missing out on a lot of nutritional value.

SugarMintSweet

6. As a dentist I can understand that diagnosing decay maybe difficult. Examining yourself in a mirror is difficult. But what drives me crazy is when pts come asking for whitening and be shocked when they are told that the hole in their front tooth is cavity. It’s like your front tooth has a fucking black hole in it. What could that possibly be. And how did you not think that something was wrong.

Hawaii5

7. WASH your FREAKING hands- and that means YOU medical professionals.

Onewomanslife

8. My friend didn’t know you could pee with a tampon in until the day before her 25th birthday. I wish I was kidding.

HumpbackSnail

9. A woman came in our clinic for a complete check-up as a requirement because she’s going to work in another country. One of the requirements was an HIV test. While I was taking her blood she asked me, “Is HIV still a thing?”
WTF.

kimsales

10. Fluoride, in water and toothpaste and the type we put on teeth is not to perform mind control, or poison you, or make you dumb…and your lack of use is why you have so many cavities.

DrColours

11. Their own blood type and rh factor

ram2006

12. I had a patient who took his blood pressure medicine based on how he felt that day. His BP was through the roof, but he didn’t take his pill because he felt fine. (I was not prescribing provider)

slumberjam

13. More medication is not better. Yes if one pill is helping that is good, take that one pill once a day. Do not take all the pills in one day.

DarthGregor

14. I work with a student who’s on letuda and 1. His mom didn’t even know the correct pronunciation of the drug 2. She’s not clear on whether her son has ADHD or bipolar disorder. Uhhh might be useful to know which condition he has..

KittenImmaculate

15. Breaking news… Side effects from your meds are not allergic reactions.

Tacomeat10