Help Your Doctor Diagnose You: 3 Things You Should Do
Your doctor is there to help you with your health, to be the healthiest as possible, but your doctor can only do so much for you. You have to meet your physician halfway by doing what you're supposed to do; by following a doctor's orders and being honest with your physician about your symptoms and your healthy and unhealthy habits. Not being honest, or not following a doctor's orders can hinder your physician's ability to diagnose you. Read on for a few things you should be doing.
1. Write Down Your Symptoms
By writing down all of your symptoms, you can help your doctor diagnose you properly. Your physician will be able to look through your symptoms to help get a general idea of what you may have going on with your health. If you leave out things such as your minor chest pain that you have from time to time, or the fact that you passed out recently, or that you get winded quickly, these are all very important things that need to be addressed in order to be properly diagnosed. Writing them all down will help in the event you've forgotten something.
2. Pay Attention To Your Habits
Pay a bit closer attention to your habits, both the healthy and unhealthy ones. If you tell your physician that you only have a few alcoholic beverages per week, but you actually have several each night, that's a big difference. Pay attention to these habits to help with your diagnosis. You may think that those vitamins you've been taking are good for you, but maybe they are what is causing your issue — pay attention to these habits and report them to your physician.
3. Follow Your Physician's Orders
If your physician gave you a treatment to try for your condition, but you didn't follow those orders, it's harder to treat you for your condition. For instance, if you were ordered to stop doing an activity, but you didn't, and you still are experiencing pain or some other symptom, you didn't follow the physician's orders. The same goes with medications your physician gives you, take them as directed, or the treatment isn't going to work properly.
If you are going to your physician's office for something that requires treatment, be sure you are being honest with your physician, be sure you are reporting everything to your physician, and be sure you are following your physician's orders. It can help with the diagnosis and treatment of your condition.
Reach out to a local doctor's office for further tips.
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