Top Stories
Redditor assassinmice was curious to learn the one thing doctors wished their patients knew about their bodies and how they work before coming to see them, leading them to ask:Stick To The Dosage!
When To Be Alarmed If There's Blood
A Diet May Not BE Helping You
life tripping GIFGiphy
All In Moderation
Angry New Amsterdam GIF by Global TVGiphy
"Doctors of Reddit, what is something that you wish everyone knew about their body?"
Stick To The Dosage!
"This one is more about medication."
"Antibiotics only work against bacteria, they are not some kind of wonder potion that cures anything, and they should not always be given."
"Please please stick to your prescription the doctor gives you."
"Even if you already feel better, don't just stop unless the doctor says you can stop."
"A lot of medication needs to be taken according to the prescription in order for it to be effective, because you build up the doses to an effective level."
"Stopping or not sticking to it really decreases effectivity."- jonneyboy112
Be Honest.
"Tell us what drugs and alcohol you’re on."
"We aren’t gonna tell the cops."
"We aren’t gonna lecture you."
"But it might change the anesthesia I give you."
"Some stuff I give you might kill you."
"If you drink a 30 pack a day, tell me."- CopyX
When To Be Alarmed If There's Blood
"Ejaculating blood happens to most people at least once in their lives and in 99% of cases it resolves without taking any action within a week."
"It doesn't even warrant a doctor visit."
"Peeing blood, for both sexes, is a serious medical emergency and you should immediately go to the ER."
"People think it's the other way around."- StardustDoc
A Diet May Not BE Helping You
"How to eat healthy."
"Just because you're skinny doesn't mean you're healthy."
"Especially the teenagers who I take care of."
"Sometimes I will ask them what's a healthy food your doctor wants you to eat?"
"Rarely do I get a right answer."
"I feel like the internet has so many fad diets, and family members rarely cook, so families don't know basic nutrition facts."- Thornloki256
No Two Bodies Are The Same
"That there is a wide range of 'normal'."
"Don't be embarrassed by your body."
"Having said that, if you are concerned about anything, ask your doctor."
"We have generally heard it all before, and trust me, we have, nearly always, seen it all before."
"Maybe you have something that has been bothering you for ages, but you were too scared or embarrassed to ask about it."
"Just ask! It might be 'nothing' and you have been stressing about it for no reason."
"And if not, then you are at least one step closer to getting it fixed."
"No one can help if they don't know."
"There are no stupid questions, so ask away."
"I'm always amazed when I have been asked about something that has been bothering a patient for years and years, but they were too embarrassed / scared to bring it up."
"Most of the time, it is nothing / a completely normal body function / feature."
"Other times, it is something that should have been discussed right away."
"YOU know your body best."
"So speak up! Don't wait for the doctor to 'ask the right question'."- frangipani_c
life tripping GIFGiphyAll In Moderation
"Some people seem to think that if you act healthy for a bit, it'll make up for being a wreck."
"There are so many things wrong with this."
"Just one example, antioxidants are like gas for your car."
"You can store up a certain amount of vitamins, but your tank can only hold so much."
"If you binge and overfill your tank, it doesn't do anything, you excrete it out as waste, and you can't expect to go the next several months without gas just because you tried to overload it before."
"You're going to still need to get gas."
"Same goes for your fruits and veggies."
"Had someone tell me he went vegetarian for a few weeks, which meant he was done for the year."
"He was dead serious."
"Had a patient at risk for heart failure try to insist that if she stayed away from salt entirely for x days/weeks, she should be able to have her fill of McDonald's fries and ramen."
"Had a smoker argue that if he stopped for some time, he should be able to smoke freely for a while."
"With some digging, 'stopping' turned out to mean a couple less cigarettes a day."- bhappyyyy
Angry New Amsterdam GIF by Global TVGiphyIt is very surprising indeed, when patients either ignore or dismiss advice given to them by their doctors.
Particularly as they felt the need to go and see their doctor in the first place.
Curious to hear from strangers online, Redditor GodOfMoominism asked:
"What was your most embarrassing trip to the doctor?"
The foolishness resulting in a trip to the doctor's office can be embarrassing to mention.
A Lesson Learned
"Not as embarrassing as the others but the time I was really slack about taking my blood thinners cause they are expensive AF and my job was wobbly thanks to the plague."
"Ended up in hospital with blood clots in my lungs and a kidney infection."
"I now take them as directed."
– MzFrazzle
Embarrassing Inflammation
"Infected ballsack."
"Crushed my nuts with a milkcrate at work, and when asked by the emergency staff how it happened they were confused. Spent roughly 10hrs trying to explain how and even had to demonstrate a few times."
– AussieMilk
When The Clippers Won
"Cut the flap of skin that connects my sack to the shaft of my penis with hair clippers. Not only was it a day that they were training new doctors but also my mom worked for the hospital and saw my name on the computer system."
"So by the end of the visit, I had 5 extra young doctors staring while I got stitches but also my mom walked in too thinking something bad happened to me."
– KeyProtection7
Anything having to do with the nether region elicited chuckles.
Just Backed Up
"Went to the ER for stomach pains, worried about appendix, spleen, gall bladder etc."
"I was constipated."
"My brother still tells the joke that the one time i went to the doctor I was full of sh*t."
– DAM5150
Pass On The Gas
"I had a kidney stone in high school, but when the nurse palpated my stomach (really f'king hard, too), she must have shifted it, because the pain stopped for a few minutes. I was flabbergasted when she suggested it might have just been gas. She assured me gas can be excruciating haha."
– TheGreyFox1122
The Eruption
"I had a cyst on my upper buttcrack for the better part of a month.. one lovely Saturday morning it’s gotten so large and swollen that I couldn’t even walk or sit down without crying in pain."
"I’m the first person to the Urgent Care that morning and find myself laying sideways on a table with a lovely Doctor using a scalpel to force an eruption of the volcano that had formed between my cheeks. It was instant relief and used probably 20 pieces of gauze to clean up."
"I’d say that one.. even worse than getting my balls ultrasound."
– Mikez63
It's All About Perspective
"My mom is an ultrasound tech. She complains that it always seem that the testicle ultrasounds always happen on her shift. Always a great conversation around the dinner table."
"You have to understand, medical professionals mentally kinda separate patients and their issues. HIPAA has kinda trained them to do this. When someone is getting an ultrasound, my mom doesn't really think of the testicles as being a part of the person if that makes any sense."
"She's not holding and prodding around someone's balls, she's holding and prodding around an object that may be causing someone pain and discomfort. She wants to help people. When she is performing one of these ultrasounds, she doesn't feel like she is in an extremely intimate position that is usually reserved for romantic partners, she is trying to help the patient feel better. Its just like a broken arm to her."
"Making fun of a patients is the last thing she would do. And of the coworkers of hers that i have met, none of them would either. None of this stuff is out of the ordinary for them. It doesn't warrant much attention."
– TJtherock
On Topic
"The time I went for a pelvic exam, and my gynecologist was rummaging around down there and suddenly asked me if I'd ever been to the Grand Canyon."
– GargleHemlock
When patients have to reveal their fanny for inspection, it's always with reservation.
Assuming The Position
"Hemorrhoids by far, I know women go through way worse at the Gyno and idk what I expected but I was not prepared to lay on my side in the fetal position while the doctor opened my a** cheeks like he was about to read a book."
– Mattrad7
Time For Class
"When I had to show my naked butt to the doctor in the hospital and she spread my butt cheeks to look inside and then a dozen student doctors (interns?) came in the room and were all staring at my butt for what felt like hours."
– modsherearebattyboys
A Wise Crack
"Post salmonella hemmorhoids. I went to my usual male doctor and told him about my painful butt things and he politely asked if I would like a female doctor to check them (I am a woman)."
"I said cheerfully 'Nah mate, all good, everyone's got a butthole!'"
"He did do the check, but I was silently asking myself the whole time...'why did you say that?? Why?'"
– lorealashblonde
Doctors visits can certainly bring out our awkward side from sheer nerves, but that's okay and is expected.
Medical experts have seen it all and they don't bat an eye over anything you might think is weird or embarrassing.
They can care less about your toxic gas or swollen ball sac.
We should all take comfort in the fact that we're literally in good hands and that all doctors only really care about making us feel better when we're not feeling our best.
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.
One of my best friends lost her life due to a litany of crappy doctors (thank you Medicaid). Waiting for a kidney can kill you, literally, and so can the doctors helping you look for one.
"McBurney's spot"
head feels GIFGiphy"Had a doc misdiagnose my ruptured appendix. Said it was likely just an upset stomach from an antibiotic. I wasn't really pissed until I learned how simple it is to screen for. Just poke me in the stomach. 'McBurney's spot.'" ~ cmoellering
Quack
"I had a doctor mis-diagnose me with nothing more than a post surgical infection. He was the doctor I saw locally close to my home after my trauma surgery that took place in another city. All he would ever do is double the dose of the anti-biotics I was prescribed."
"Turned out I had a hole in my diaphragm that was allowing my lacerated liver to flood my chest cavity with bile. They drained a liter and half from my chest in the ER. I still remember the sound of the doctor screaming in the ER about "What kind of a quack would release a person in this condition?" ~ Stephenburnett98
"growing pains"
"My doctor told my mother that the pains in my side were just "growing pains." For years, he said this. Well, after sixteen years, my kidney finally gave out. It turns out, the pediatrician who had taken care of me for years had missed a kidney birth defect that should have been found when I was born."
"I spent the first 16 years of my life having pains that were similar to having kidney stones--all the time. I have a rib cage that is deformed because my kidney was so swollen during its formation. If he had even felt my ribcage he would have known this."
"My mom believed him because he was a doctor. None of this was found until I was 16 when the damage was already done. They tried to fix it, but it didn't work. Unfortunately, by the time any of this was realized, my doctor had died, so I didn't have a chance to sue him." ~ Lostyouruckinminds
It really sucked
"My mom had a kidney defect that was never caught because she was born before they were able to detect those things in the womb. her kidney was so messed up that it barely functioned, and paired with a history of alcoholism, the defect wasn't found until she was in the hospital with multi-organ failure from the build up of toxins created by her other kidney failing to do the work of both."
"I was 14 when that happened and she was early 50s. She ended up in end stage renal failure and was dependent on dialysis for the rest of her life because her kidney function was never able to be restored. If the defective kidney had been found earlier they might've been able to save the other. It really sucked." ~ immapizza
Dr. Chris
johnny depp edward GIFGiphy"Dr. Christopher Duntsch is known as Dr. Death. He used to go on days-long Coke benders, stay up for days, do lines, and cut people open. If you can handle it, look at an X-Ray of his work... looks like Steampunk meets Edwards Scissorhands in terms of surgical quality." ~ -_-_-----_-___
Doctors and medical people in general really should be taking daily field sobriety tests. And mental health checks. We need to know they're performing at their best.
Fallen
"I fell down a flight of stairs after pinching a disc in my lower back which caused me to black out. I had to call my uncle to come help me off the floor & take me to the local urgent care clinic. The doc told me to bend over & touch my toes which I couldn't of course & then diagnosed me as fat."
"I was like "I've been this weight for a while. My body didn't just suddenly decide I was overweight & to stop functioning. I felt a pop in my back which caused me to black out." Nope according to him I just needed to lose weight. I yelled at him all the way back to the waiting room full of patients for being a jerk."
"One of his nurses noticed the bruising on my arm was indicative of a broken arm & suddenly he was taking me seriously. Apparently not noticing your arm is broken because your back pain is overwhelming any other feeling is the indicator that you're actually seriously injured."
"I had my uncle take me to the ER instead where I was diagnosed & treated. Just the arm though, the back took about a year of physical therapy. And all my paperwork had to go back to that doctor since he was the initial treator. I included a lovely drawing to be faxed over with my papers (🖕) as well as message that called him a freaking idiot which made the ER doc laugh." ~ Stefie25
The Hen's teeth
"I went in for a simple hernia repair. The surgeon perforated my bowel in 9 places and sewed me back up. By the morning I was in full septic shock. My kidneys failed, I got piped and a hole opened in my side that connected my bowel to my skin allowing crap to flow out of my body. I spent 10 months in the hospital, mostly NPO with nothing by mouth."
"I lost over 120 pounds. I had multiple surgeries. I had to go to rehab to learn how to walk again. I told the surgeon about my prior bowel resections for Crohn's disease and the internal scaring I had. His exact words, "Complications are as rare as hen's teeth." Oh, and I told him I was on drugs that depressed my immune system. So when the septic shock hit, I didn't respond to antibiotics."
"I got a settlement of $1,000,000. My lawyers took $450,000. My health insurer took $350,000. My ex-wife took the rest. I got run from my job as a senior director after missing that much time and actually got more from the wrongful termination suit than the malpractice suit." ~ Howabouthatnow
Med Mal
"I worked for attorneys. They handled a lot of Med Mal cases. We had one where the doctor just lopped off a leg of a man who was there for a minor kidney stone procedure. Something about medical charts being switched. Guy received a lot of money as you would imagine. There was also one where a doctor left a dirty sponge inside the patient while he sewed her up causing massive infections, which led to death." ~ Reddit
Get the $$$
"A family friend had a minor surgery in the abdomen area, but the cut into his lower intestine and it seeped for way too long. Poor guy almost died. They cleaned it up but they had to remove most of the lower intestine and bowel.
The doctors/surgeons were sued and I hope they got a lot of money from it." ~ ktarzwell
That was the 70s...
"It wasn't considered malpractice at the time, and nothing bad happened afterwards, but: When my mother went in for a tubal ligation, the surgeon decided to remove her perfectly healthy appendix as well, since he was in the area. She was furious, but didn't file a complaint as he was a family friend. This was in the early 70's. Imagine this happening now!" ~ blitzen_13
Oh Lord, please keep me safe and healthy. After reading this, I'm most scared of the doctors than any medical issues.
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.
