Guess what? Doctors were wrong all the time

[jangoux]

I just went to my orthopedist (the same is seeing Zoe locally - btw, she's fine, plasters off in 2 weeks) with a bunch of tests he ask me to do (a LOT of xrays, m.r.i. and a bunch of other stuff...) and after seeing the tests, guess what? My previous doctors told me I had a couple herniated discs on my back and eventually I'd need surgery and this and that and a bunch of crap. NOT. My back is fine, I just have something that is usual for my age (dehydration of the discs) and I need a lot of postural re-education. I'll do at least 6 months of that on a local clinic, and need to find money to start lifting weights to help strengthen my back muscles. Those exercises and ZERO meds. Not one cent is any kind of drugs.

I just ask myself how many people went under the knife due to docs telling 'em they had major issues when it could be controlled without any aggressive treatments.

 

[spioraid]

I don't hate Doctors as people...but man they make some huge mistakes too often. I'm sorry you've been through a gamut of nonsense but at least it went better than expected! No meds and working out a must? Sweet deal.

 

[colonel kurtz]

i watched a documentary on back pain a couples years ago that pretty much hinted at the conclusion that most back surgeries are total bogus. not only are they unneeded, but they don't fix the problem, and in many cases leave people worse off. it also showed that something like 80%+ of people with back pain gain more relied through weight training than any other treatment method.

real-world example: i used to rent an upstairs apartment from a guy who had a lot of lower back pain, and even after 6 back surgeries, he could barely walk up the stairs to where i lived, was in constant pain, and was grossly overweight. lately i've been bumping into the same guy at work pretty frequently after not seeing him for about 3 years, and he's healthy, happy, and in-shape...and all it took was some time in the gym!

 

[midget donkeys]

I now all about back pain. The thing that reduced it the most for me was physical therapy exercises. I still do them every morning. I have also starting dead lifting the last couple months and this has also drastically reduced my back pain.

 

[colonel kurtz]

reminds me of when mario lemieux was going to retire from hockey because he had horrible back pain...then he started seeing a trainer, who noticed that he had ridiculous leg strength from all the skating over the years, but an undeveloped upper body. dude starting hitting the weights, and was able to extend his career by years!

i've also experienced back spasms on and off since i was 18...and during periods where i'm consistently working out, they definitely happen much less frequently. don't act all that surprised that docs just want to get you on a table to make $$$ and then fill you up with pills...sending you to a personal trainer doesn't put any cash in their pockets

 

[Erik Monsonis]

Love how easy is to criticize the doctors in general... as if the human body was a simple thing to understand and few variables were present. If more than one doctor misdiagnosed you it's probably easy to tell that in most of the cases they would have been right, but considering how easy is to make mistakes based on medical images and that everyone's different in absolutely every aspect, I don't find it too weird or alarming. Of course in your case it would have required an unnecessary surgery in a delicate zone, but you can't blame them for that. Maybe it's your orthopedist who's wrong, and you will never know until you do the treatment he suggests. If it works, he was right, but if not, then your previous physicians were right

Take this with a grain of salt as I can't be objective (right now I'm studying the damn neuroanatomy for a final exam and it's the hardest thing I've ever tried to understand in my whole life).

 

[Put]

there's money to be made people

 

[colonel kurtz]

Love how easy is to criticize the doctors in general

they make it pretty easy

truth be told, doctors tend to be like cops, in that there's a certain personality type that's attracted to the profession...namely arrogant pricks who want to make stacks of cash and have people kiss their asses on a regular basis. of course there's always exceptions, but this description, in my experience, is fairly accurate of them as a group...and not only will they often suggest the most costly procedures first, whether needed or not, but they also won't admit fault when they do make a mistake - although in their defense, they've all been instructed not to by malpractice lawyers.

another quick example, not having to do with back pain - i have a friend who was experiencing some pain in his side last year. not having insurance, he went to a local clinic, where the nurse told him he might have an issue with his appendix. he then went to the hospital, where they checked him out told him he had appendicitis. they performed an emergency appendectomy, billed him $24k, then found out later in the pathology lab that there was nothing wrong with his appendix. they never looked any further into what was causing the pain in the first place, and just let it be.

now just last week, he got served with court papers from the hospital for the bill, and will likely have 15% of his income garnished for the next decade or so to pay for a procedure that was hastily diagnosed and ultimately unnecessary.

 

[GarethSE]

I hate doctors, but also find 'em kinda pitifully hilarious.
Speaks volumes to me that they're willing to just hand out all sorts of powerful drugs like sweeties for things like back pain when really, just being more vigilant with your posture will go a long, long way. I started gettin' some nasty pains in my back recently, so I've been making a habit of keeping my back as straight as possible while meditating and I'm noticing a huge difference already. That time really only amounts to about 45 minutes, it doesn't take much.

The main thing though is how you can walk into a doctor's office and they start making assumptions about you as though they've known you for years. I always get a kick out of that one.

 

[jangoux]

Eric, I know what you mean and in fact they're on a very difficult position, but on my case, it is something they could've told me. Like 'Hey, let's try physical therapy for a couple months and if that doesn't help, we'll do the meds", instead of supplying me with Tramal. My mother had a back surgery to fix a herniated disc a few years ago, but after that a couple more hearniated disc appeared. Why? A side-effect of the surgery. My mother-in-law had back and arm spasms a few years ago, the doctors said it was a mild back pain, nerve pressure, blah blah blah, and in reality her heart was stroking, and two days later she had a heart attack and nearly died. Doctors usually don't want to look to the sides to try stuff - they just prefer to do what the old recipe says - and that's usually what makes their wallets stuffed.

 

[drew_drummer]

For once I mostly agree with Gareth. Doctors are pretty fucking useless a lot of the time.

Went to the doctor with stomach problems a few years ago. Was also having some panic attacks at the time. Tried to put me on anti-depressants. Fuck that. I didn't take them, and never went back.

Turned out I just needed a change of diet and a bit less stress.

 

[DeclanWhite]

dentists suck too.

my sister had to get some back teeth removed to make way for some teeth coming through, then she went to another dentist, and they said that the teeth wont come through so she needs them taken out, leaving her with hardly any back teeth for the rest of her life...

the first dentist fucked up by not having xrays and stuff haha

 

[El_Gato]

acupuncture= black magic voodooo shit for that kind of problems: back, articulations, bones, stomach... It have worked for me when regular medicine didn't. They complement each other very well.