How to make the best of your Medical Consultation

When a person is paying for a medical consultation, it is only fair to expect to get the best. When one has the ease of online doctor consultation, online doctor free chat, and more, it is only when all these options have been exhausted and failed to give substantial results that one has to invest in a medical consultation that requires a substantial chunk of one’s time, and probably also costs the big bucks.

So if one is going to go out of their way and make time for a proper Medical Consultation, it is important to make the best of the trip to the doctor and get solutions to all of one’s health issues. To make sure you do not miss out on any of the important steps and ensure a successful trip, here is what all you should be doing.

1. Prepare for the consultation

When you have taken the time out to book an appointment at the doctor’s you should also take out the time to get relevant documents together. This includes consultation slips, test results, scans, etc.

Prior consultation slips can reveal what medicines you have taken and if they have affected you adversely you can tell the doctor about it. It is also advisable to get blood work done every few months, and carrying your blood test results can be useful as the doctor can refer to it quickly.

Please note, that this may not be helpful in case of an infection or virus attack on the body. In such a case fresh blood test results/ urine test results will be required.

If you want to make your life easier for the future, it is a smart move to have a dedicated drawer for the medicines, prescriptions, consultation slips, hospital bills, test results, scan and x-ray results, and more. This will make it easier to keep track of one’s medical progress in the future as well.

2. List all the issues and symptoms

When you have a persistent cold for which you are going to the doctor, you may forget to mention that you also have a headache. This is done unconsciously as you may not think that they are related, but a persistent cold accompanied by a headache, which is not treated effectively with over-the-counter drugs may be caused due to sinus.

If the same situation is accompanied by a rash, this may be a sign of hay fever or a severe allergy. If important symptoms are not revealed to the doctor, this is sure to affect the diagnosis. This is why it crucial to not skip telling the doctor of any issues that you may be having.

By sharing all the issues you are facing, including minor pains and discomforts, you can let the certified physician make the best decision for you and get the correct treatment then.

3. Ask Questions

Getting an appointment was probably not easy for you, you had to take time off work and put off some weekend plans just for this. Then it is obvious that you cannot afford to take time off again. To prevent this from happening, you must ask questions that come to your mind and not have any inhibitions.

If you have any queries related to the new contraceptives that you are using, or if your hair is greying and the texture has changed- now would be a good time to ask these questions and get sufficient answers to them.

A good doctor will not shrug off your questions and will give you satisfactory answers. This will also allow them to understand your physical state better, and prescribe treatment that you can accommodate in your day to day life, such as minor lifestyle and food habits changes.

4. Tell the doctor of your allergies and over-the-counter medication

Sharing your condition with the doctor is only the first step towards getting treatment. The important thing is to get the right medicines which work on a person. This is why telling the doctor about any allergies you have will help with getting the right prescription.

A person with allergies may be taking antihistamines, a class of drugs, on the regular. If the doctor prescribes a medicine that reacts with antihistamines, it can create new problems for the patient.

Over the counter products like supplementary drugs should also be made known to the doctor. If a baby inside the mother’s womb is not developing adequately the doctor may infer that there is a deficiency of Vitamin B complex causing this; however, if the woman is already taking Vitamin B supplements, there may be an underlying issue that is much more serious. To know this, it is imperative to share all information with one’s doctor about the drugs they take, have taken in the past, and more.

5. Understand your prescription, and then follow the instructions

When the doctor hands you the slip, ask any questions you may have. You should be asking about the precautions you should be taking in your condition or with the specific drugs that you have been prescribed.

It is also important to inquire about how long the results will be expected to show. This will give you a fair window of how long you should wait to see improvement. If your condition does not get better in this time, you may need a new prescription or a more advanced diagnosis.
Any advice by the doctor should be taken seriously and one should follow all the instructions given to them. Medicines should be taken as per prescribed dosage and at the time that the doctor suggests. It is important to do this to get substantial results.

By taking these measures, one can ensure that their medical consultation is fully utilized and they can get what their time and money are worth. Simple steps like these do not require one to go out of their way but ensure that all issues get treated properly and nothing gets put off for the future and then linger on to cause discomfort to you.

At the end, if you need some advice to choose the right doctor for you, you can follow these tips