Take this challenge: try to make your doctor blush. It isn’t going to happen…ever. Doctors have heard it all, and when you say something that makes you want to hide under the covers, they hear something that immediately gets their medical expert wheels spinning.
As long as you’re talking to a doctor who’s in the field you’re asking about (for example, don’t approach your dentist with a query that’s really for an OBGYN), you shouldn’t have anything to be embarrassed about. Follow these tips for broaching an uncomfortable topic.
1. Practice what you’re going to say ahead of time so you don’t leave anything out, but stop rehearsing with a medical dictionary in the mirror. Your doctor isn’t going to judge you if you don’t know the correct terminology for what you’re dealing with. As long as you can express yourself clearly, it doesn’t make the slightest difference if you use an expert’s vocabulary or speak like a layman.
2. Just tell your doctor you’re feeling sheepish. If you start out with, “This is a little mortifying,” you’ll immediately let go of some of the anxiety you were feeling. Also, your doctor may help you out a bit by finishing your sentence so you’re not out there completely on your own.
3. On a first date, it’s good to steer clear of personal information that goes deeper than your carefree surface. A doctor appointment is not a date, though, and time is a valuable commodity. Get to the point quickly so that you can spend the rest of your appointment troubleshooting it.
4. Remember that if you’re dealing with a specific problem, a past patient has probably already paved the road for you. Your doctor has likely heard your problem before. They’ve probably also heard a worse, more humiliating version of it, too.
5. Get comfortable with your current doctor. Or, find a new one. Confused? Here’s the deal: you’ll be more comfortable telling your doctor something humiliating if you’ve been seeing them for a long time. Maybe, though, you’ve never really grown accustomed to your doctor because of their gender, age or smouldering good looks. If you just can’t get into a good groove with your doc, find a new one who you’re instantly at ease with. Over time, the rapport will just get better.
6. Unless you’re dealing with a problem from the neck up, you’re probably going to have to strip down to your skivvies and tie on a crunchy paper gown. Do whatever you need to do feel comfortable in a near-naked state. Scrub extra well in the shower that morning, shave your legs, wear brand new undergarments, try out that perfumed deodorant, whatever.
7. Tell them the whole truth and nothing but the truth. If you get halfway through your recap of your latest medical nightmare, but you can’t bring yourself to spout out the rest, you’re not doing yourself any favors. Save yourself a second trip by just coming out with all of it while you’re in front of the doctor. Sometimes, the most embarrassing symptom is also the tell-tale one.
Wendy Arnold is a professional blogger that provides information and advice for those seeking a mesh complications attorney. She writes for Surgical Mesh Help, a leading transvaginal mesh attorney group
