best medical sites Archives - Minnesota Physical Medicine Blog

If you’re like most Americans, odds are you bend the truth a little once you enter the doctor’s office. While it may seem harmless, lying to your doctor can have serious consequences. We all have unhealthy habits, and none of us are perfect, so we don’t expect you to eat healthy all the time and get 90 minutes of exercise each day. It’s perfectly normal to have some flaws, but when you lie to your doctor about your health habits, it only makes it harder for us to provide you with the utmost care. Here’s a look at three subjects people often lie about, and why that can be problematic.

Falsehoods in the Doctor’s Office

Here are three subjects that people often lie or bend the truth about when the topic is broached by the doctor:

1. Their Symptoms – This is especially true for chronic pain patients, but the reasons behind the lies may be different than you expect. For starters, some people with chronic pain overstate their symptoms because they are fed up with failed treatments and hope the doctor will take their concerns more seriously. Unfortunately, sometimes this leads to over-prescribing or giving harmful doses, which can lead to health issues or dependency. On the flip side, many patients don’t want to be defined by their chronic pain, so they play off symptoms like they are no big deal. This too makes it difficult for your physician to give you the best care. Great doctors will believe what you say and won’t judge you for saying them, so be open and honest about everything you’re experiencing.

2. Their Food Choices – As we alluded to above, nobody sticks to the perfect diet each and every day, and that’s fine. However, you need to be honest with your doctor about your dietary choices. Oftentimes the food we eat can affect how our bodies perceive pain. If you eat a lot of junk food or a heaping helping of spicy options, it can lead to inflammation in our joints, which may make pain worse. If your doctor can pinpoint some food choices that may be impacting your pain, this can help you get a better grip on your chronic condition. However, your doctor is not going to be able to help if you don’t open up about your regular diet.

3. Liquid Intake – Fluids are very important if you want to combat your chronic pain, but only the right ones will do the trick. Dehydration can make pain worse, so you want to make sure you’re getting plenty of water throughout the day. Most people are pretty honest about their water intake, but a liquid they often lie about is their alcohol intake. Alcohol may serve to “numb” the pain in the short-term, but it’s damaging other structures and making pain worse in the long run. Whether it’s out of embarrassment or the idea that their doctor may think less of them if they knew the extent of their drinking, many people skirt the truth when talking about alcohol intake. Your doctor isn’t going to judge you – he just wants to help get your condition under control. If you’re grossly underestimating your alcohol intake, your doctor may overlook that as a potential solution, or it could impact the effectiveness of your pain medication.

In the end, just be open and honest. We’re here to help, not to judge anyone for their lifestyle choices.

The web can be a very good place for information, but one has to be careful at which places they look for info. There are many commercial based sites that try to sell products based on your search criteria. Other sites are the equivalent of an infomercial for a medical practice or institution, while some may simply be a personal blog. Various organizations also sponsor sites, and some are very good, while others are pushing their philosophy toward a certain problem as the only true solution. The best sites seem to try to explain the science behind a problem and explain the variety of solutions available.

The sites that I have found the best are sponsored by the government or large medical organizations. For instance, the Mayo Clinic has a huge amount of information on a variety of topics. They write informational pages on various topics, like medical problems, the typical history, diagnostic studies that may be needed and treatment options. Other good places to look for factual information include insurance companies, health organizations, medical groups, and large universities. Many of these places have fact sheets available on topics of interest that are good reference material. The U.S. government also sponsors information, often from the National Institutes of Health, on a variety of issues.

Then there’s the gray area source of Wikipedia. Generally this source can is an excellent place for information and entries are written by top notch experts on a disease, however, it can be also written by someone who actually has no medical background and just decided to write an article for the site. The information found on this site should be verified with other sites and not be taken as a sole source of data.

The Internet and Chronic Pain

The internet can provide an excellent resource of information for the self motivated person. I have found it useful for baseline information about various pain conditions. I also use it as a resource for patients who want more information on certain topics, like exercises for low back pain. Youtube also has videos that demonstrate a variety of things from exercises to surgical procedures.

Cellphones have brought the internet to the palm of the hand. For a quick definition or piece of information it can be wonderful. Medical providers can find a variety of references for free that help make diagnoses, identify medications and there uses, and for dosing information. That said, reliable and free information in app form is hard to find. iPhone apps are a huge business, but I’ve found no beneficial free exercise apps for patients with chronic pain. There are some inexpensive apps for exercise, but read the reviews first to see if they are going to be helpful for your situation.

The internet is like the Wild West from long ago. There are many very good sites and areas to find educational information about a variety of conditions. The better sites are free and often sponsored by large medical institutions, such as the Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins University, other not-for-profit organizations or the U.S. government. Some doctors are also prolific writers and work at trying to educate their patients through the web. Unfortunately, in the pain world, there are also some terrible sites that are forums to gripe about a condition, and the doctors who “know nothing.” The internet can often be a very good starting place for information. It is also a good place to develop questions such that you can have a good discussion with your doctor about what to do next in your management.