My best friend complained that he discovered a "bump" behind his ear today. I looked at it and could hardly notice. Maybe a pimple. I told him to relax and wait a few days, but he was afraid he was going to "die".
So, he goes to his doctor straight away and texts me angrily that it may be a "cyst". I do a follow-up call and find out the doctor did not do anything except look at it and set up an appointment for an ultrasound with some other specialist.
Perhaps I am too quick to judge, but is it people like him that drive up the cost of healthcare?
Yes. But it is people like you who die from little warning signs that were ignored.
Quote from: Darth Wagtaros on July 02, 2009, 07:33:29 PM
Yes. But it is people like you who die from little warning signs that were ignored.
Examples of little warning signs that kill you after only a few days?
Quote from: Phillip V on July 02, 2009, 07:36:55 PM
Examples of little warning signs that kill you after only a few days?
It could be a cyst.
Quote from: Phillip V on July 02, 2009, 07:30:59 PM
My best friend complained that he discovered a "bump" behind his ear today. I looked at it and could hardly notice. Maybe a pimple. I told him to relax and wait a few days, but he was afraid he was going to "die".
So, he goes to his doctor straight away and texts me angrily that it may be a "cyst". I do a follow-up call and find out the doctor did not do anything except look at it and set up an appointment for an ultrasound with some other specialist.
Perhaps I am too quick to judge, but is it people like him that drive up the cost of healthcare?
Just because you can't see much doesn't mean there isn't something. More important is if he can feel a lump there.
Huh, I had one behind my right ear, too. I picked at it and it started bleeding, but soon stopped, and eventually went away.
Then it came back, and went away again.
If it kills me, I'll let you know and you can pass that on to your friend.
Quote from: Phillip V on July 02, 2009, 07:36:55 PM
Quote from: Darth Wagtaros on July 02, 2009, 07:33:29 PM
Yes. But it is people like you who die from little warning signs that were ignored.
Examples of little warning signs that kill you after only a few days?
Signs of stroke or heart attack, rattlesnake or brown recluse bites. A severed horse' head in your bed...
Quote from: Habbaku on July 02, 2009, 07:41:26 PM
It could be a cyst.
Examples of surface cysts that kill you after a few days?
Quote from: Darth Wagtaros on July 02, 2009, 07:47:08 PM
Signs of stroke or heart attack, rattlesnake or brown recluse bites. A severed horse' head in your bed...
Yes, those are quite little warning signs. :P
Quote from: HisMajestyBOB on July 02, 2009, 07:45:48 PM
Huh, I had one behind my right ear, too. I picked at it and it started bleeding, but soon stopped, and eventually went away.
Then it came back, and went away again.
If it kills me, I'll let you know and you can pass that on to your friend.
As an adolescent, I went to the doctor for the same thing. A bump behind my ear.
I went to the doctor because I had bad headaches for a few days when I was 15. This same friend told me that I had developed migraines, but they went away after a few days.
I also went when I was 10 or 11 because my knees were slightly achy. Did not think that being a growing and active boy might affect how my body feels.
I then realized that calling the doctor for every little change in my body was a waste of everybody's time and money.
Quote from: Phillip V on July 02, 2009, 07:49:14 PM
Quote from: Darth Wagtaros on July 02, 2009, 07:47:08 PM
Signs of stroke or heart attack, rattlesnake or brown recluse bites. A severed horse' head in your bed...
Yes, those are quite little warning signs. :P
Signs of stroke can be almost unnoticeable.
Quote from: Darth Wagtaros on July 02, 2009, 08:05:46 PM
Signs of stroke can be almost unnoticeable.
Examples? The sources I looked up about stroke did not cover much the unnoticeable signs of stroke. All symptoms listed would seem to warrant immediate action.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroke#Signs_and_symptoms
Billy Mayes took a stroke to the head and ignored it. Just didn't seem that bad. Now he's dead. A statistic.
Quote from: Phillip V on July 02, 2009, 08:37:02 PM
Quote from: Darth Wagtaros on July 02, 2009, 08:05:46 PM
Signs of stroke can be almost unnoticeable.
Examples? The sources I looked up about stroke did not cover much the unnoticeable signs of stroke. All symptoms listed would seem to warrant immediate action.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroke#Signs_and_symptoms
Quote from: Darth Wagtaros on July 02, 2009, 08:43:33 PM
Billy Mayes took a stroke to the head and ignored it. Just didn't seem that bad. Now he's dead. A statistic.Quote from: Phillip V on July 02, 2009, 08:37:02 PM
Quote from: Darth Wagtaros on July 02, 2009, 08:05:46 PM
Signs of stroke can be almost unnoticeable.
Examples? The sources I looked up about stroke did not cover much the unnoticeable signs of stroke. All symptoms listed would seem to warrant immediate action.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroke#Signs_and_symptoms
But wait!
There's MORE!
Quote from: Darth Wagtaros on July 02, 2009, 08:43:33 PM
Billy Mayes took a stroke to the head and ignored it. Just didn't seem that bad. Now he's dead. A statistic.Quote from: Phillip V on July 02, 2009, 08:37:02 PM
Quote from: Darth Wagtaros on July 02, 2009, 08:05:46 PM
Signs of stroke can be almost unnoticeable.
Examples? The sources I looked up about stroke did not cover much the unnoticeable signs of stroke. All symptoms listed would seem to warrant immediate action.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroke#Signs_and_symptoms
He died of a heart attack in his sleep.
http://cbs5.com/entertainment/billy.mays.obit.2.1063065.html
That's not paranoia.
Quote from: Darth Wagtaros on July 02, 2009, 09:07:30 PM
The Computer does not agree.
:o I don't even have a computer!
Quote from: Phillip V on July 02, 2009, 07:30:59 PM
My best friend complained that he discovered a "bump" behind his ear today. I looked at it and could hardly notice. Maybe a pimple. I told him to relax and wait a few days, but he was afraid he was going to "die".
So, he goes to his doctor straight away and texts me angrily that it may be a "cyst". I do a follow-up call and find out the doctor did not do anything except look at it and set up an appointment for an ultrasound with some other specialist.
Perhaps I am too quick to judge, but is it people like him that drive up the cost of healthcare?
The test costs are negligible compared to costs of treating people like you who don't get tested and then develop an advanced medical condition.
Quote from: Martinus on July 03, 2009, 12:34:45 AM
The test costs are negligible compared to costs of treating people like you who don't get tested and then develop an advanced medical condition.
I have yet to see anyone pull up some good research/figures on the cost of waiting a few days to see if a pimple will go away, whereas one of the factors of ballooning health costs in America is due to the fee-for-service system where doctors want the repeat checkups and tests to make their money. Meanwhile, when I used to go in to the doctor's office for such worries about aches and bumps that went away after a few days, I would see the other patients waiting their turn that were coughing their lungs out or burning up while I got my paranoia assuaged. Let's not be selfish.
http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13900898
I don't go to the doctor unless it's fairly serious. Last time I went almost a decade ago, when I caught pink eye and my eyes got glued shut with gunk.
Quote from: DisturbedPervert on July 03, 2009, 01:47:14 AM
I don't go to the doctor unless it's fairly serious. Last time I went almost a decade ago, when I caught pink eye and my eyes got glued shut with gunk.
Which goes away by itself without medication most of the time. Still - since it's quite painful and often quite treatable you should go.
Waiting a day or a few unless having symptoms of a more serious nature never hurts. I don't know how much my medical knowledge has altered my conception of "minor complaint", but I see one area where we need to get better. Where a swollen lymph node may scream cancer to a worried layman, we tend to think that it's a reaction to some injury or minor infection. We need to be more pedagogic and explain how the body reacts to disease and injury, and what is "normal".
Quote from: Lucidor on July 03, 2009, 01:54:50 AM
Quote from: DisturbedPervert on July 03, 2009, 01:47:14 AM
I don't go to the doctor unless it's fairly serious. Last time I went almost a decade ago, when I caught pink eye and my eyes got glued shut with gunk.
Which goes away by itself without medication most of the time. Still - since it's quite painful and often quite treatable you should go.
Waiting a day or a few unless having symptoms of a more serious nature never hurts. I don't know how much my medical knowledge has altered my conception of "minor complaint", but I see one area where we need to get better. Where a swollen lymph node may scream cancer to a worried layman, we tend to think that it's a reaction to some injury or minor infection. We need to be more pedagogic and explain how the body reacts to disease and injury, and what is "normal".
Is coughing up blood "normal"?
Quote from: Jaron on July 03, 2009, 02:01:43 AM
Quote from: Lucidor on July 03, 2009, 01:54:50 AM
Quote from: DisturbedPervert on July 03, 2009, 01:47:14 AM
I don't go to the doctor unless it's fairly serious. Last time I went almost a decade ago, when I caught pink eye and my eyes got glued shut with gunk.
Which goes away by itself without medication most of the time. Still - since it's quite painful and often quite treatable you should go.
Waiting a day or a few unless having symptoms of a more serious nature never hurts. I don't know how much my medical knowledge has altered my conception of "minor complaint", but I see one area where we need to get better. Where a swollen lymph node may scream cancer to a worried layman, we tend to think that it's a reaction to some injury or minor infection. We need to be more pedagogic and explain how the body reacts to disease and injury, and what is "normal".
Is coughing up blood "normal"?
Ask your doctor! :)
With Lucidor around I don't see why any of us should have to pay for medical advice. Can he get a sticky thread?
Quote from: Lucidor on July 03, 2009, 02:08:59 AM
Quote from: Jaron on July 03, 2009, 02:01:43 AM
Quote from: Lucidor on July 03, 2009, 01:54:50 AM
Quote from: DisturbedPervert on July 03, 2009, 01:47:14 AM
I don't go to the doctor unless it's fairly serious. Last time I went almost a decade ago, when I caught pink eye and my eyes got glued shut with gunk.
Which goes away by itself without medication most of the time. Still - since it's quite painful and often quite treatable you should go.
Waiting a day or a few unless having symptoms of a more serious nature never hurts. I don't know how much my medical knowledge has altered my conception of "minor complaint", but I see one area where we need to get better. Where a swollen lymph node may scream cancer to a worried layman, we tend to think that it's a reaction to some injury or minor infection. We need to be more pedagogic and explain how the body reacts to disease and injury, and what is "normal".
Is coughing up blood "normal"?
Ask your doctor! :)
I did. :grrr:
I had what I thought was gastroenteritis when I was 24 years old. Instead of going to the doctor, I stayed home till it passed. Now I know it was the first Crohn's flare up.
Had I pushed for a diagnosis and gotten medication I may have been able to save my terminal ileum instead of having it chopped off. Sure, barium swallows and colonoscopies are expensive. But surgery isn't exactly cheap either.
Quote from: Iormlund on July 03, 2009, 05:13:19 AM
I had what I thought was gastroenteritis when I was 24 years old. Instead of going to the doctor, I stayed home till it passed. Now I know it was the first Crohn's flare up.
Had I pushed for a diagnosis and gotten medication I may have been able to save my terminal ileum instead of having it chopped off. Sure, barium swallows and colonoscopies are expensive. But surgery isn't exactly cheap either.
Could I have something like that? I've had a stomach ache all week and it has me worried. :(
I woke up with a headache today. Could I have: brain cancer?
Quote from: Jaron on July 03, 2009, 05:17:58 AM
Could I have something like that? I've had a stomach ache all week and it has me worried. :(
It's probably just worms.
Paranoid people probably live longer though.
Not really. All that worry makes them depressed and the stress leads to cardiovascular disease and cancer.
Quote from: Jaron on July 03, 2009, 05:17:58 AM
Could I have something like that? I've had a stomach ache all week and it has me worried. :(
Not without a lot of other symptoms. Now if you are suffering vomiting, diarrhea _or_ see mucus or bloody stools in addition to pain, you should visit your doctor anyway.
I think I better go to bed. :x Thanks Iorm.
Quote from: Lucidor on July 03, 2009, 05:33:15 AM
Not really. All that worry makes them depressed and the stress leads to cardiovascular disease and cancer.
Isn't it one of the reasons why females live longer - that they are more willing to see doctors?
I doubt that Mono. They live longer even where there's no decent medical assistance.
Quote from: Jaron on July 03, 2009, 05:36:31 AM
I think I better go to bed. :x Thanks Iorm.
:lol:
Don't ask about what you don't want to hear. ;)
wu wu wu
Quote from: Monoriu on July 03, 2009, 05:36:53 AM
Isn't it one of the reasons why females live longer - that they are more willing to see doctors?
Well, one should still always go for the recommended periodic checkups and cleanings, which is the key to the preventive care that the uninsured miss out on.
And if certain trigger events occur. For example, I have a colleague that was bitten by a deer tick, but waited until the ring to show up on his skin, whereas the recommended protocol is to report to a hospital/doctor right away and store the tick for testing.
I'm glad I got a mole checked a few months ago, just to drive up everybody's health costs.
Quote from: Ed Anger on July 03, 2009, 11:27:41 AM
I'm glad I got a mole checked a few months ago, just to drive up everybody's health costs.
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.topnews.in%2Fhealth%2Ffiles%2Fmole.jpg&hash=aecda7d4204b6c6a71de70bf586a75b15e9ff747)
Quote from: Phillip V on July 03, 2009, 11:24:57 AM
Quote from: Monoriu on July 03, 2009, 05:36:53 AM
Isn't it one of the reasons why females live longer - that they are more willing to see doctors?
Well, one should still always go for the recommended periodic checkups and cleanings, which is the key to the preventive care that the uninsured miss out on.
And if certain trigger events occur. For example, I have a colleague that was bitten by a deer tick, but waited until the ring to show up on his skin, whereas the recommended protocol is to report to a hospital/doctor right away and store the tick for testing.
It is? I thought that was paranoid... It's borreliosis we're talking about, not some exotic zoonose?
Quote from: Lucidor on July 03, 2009, 05:24:00 AM
I woke up with a headache today. Could I have: brain cancer?
It's not a tumor!