FYI

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Hurting? Better give your doctor a hug

Posted: 10/15/2011 3:21 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

IT'S kind of obvious, even axiomatic, that you should try to get along with your doctor. After all, except for your spouse and the occasional casual fling, you will never be as intimate with anyone else. What other person is going to touch you there?

Curiously, according to a recent scientific study, a lot of people do not get along with their doctors. It doesn't actually matter so much that you don't like your doctor (unless you let it show) as it does whether your doctor likes you. Because if your doctor actively dislikes you, she is not going to care much if you're hurting, and hurting is just about the only reason that most of us go to see our doctors; making appointments can be such a complicated thing.

According to this scientific study, conducted by researchers at the University of Ghent in Belgium and the University of British Columbia and published in a medical journal with the appropriate title Pain, if your doctor does not like you, you might want to subscribe to this magazine.

If you walk into a doctor's office or a hospital emergency room -- other than a Winnipeg hospital -- gushing blood from an obvious wound or suffering from a visible trauma, you will probably be treated quickly and effectively.

But if you are suffering from what is called "invisible pain" -- a back-ache or a sore tummy -- the treatment you get could be quite different depending on whether the doctor you are seeing likes you or not. No matter how badly your back hurts, if the Doc doesn't like you, you'll be lucky to get aspirin instead of the Oxymotrin that you really need.

Apparently, doctors in emergency rooms are not very good at gauging patients' pain levels -- these are patients they have usually never met before. They are so accustomed to dealing with people in severe pain that they become kind of anesthetized themselves.

Your family doctor is a different creature. He actually knows you. The question is whether he really cares if you've got a sore tummy or not and what should be done about it. If he likes you personally, he will care more than if he dislikes you. The more he dislikes you, the less he will care and the more you will hurt.

There is an obvious moral here, and it applies to a far larger world than a doctor's office. Be nice to the people who are offering you a service, whether it's a fast-food restaurant or a hospital emergency room. You will get better treatment and some comfort in the thought that they might actually care about how you live today and how you might die tomorrow.

..Tom Oleson

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition October 15, 2011 J2

(You must be logged in to post your reaction)

Your reaction?

More FYI

Undock

You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments. All you need to do is register and/or login and you can join the conversation and give your feedback.

The Winnipeg Free Press does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. By submitting your comment, you agree to our Terms and Conditions. These terms were revised effective April 16, 2010; View the changes. New to commenting? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions.