5 Tips for Geting the Right Diagnosis from Your Doctor!

Ever been shuttled from doctor to doctor with no explanation for your symptoms? That's the quite usual experience; I think most of us have been gone through it. Being a Medical professional I know there are some limitations in diagnosing certain conditions, these may be due to any reason like lack of complete history, unusual test results & many more. Here are five secrets which myself and other crackerjack diagnostician apply when we are the ones stretched out on the examining table. This ways will not only lead your doctor to a better diagnosis but also maintain the rapport which will make your doctor feel free to express the uncertainty of his diagnosis.

1. Make sure you tell the entire history of the symptoms to your doctor.
If your doctor seems to be in hurry and interrupts you frequently, beware you're at greater risk of being misdiagnosed. "In nearly every case, patients tell their doctors the ultimate diagnosis, in what they say", says Gordon, one of my Pathologist friend.

2. Ask your doctor these three vital questions.
After your doctor arrives at a probable diagnosis, ask him:
Is there something missing or anything in my medical history that doesn't fit with your hypothesis?
What else can it possibly be?
Could there more than one thing be wrong?

3. Reevaluate any of the shocking medical test results.
About 2 to 6 percent of the time, something goes wrong with a lab test like, a vial of blood is contaminated, or a tissue biopsy is mixed up with another patient's. If a patient's hemoglobin suddenly drops & he becomes anemic or her blood sugar level rises markedly, in this case I'll repeat the test to make sure the first test is correct & only then proceed further.

4. Acknowledge the idiosyncrasy.
Every individual is different. There are always subjective variations in the perception of the symptoms among the individuals. Like, a soldier will have greater tolerance to pain than an average American citizen. He can withstand a bullet shot in the arm/leg during war & carry on. But this won't be possible for us. These variations affect the doctor's conclusion. Doctor needs every detail of the symptoms ex. character, severity, duration of illness. Hence one should explain there symptoms by comparing them with other similar conditions. Let me explain, a patient going to the doctor with complain chest pain possibly angina. He should tell doctor that, "I get such pain on exertion, i did have chest pain earlier but this pain seems quite different!" This will make it easier for doctor to understand complaint better.

5. Accept the possibility of uncertainty.
I remember an incident. Once I had severe wrist pain for about 2 days. I went to an orthopedic surgeon. When I explained my condition, I recall, I was very happy that the surgeon told me that he didn't know the reason. Better to have a doctor who acknowledges that he/she doesn't have a clue and then refers you to someone who does, than to have one, who insists she's right when he's/she's not!