How to Get Your Doctor to Take You Seriously as a Young Woman

Do you feel like your doctor isn't listening to you? That's because he/she isn't. Women face a potentially deadly problem when they visit their doctors for routine checkups and screenings...they are female. As such, their legitimate complaints of pain or discomfort are often categorized as imaginary or groundless. When simple tests do not immediately uncover a well known condition, seldom is further testing administered (if any testing is performed at all). While this is a problem for women of all ages, young women are especially at risk due to the lower incidence of disease in their age group. Therefore, take the following precautions to ensure that your doctor takes you seriously at your next checkup, even if you are "just" a young, vibrant woman concerned about her own well-being.

First, do your own research. Believe it or not, your doctor doesn't mentally scan a list of possible conditions or rare ailments that may or may not be contributing to your symptoms when you tell him/her of your predicament. With dozens of patients waiting, decisions are made quickly with little thought being given to the possibility of stereotyping and prejudice playing a factor. Therefore, search online for all possible conditions that share your symptoms ahead of time.

Next, narrow down that list of medical problems to those that are more likely to affect you. While you certainly mustn't play doctor with your own health, listing general symptoms such as "headache" or "cough" will only leave you with a multitude of possible health problems. Therefore, narrow down the possibilities by closely studying those that seem to hit a bit closer to home. Focus on less common symptoms, such as pain in a particular area, that accompany your general signs and consider environmental factors that may make you more susceptible to one condition than another.

After compiling your new list of possible illnesses, find out what your own risk for each is and verbally address that risk during your visit with your doctor. In other words, if you are alarmed at how similar your symptoms are to a rare disease, acknowledging how unlikely it is that a young woman of your age would have such a condition is essential to ensuring that your doctor takes you seriously. If your doctor can see that you understand just how rare such a scenario would be, he/she may be more inclined to listen to your legitimate concerns. Otherwise, you may simply appear to be yet another patient with a penchant for "name-dropping" illnesses and conditions they know little about.

If you are particularly concerned about a single illness or condition but are fearful that your doctor may view you as paranoid for even mentioning testing, take advantage of self-tests and questionnaires online and print out your results for your visit. Having tangible test results from reliable sources will help further demonstrate to your physician the seriousness of your complaints. Do be sure to only print test and quiz results from websites created by members of the medical community.

Finally, ensure that your doctor takes you seriously, even as a young and otherwise healthy woman, by requesting specific tests and procedures. Know ahead of time what testing is generally administered for female patients with similar complaints at any age, and request the necessary procedures as a precaution. Asking for a test directly will greatly increase your chances or receiving proper and adequate attention, possibly sparing you from further discomfort and unnecessary future visits to your physician.

If you find yourself at any time feeling degraded or taken less seriously due to your age, consider switching to a more sympathetic doctor or specialist. If testing is ever denied for reasons other than those directly affecting your health, consider speaking to another medical professional immediately. As a young woman, not only are you at risk of being taken less seriously due to merely being a female, but you are also in danger of having your complaints ignored due to your age and the general assumption that youth equals health. It's up to you to take care of yourself, and to be persistent at all times.