Maybe you have fractured your bone; maybe it’s a ligament injury; maybe it’s just a regular backache.In any case, if you’ve decided to visit a bone doctor, it would do well if you have a fair idea of how your first appointment would pan out.
An orthopedic doctor gets tons of common questions.
Of course, if you’re confused, you shouldn’t hesitate to ask the same and more questions to your doctor. However, at the same time, there are questions that you’re better off leaving alone. Not that they are wrong; they simply lack clear and definite answers.
To help you prepare for your first appointment, here are 5 questions you should not ask your orthopedic doctor:
1. How Long Will It Take To Heal?
A lot of factors come into play here – FROM the severity of the injury TO treatment type TO how you respond to the treatment.
Furthermore, when it comes to healing bone and joint-related problems, your personal habits, care, and overall lifestyle come to play an even bigger role.
So, don’t expect your doctor to answer this question accurately – not at least in the first appointment.
Instead of trying to know the timeframe, try to understand the problem and how it’s biologically improved and healed.
2. Will The Treatment Be Costly?
As a general rule of thumb, do not talk a lot to your doctor about money.
What matters the most here is that your problems get fixed. So, don’t fixate on the expense of the treatment from the go.
Sure, do get a basic idea to sort your budget. But don’t make your entire conversation around “it is so expensive” and “what are the cheaper options”.
3. But That’s Not What Webmd Says, Why?
Many people have the habit of overly relying on the web for medical and healthcare help. Are you one of them?
Understand that a lot of what you read online regarding health and medicine are too broad at best and unreliable at worst.
Don’t blindly believe everything you read online.
Instead, listen to your doctor intently. Do not question their diagnoses and recommendations– beyond a point – just because that’s not what you read on a website.
4. Do I Really Need To Come Back Here Again?
Yes, if the orthopedic problem is something big and severe, you will have several subsequent appointments.
However, even if the injury is mild, it’s recommended to make at least one more appointment to the doctor. This is to ensure that, following the first appointment, you’ve healed adequately or, at least, are on the right course of recovery.
A common mistake many patients make is when they start “feeling” better, they assume that they are back to normal. And they usually skip their next appointment. Don’t be one of them!
Follow the doctor’s advice and see them on the date or in the week that they have asked you to visit.
5. Will It Be Back To Normal After That?
No one knows. Your course of recovery or healing depends on many factors.
Even when you’ve started feeling better, it’s not assured that everything is back to normal.
For instance, with ligament injuries, while that ligament may have been recovered, it may still be weak for weeks and months; meaning, it might be prone to another injury. Similarly with fractures, even when your bone has healed, it might still be in a fragile condition that risks another injury.
Besides, especially when dealing with severe bone and joint-related problems, the problem and subsequent treatment may leave a scar that might never get back to normal. You may have to learn to live with that.
So, avoid asking this question. Instead of heeding to the “normal”, focus on the process of recovery or “feeling better”.
Conclusion
These are five questions you shouldn’t ask your orthopedic doctor on the first appointment.
There are plenty of important and relevant questions instead that you should make note of, head-on, to ask. Like, why the doctor has selected this treatment over others? How is this procedure done? What are the alternatives? If you’re being referred to a specialist, say the best ankle specialist in Ultadanga, why is that? What kind of risks are involved in the treatment? More such similar questions.