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Traditional Methods are Still the Best When Looking for a Diagnosis

Monday, April 22nd, 2013

Too many patients walk into my office looking for a quick fix for their problems. And why shouldn’t they expect a cure as quickly as possible? Nobody wants to feel sick, or live with unexplained symptoms. Nobody wants to worry that they have something seriously wrong with their bodies. However, all too often the patient’s idea of a “quick fix” is extensive testing and diagnostics. They see these highly advanced medical tools and think they’re a miracle tool that’s going to fix all of their problems. What these patients aren’t considering is that the best tool of all isn’t one that uses radio waves, computers, and high-tech imaging to get to the source of the problem.

The simple fact is, expecting high-tech diagnostics to get to the root of your medical issue could do more harm than good. Studies show that time is a factor in getting treatment for your problems, and a doctor can diagnose your problem far quicker than any machine. The first order of business for any doctor in treating their patient is determining whether or not they think an issue is serious enough to warrant extensive testing, which can be time-consuming and expensive. In most cases, an issue can be simply taken care of if you just trust your doctor’s gut instinct about what’s causing the problem and follow the course of treatment they lay out for you.

The fact that it can take a little time, and a handful of visits, to get to the root of the problem is a good thing. It may not seem that way if you’re experiencing headaches, nausea, or painful menstruation, but waiting it out and letting the doctor diagnose you with traditional methods has a lot of benefits. I’ve seen many patients come in thinking they had a serious illness, only to have the issue resolve itself with time, and patients whose problems persist are much easier to diagnose and treat when we stick it out and develop a detailed profile of their illness. There are times, of course, when us doctors get stuck. That’s when we’ll refer you to a specialist for high-tech testing. Just remember, no matter how fancy those machines may seem, the best resource you have for your health is the store of information and experienced located in your doctor’s brain.

– Yvonne S. Thornton, M. D., M. P. H.