When someone doesn’t take you seriously, it hurts. But when that person is your doctor and the subject is chronic pain, the hurt is more than just emotional. It can have serious implications for your health and your life.
It’s sad but true: as Doctor Hache explains in the video above, we hear all the time from patients whose doctors simply don’t take them seriously when they say they’re in pain. Here’s a typical scenario:
Has Your Doctor Ever Told You This?
You’ve been seeing a doctor for chronic pain. He prescribes you some meds and you follow his instructions for taking them to a “T.” Despite this, it’s been a few weeks and the pain has not resolved.
So, you visit your doctor again.
“Doc, I’m still in pain,” you say. “On a scale of 1-10 I’m still at a 6. Do you have anything stronger?”
So he ups the dose.
You go home, take the drugs exactly as prescribed, and it helps a bit with the pain—but now you’re hurting somewhere else. So, back to the doctor you go.
You tell him what you’re experiencing….
…only to have him tell you, in one way or another, “It’s all in your head.”
You leave the doctor’s office with a referral to a psychiatrist and a lump in your throat, thinking, “Isn’t there anyone who understands what I’m going through—or am I really just crazy?”
8 Reasons Why Your Doctor Doesn’t Take You Seriously When You Tell Him You’re Still In Pain
No, you’re not crazy. And you’re not the only one. It happens every day, all over the world, to people who really are suffering legitimate pain that just isn’t responding to conventional treatment.
So why is it so common for medical doctors not to take your chronic pain seriously? There are many reasons. Here are just a few:
- He thinks you’re an addict. Opiate drug addiction really is a problem in this country, so he may automatically assume you’re just trying to get your fix.
- He thinks you’re lazy and/or irresponsible. He may have so much faith in conventional solutions that he assumes that if the meds aren’t working, it’s your fault—you must be skipping doses, or not taking them at the right time.
- He thinks you’re neurotic, depressed, or psychiatrically imbalanced. If you really are experiencing mental health symptoms, he may not understand that these are often the result of living with chronic pain, not the cause.
- He can’t relate. He has never experienced and simply doesn’t understand the realities of living with severe or chronic pain.
- If you’re female, he may not take you seriously because you’re a woman. Sad to say, this still happens.
- He doesn’t want to face failure. He’s out of solutions, and can’t stand thinking he was unable to help you—so blames it on you or something else.
- He can’t get past his own training. Conventional doctors are trained to offer quick fix solutions for specific problems, rather than finding ways to heal the entire person.
- He doesn’t have time to deal with problem cases. Today’s medical system is set up to push as many patients as possible through the office as fast as possible. Many if not most MD’s are stressed to the max and overloaded with patients, meaning they don’t always have the time it takes to really listen to patients and figure out how to really help them.
Some of these reasons are understandable, some are out of your doctor’s control, and some are just plain inexcusable. Regardless, if you are suffering from chronic pain, you deserve to be heard, understood, and believed.
And, if pain meds aren’t working for you, you deserve to know that there are viable, natural alternatives that won’t make you risk addiction, submit to painful procedures, or endure dangerous, uncomfortable side effects.
There Is a Better Solution To Chronic Pain – And Someone Who Will Listen
As naturopathic physicians, we have a whole different approach to chronic pain. We believe you are the biggest expert on what is happening with your body. Rather than simply prescribing treatments based on isolated symptoms, we listen closely and get to the root of the problem by diagnosing and treating the whole person.
Our Hache Protocol For Pain Resolution is a revolutionary approach to pain that has helped thousands of individuals say goodbye to pain meds forever. To learn more about how it can help you overcome your chronic and/or debilitating pain, download our free e-book here.