Most of us have our family doctors and they are usually practitioners of general medicine and rightly so. Since general medicine is instrumental in diagnosing diseases early and initiating treatment in time, most of us go to a general physician when we feel sick or unwell.
However, there are often misconceptions about general medicine. Some people, through information acquired from family members, friends, or people around them, feel that they know the diagnosis of the sickness or ailment, and go straight to a specialist. A limitless number of web results for all searches, which almost always suggest that you have some or the other kind of cancer, are also to be blamed for the aforementioned behavior.
However, it is advisable to go for general medicine before the diagnosis, especially because self-diagnosis and self-treatment in chronic diseases may lead to dangerous and unwanted results.
Often, general medicine helps in the diagnosis of high cholesterol, blood pressure, diabetes, etc., among others which may further lead to many ailments. Going to a General Physician is the solution and going to your family doctor, if you have one, will be all the more helpful as the professional will know about your family’s long-standing health history, which may have traces of chronic illnesses.
Practitioners of general medicine will also treat mild illnesses, injuries, and acute diseases like migraine, asthma, rashes, flu, fever, injuries, and colds. A general physician may also be consulted to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
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Here are the things you need to be wary of while visiting a general medicine doctor:
- First and foremost, be prepared to wait. A general medicine practitioner is often the busiest doctor around and has a lot of patients waiting to be treated.
- Once you enter the consultation room, your stay there might last up to 30-40 minutes depending on the seriousness of your ailment.
- Your overall health will be assessed through a lot of questions on your medical history and symptoms and you need to answer them patiently in order to get the best possible treatment.
- Your blood pressure and weight will be taken note of.
- Diagnostic tests may be recommended to find the root cause of your problems.
- Treatment plans may be developed and diets may be suggested.
- Depending on the need, you might also be asked to make lifestyle changes.
- Prescribing medication and referrals to specialists may also be done.
Now that you know the importance of general medicine, do not hastily rush to specialists by diagnosing yourself, do not treat yourself, and more importantly, do not blindly follow treatment plans you have read on the internet, for there are medical professionals who can and will give you the best possible solutions to your issues.