5 Things That Drive your Doctor Mad
Ever wonder what really gets your doctor's goat? RealSelf.com experts eagerly responded to the question,“What do you wish your patients would stop doing?” with brutally honest answers. Find out what they really have to say—some of their answers will surprise you...
Stop buying the hype.
Michael Eidelma, a New York City dermatologist, posted that he wants patients to stop “using expensive, highly-publicized products that may have no proven benefits before consulting their dermatologist.”
“I wish my clients would stop hopping around from one product to another in pursuit of the best deal or cheapest price possible. Most of the less expensive products sold over the counter in the chain drugstores will never achieve any results,” said Washington-based Dr. Henri Gaboriau.
Eat more and get off the couch.
You heard that right--eat more. Los Angeles-based dietician Jackie Keller said, “I wish my clients would stop skipping meals and skipping exercise—they’re not optional.”
Be a quitter.
Chicago Plastic Surgeon Gregory Wiener can't harp on this one enough: "Stop smoking." Predictable? Yes--but beyond the obvious, he states, "It is absolutely the worst thing you can do to yourself in regard to speeding up the aging process."
Stop licking your lenses.
Ophthalmologist Robert Maloney in Los Angeles says, “I wish my clients would stop licking their contact lenses and putting them back in their eye. They would be better off rinsing the contacts in a toilet than in their mouth, because the toilet has fewer germs!”
Be kind to your teeth.
“I wish my patients would stop using their teeth as tools to chew ice, chew bones, open wrappers, hold pins, etc.” said Jeffrey Golub-Evans at the New York Center for Cosmetic Dentistry.
Find out what other RealSelf.com pros had to say about patient behavior that gets under their skin.
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9 posts
1 Oct 2008
I wish my patients would all be honest with me when I ask them if they have fainted with medical procedures or blood tests in the past. Often patients are embarrassed to admit it when asked, but when injecting fillers and other procedures best done in a sitting position, these people will usually become light-headed or pass out unless I take special precautions before I start. from Dr. Lorrie Klein, a dermatologist in Laguna Niguel, CA
6 posts
3 Oct 2008
I completely agree with Dr. Eidelma! I wish patients would seek professional help and save their hard earned dollars for products and procedures that acutally work. Tanya Kormeili, MD, dermatologist in LA.