Health: 12 Q's To Ask Health Care Providers Regarding Treatment & Procedures
By award-winning author and stress-relief expert Susie Mantell
Many people experience a degree of anxiety when health concerns arise. Whether the problem is headache or heartache, sniffles or cancer, understanding a treatment's potential benefits and risks is our own responsibility. It's not uncommon for patients or family members to exit a medical consultation feeling overwhelmed, perhaps without a clear recollection of what was even said. Bring a pen and paper to your appointment and take thorough notes.
Here are some questions that might be helpful to ask, as you explore a possible treatment or procedure.
1. What is the intended action of this treatment? (e.g. Increase white cells to fight infection? Moist heat to
release spasm? Ice to reduce inflammation?)
2. How long have you been prescribing and monitoring results of this treatment?
3. These are all the medications I am presently taking. Are there are contraindications?
4. How can I reach you with questions if they arise, and when should I come back to evaluate how it's going?
5. What are common side-effects and how can I minimize them? (e.g. Take with food, not near bedtime, etc.)
6. May I please have some literature about this treatment?
7. How and when will I know if this protocol is working?
8. What are my other options?
9. Are there sources of financial assistance for this treatment?
10. What outcome can I realistically hope for as a result of this treatment?
11. Are there any serious risks and if so, what are the danger-indicators?
12. What would you recommend if I were your sister/brother/spouse/child?
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Award-winning stress-relief expert Susie Mantell ...is the author of the deeply soothing relaxation CD, "Your Present: A Half-Hour of Peace,” clinically approved for symptoms associated with stress and sleeplessness, depression and grief, anxiety, P.T.S.D., Fibromyalgia, caregiver stress, cancer, pain, divorce and addiction recovery. Featured in The Los Angeles Times, NBC, ABC, CBS-TV, Town & Country, The American Pain Society, Hazelden and The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, listeners include The Mayo Clinic, Memorial Sloan-Kettering, The Betty Ford Center, V.A. Hospitals,and Canyon Ranch (#1 Spa.) Customizing stress-reduction for Fortune 500 companies, distinguished hospitals and spas, Mantell has facilitated thousands in relieving health-related, work-related, chronic or traumatic stress. Her multi-sensory, mind-body techniques appear in national media, medical and corporate publications. Susie Mantell's Stress-Relief & Wellness Tips are intended as an adjunct to, not a substitute for, professional health care. Order “Your Present: A Half-Hour of Peace” and find more of Mantell’s stress-relief tips at www.relaxintuit.com