• Contradictory advice from doctors

    Posted by Leah Leilani on April 1, 2019 at 8:00 pm

    Do you ever receive advice from a doctor that contradicts advice that you’ve gotten from a different doctor? How do you decide which option is best for you and your health?

    I use a back brace on occasion to help with my posture. My muscles in my torso and shoulders are too weak to keep from slouching. If I don’t wear it, I can wind up with soreness in my neck and shoulders. My chiropractor can tell when I haven’t been wearing because of the stiffness in my back. 

    I told my orthopedist about my brace and he said not to use. That it would only atrophy my muscles, not knowing much about my specific type of Muscular Dystrophy and that I don’t wear the brace for more than an hour or two. 

    Ralph Yaniz replied 5 years, 8 months ago 2 Members · 1 Reply
  • 1 Reply
  • Ralph Yaniz

    Member
    April 2, 2019 at 9:02 am

    I think this is very hard. You can always try a third opinion but then you’re getting into a messy situation and you can’t see three doctors for everything. I think you need to take the info and make your own assessment. If your orthopedist is worried it may weaken your muscles and you know you only where it a minimal amount of time and it makes you feel better… well then you know how to proceed. The equally important issue is also understanding that we all react differently, even to medications. I recently caught the reason my heart was having some skipped beats (PVCs). It was due to a medication I was taking that lowered my heart rate. I figured this out on my own and three cardiologists missed this and were looking at doing some big procedures that turned out to not be needed.  We need to be our own best advocates.

Log in to reply.