We recently wrote a post where doctors and nurses revealed the health “lies” people should stop believing. In the comments, even more medical professionals have debunked health myths and misconceptions, and it's seriously an eye-opener. This is what they had to say:
Note: Some comments were taken from this Reddit thread by Kerouac__.
1.“No, taking an ambulance instead of your private vehicle to the emergency room is sufficient not get treated faster. Patients are assessed on the severity of their symptoms, so you may have to wait if you hurt your knee because someone else is bleeding or having a heart attack.”
—modern mule195
Bluecinema/Getty Images
2.“OB/GYN NP here: Using hormonal birth control doesn't make you infertile. Untreated chlamydia can.”
—evilchef76
3.“As an OR nurse, CLEAN YOUR ABDOMINAL BUTTON BEFORE THE OPERATION!!! Once you are asleep, we expose a large part of the skin and usually also clean the belly button (even if that is not the area where you are having surgery) because if tear the curtains or have a hole in them, the skin around the incision area would still be cleaner than I prepared The number of patients I have cared for have gold mines, god knows what lives in them deep, deep navels are shocking.”
“We have to clean everything up before we go any further, and we all gag when we do it. It's wild. If you have a hip replacement, a gallbladder removed, a hernia repaired, or any other number of surgeries, we will see your belly button, we will look inside it, we will take the gunk out, and you will never know the difference. BEAUTIFUL. YOUR. BELLY. BUTTONS.”
—u/pamelabeezlyhalpert
4.“You can't detox your liver, and some of the things that are recommended actually hurt your liver more. Seriously, that's true. But there's always someone who thinks they can improve their liver. No.”
– kestrel
Ljubaphoto/Getty Images
5.“I'm a doctor. I've had a lot of training, but I haven't had training in every area. You probably don't want me to have to go through a complicated pregnancy or have surgery. We may not have the answer to your concerns know, but a good provider can listen well and try to get you to someone who can help you.”
—bingowashisnameo
6.“Doctors almost never tell a patient that he has only three months to live. I've had countless patients make a similar complaint, but every doctor I've ever asked says they never tell a patient that. They might say that someone with that diagnosis usually does not.” “I won't survive more than xy months or years, but we don't know how much time anyone has left.”
– mushy crocodile77
7.“What irritates me is that CPR is not intended to restart your heart! The purpose is to keep blood flowing through the body until the person can receive actual medical care. So many TV shows and movies show people having a few perform CPR.” minutes, and then they give up – OR they do the weakest compressions known to man, and the person wakes up. It's so misleading!
“The compressions must be continuous and also strong enough to potentially break ribs.”
-soft squid
Kmatta/Getty images
8.“If we tell you that you have precancerous changes in your cervix, it means that if you do not get it treated or closely monitored, there is a CHANCE it could develop into cancer over time. It is NO cancer – 90+ percent of patients who told me they had cervical cancer did not.”
“When I told them they had precancerous changes, I routinely told my patients at least five times that it was NOT cervical cancer. it even reinforced it on follow up visits, yet I had a patient's family call us because she told her family she had three months to live and gave away all her belongings because we told her she was dying of cervical cancer and only three months left had. to live.”
– mushy crocodile77
9.“Pharmacy tech here. The number of people who don't consider vitamins, supplements, or even over-the-counter products as 'medicine' is staggering. You ask what else they take, and they say 'nothing'. but then it turns out they don't take Tylenol , colloidal silver and vitamins reported if your medications 'don't work', not only should you not stop taking them, but also don't add other medications on top of them!'
-baddaughter
10.“That, I, as a nurse, am just trying to milk your insurance. Most of the time I don't even know if you have insurance, are documented or undocumented, or if there is anything to do with billing and medical benefits. If I have valid orders from If the doctor wants to do something to help us figure out what's wrong with you or to help us make you feel better, I'll do it.'
'I'm not going to run to see if the hospital is compensated. I literally don't care. I just want to help you get better and get out of it so we can help the next person get better and get out of it too.“
—neck
Sdi Productions/Getty Images
11.“We don't care what your donor status is!!! If you have a serious accident, we won't withhold treatment just because you are a donor. The whole donor situation is so complicated that it wouldn't even work if we did. Please be a donor!”
—u/JustGenericName
12.“As a doctor, you don't know what I'm doing because you have Google. Show some self-respect and trust the experts; we've had many years of training, advanced practicum after school, not to mention the thousands of people we've seen.”
—heinzybaby
13.“You can't just pull out an IV and walk away as if nothing happened. You'll bleed everywhere, let alone get past all the layers of tape and Tegaderm holding it in place.”
“Some people clot easily; many people don't, and if you pull on an IV line and just let your arm dangle, bleeding will occur. Whether it is a lot or a little depends on your clotting factors. If I don't apply pressure for ten minutes, I'll bleed everywhere.”
—rakishrogue
Skaman306/Getty images
14.Myth: Cancer only affects older people. [Testicular cancer is most common in ages 20 to 40]. You should have yourself checked once a month.”
“Men. Check your testicles to see if you feel a lump, bump, swelling, fullness, or pain. Pretty much anything down there. I have seen too many cases of young men who waited too long with testicular cancer that had spread.“
—u/gjunon
15.“Medical assistant of 18 years here. If you get a new appointment with a new provider, please Doing come prepared. Bring your medical list, previous medications you have taken and allergies. By the way, I don't know what your little yellow pill with an X on it is. I'm an MA, not a pharmacy tech.”
—k4e39fd4aa
16.“I'm a CRNA. People think we leave the room after they sleep. No, dog, I'm there all the time!”
“Furthermore, people understand less about anesthesia than they do about virtually every aspect of medicine.”
-Anonymously
And finally…
17.“Myth: You can use whatever antibiotics you have lying around for an infection. In reality, different types of antibiotics treat different types of infections. The leftover antibiotic you have from your urinary tract infection won't work for your sinus infection. See a doctor.” doctor, and if you have any 'leftover antibiotics', you haven't taken them properly.”
—u/K6983
Chain45154/Getty images
Doctors, nurses and other medical professionals, what is one “lie” or “misconception” about health that people should stop believing? Tell us in the comments below, or if you prefer to remain anonymous, you can use this Google form.
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
