A while back, we wrote a post where doctors and nurses revealed common health lies people shouldn’t believe anymore. In the comments, they called out even more health misconceptions — and it’s super eye-opening. Here’s what they had to say:
1.“Getting cold or wet will not give you a cold. Colds are caused by contracting viruses from other people — not from being cold or wet. We are inside more and around other people in the winter, causing more colds in the winter.”
—Anonymous, 65, California
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2.“Sugar doesn’t cause kids to be hyper. There is no such thing as a sugar rush. Kids get hyper from being at a party and amped up from the environment.”
—Anonymous, 65, California
3.“[It’s a lie that] health insurance companies follow the best medical practice. Just because a treatment has been reported as effective or is FDA-approved and indicated for your disease doesn’t mean it will be covered by your insurance for your medical problem. Generally, new and more expensive treatments and tests will be either denied the first time or your doctor will be grilled and tortured before they can get it for you.”
“Another common trend is for insurance reps to tell the patient that the doctor ‘did not provide enough information’ or ‘just needs to make a 10-minute phone call.’ In my 20-year experience, I have not had a 10-minute call with insurance, except when I get put on hold and get disconnected. Appeals are typically a multi-stage battle, and any success is a lottery.”
—Anonymous, Massachusetts
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4.“Pediatrician here. Young women…we are not judging you. I have seen and heard it all, and what is going on with you will not surprise or shock me. I just want to keep you safe and ensure you have every opportunity to fulfill your dreams, but I can’t do that if you don’t let me help you.”
—Anonymous, 49, Tennessee
5.“Doctors and nurses do not perform lab tests. That’s up to a totally behind-the-scenes team of specialists, without whom the patient-facing team would only be guessing. We in the lab often get calls from nurses and doctors asking what certain test results mean.”
“Most lab techs can diagnose and even recommend the right antibiotic for a UTI without ever seeing the patient.”
—Anonymous, 38, Texas
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6.“Azithromycin (‘Zpak’ or Zithromax) is an antibiotic and WILL NOT cure your cold. Colds are viruses. No, you don’t have a sinus infection after two days of congestion. Please, please inform the country of 18–35 year-olds that a mild cough, congestion, and sore throat DOES NOT require a doctor visit. STOP IT.
“Ask any urgent care provider what their most common patient is, and they’ll all tell you URI (upper respiratory illness/infection), which is 99.99% of the time viral and will usually resolve on its own!!! [Unless symptoms worsen or do not improve]STOP, STOP, STOP going to urgent cares and especially ERs for colds!!!!!”
—Anonymous, 55, USA
7.“ER provider here. We hate wait times as much as you do. When the ER is busy, and you’re waiting hours to be seen, try changing your perspective and being thankful for the wait. The people who don’t wait are dying or close to it. The ER’s wait is long for many reasons: overcrowding, boarding patients waiting to be admitted or transferred, and short staffing. It’s crowded because people come to see us for ‘stomach pain that’s been bothering me for years,’ STI checks, or fender benders. I’ve had people take ambulances to the ER and then tell me they only came for a work note and were lying about their chest pain. It’s crowded because your neighbors/fellow citizens abuse ER services; however, we are legally required to see and write a note to every patient who checks in, no matter their complaint.”
“We’re crowded because the government doesn’t provide adequate resources for the people who have a mental illness; when people come in who are suicidal or violent, we have to hold them in the ER, taking up a bed, sometimes for days, while they wait to gain access to one of the few mental health beds available in the surrounding community. And many times, patients like that require a one-on-one sitter who just sits and watches them 24/7 to make sure they don’t hurt themselves. When the unlicensed staff who usually do that aren’t available to sit, we have to make paramedics and nurses do it instead — further stressing the department’s resources.
We’re crowded because you came on a Monday. Don’t go to the ER on a Monday unless you’re legitimately ill or dying. Otherwise, plan to wait hours. Have your “emergency” on a Saturday morning instead. Likewise, have your emergency early in the day if possible. Most ERs have only one or two providers for the whole department at night! I work in a large, 40–50 bed ER, and from 1 a.m.–6 a.m., it’s just two of us — ONE MD AND ONE PA for ALL beds plus the waiting room. Come early in the morning when there’s more staff.
Another reason your wait time is so long is because not all services are available at every hospital. If you come to see me for a legitimate reason that needs specialist attention, I may have to transfer you to our main hospital where the ENT, ophthalmologist, pediatric specialist, hand surgeon, etc., can see you. That means you sit for hours waiting for an ambulance to transfer you, and the bed you’re in is blocked until you leave. Get to know the hospitals in your area. If you have an eye emergency, don’t go to an ER in a hospital that doesn’t staff ophthalmologists on call, etc.
Finally, if you do eventually get back to a room, be nice to us! While you’ve been impatiently scrolling on your phone, we’ve been doing our best to give every person the time and attention they deserve — while working hard not to rush or miss anything that could lead to a mistake or harm. We’ve been getting yelled at, cursed at, sometimes swung at, or spit on. We’ve been delivering bad news or managing crises. Show your ER doctors, APPs (Advanced Practice Providers), nurses, radiology staff, techs, etc., a little grace.”
—Anonymous, 40, Ohio
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8.“When a medical provider asks what your pain level is, don’t say a 12!!! You probably wouldn’t be conscious if it were. Try maybe four or five. That’s more realistic.”
—Anonymous, 73, New Mexico
9.“Taking a couple of leftover antibiotics (never mind, you shouldn’t have any leftovers in the first place) doesn’t miraculously get you better — nor does it mean you now need antibiotics every time you feel sick. You started feeling better because you never had a bacterial infection in the first place. In other words, just because your infection didn’t go away in two days doesn’t mean you need an antibiotic.”
“Antibiotics are for bacterial infections, not your virus that’s lasting longer or making you feel worse than you’d like.”
—Anonymous, 42, Ohio
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10.“If you are coughing up or blowing out green or yellow mucus, that doesn’t mean you have a bacterial infection. Green is your white blood cells responding to SOMETHING, which could be a virus or simple allergies. You don’t need antibiotics just because it turned a color.”
—Nonymous, 42, Minnesota
11.“[It’s a myth] that hospice kills patients or speeds up their death. Hospice helps people to live out their remaining lives to the fullest, providing a painless, comfortable death physically, emotionally, and spiritually.”
—Anonymous, 60, USA
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12.“We don’t ‘decide’ what to charge you for a co-pay. Your insurance does, over the computer, immediately when we bill the claim. They also determine how much supply you get (30, 60, or 90 days). And yes, they’re ALLOWED to do it because they pay the claim!”
—Anonymous
And finally…
13.“The hospital will never give you a blood transfusion based on a blood type found on a medical alert bracelet. The consequences of a blood typing error include death. You will always have a blood type analysis from the hospital before a transfusion. (An exception would be the O negative blood type, given in a truly emergent situation.)”
—Anonymous, 61, Ohio
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Doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals, what are some other health “lies” and misconceptions that more people should know? Tell us in the comments below, or you can use this anonymous form.
