When it comes to medical appointments, whether you’re seeing your doctor, dentist, audiologist, therapist, or anyone else, do you ask questions? It’s likely that you don’t – many people find they’re rather intimidated by the medical setting and being in the presence of experts, so they just listen and try to take in as much as is being said as possible. However, although it might be hard to do and certainly out of your comfort zone, the time has come to start asking more questions if you’re in this situation.

You need to know as much as possible if you’re going to really understand what’s happening, and asking questions is the best way forward. If you’re still not sure why you should ask more questions of your doctor and dentist, keep reading for more reasons to help you understand why it’s so important. 

Understand Your Health

First and foremost, asking questions during a medical appointment is crucial if you want to get a better understanding of your health and your specific situation. Even if they don’t mean to, your doctor or other health specialists might use medical jargon or terminology that you’re just not familiar with, and it’s not going to help you at all if you don’t get assistance in decoding hearing test results explained, for example. 

Don’t hesitate to ask them to explain things in simpler terms if you don’t know what they mean because, after all, this is your health, and as much as you might trust them to do what’s right for you in terms of treatment, how are you going to be able to agree to what they suggest if you don’t know what they mean? When it comes to your own health, you should question as much as possible. 

Clear Up Concerns 

Medical appointments can be utterly overwhelming, especially if you’re dealing with a serious issue, and asking questions allows you to clear up any concerns you might have or any misconceptions you might have thought about. That’s a good thing, as it means, once you’ve got the full story, you can make better decisions. 

Imagine you had the wrong idea about the side effects of a certain type of medication, so you declined that medication when it was offered to you, even though the reality was that it would have helped hugely, and been your best option. Now imagine checking your facts by asking questions before you decide yes or no. You can see what a difference just one small question could make. 

Active Participation 

In the end, no matter how much help you might get from medical experts, your health is always going to be your responsibility, and that’s why you need to have active participation in your healthcare. That’s the key to not only staying healthy, but potentially improving your health as well, so it’s well worth starting to ask more questions to get you to that position. 

If you’re nervous, write some questions down before you go to your appointment – then you’ll always have something to say. As time goes on, you might come up with some more questions, and that’s a good thing, but having some to start with will really help.