Your health is your business

We are living in an age where medical expertise is no longer confined to health institutions. There is so much medical information out there, mostly for free. You only need to piece two and two together sometimes to come up with what you might be ailing from. The more you are aware about your reproductive health issues, the more you become empowered in your own care. 

Unique individual

Decision making in reproductive health is not the sole prerogative of your gynaecologist. It must be a shared decision making process. You will be well aware of your symptoms, and will have done some background checking on potential treatment options.

This opens you up to reasonable discussions about what’s best for you.  

Such an approach is called individualised treatment. You must be looked at as a unique individual, with very unique sets of characteristics. Whatever ends up as a recommendation can never be generalised, it must be based on your context. And that’s where you come in, you end up being party to deciding what treatment you get. Nothing can be prescribed without your involvement. You are not doctoring yourself here, you are simply being a self-advocate for your own health.

Tried and tested

There will be many factors to consider as you make decisions on treatment options. The main thing will be the effectiveness of proposed treatments.

Is it temporary relieve of symptoms, or is it a cure? How much does it cost? Alternate approaches are available for almost any conceivable ailment.

Some cost more than others, and their effectiveness may vary. You will inevitably find an alternative that suits your circumstances, without necessarily jeopardising your long-term health.

There are side effects to consider as well. Don’t settle on treatment options with grave side effects. You can discount minor unwanted effects that hardly have any consequences. But anything that potentially makes you worse than you are already should be avoided.

You also need to be wary of newer treatments being promoted as novel. Marketing is no different for medicinal products, don’t accept it just because the ad makes you feel better already. Go for the tried and tested, where scientific evidence is already tangible.

So you will not literally prescribe your own pills. What you will do is to get yourself informed as much as possible. Get online and look up some information.

Talk to your family and friends, or somebody you may know who’s suffered a similar problem. Don’t be afraid to seek out a medic and pick their brains informally.

Some underrated health workers, like nurses, are walking encyclopedias of health information, seek them out.

All you want is individualised care, with optimised options to suit your circumstances.

Quick fact

Don’t be afraid to seek out a medic and pick their brains informally.

Photo: blackdoctor.org