We recently wrote a post where doctors and nurses revealed the health “lies” people should stop believing. In the comments, even more medical professionals busted health myths and misconceptions, and it’s seriously eye-opening. Here’s what they had to say:
Note: Some responses were pulled from this Reddit thread from Kerouac__.
1.“No, taking an ambulance instead of your private vehicle to the ER will not get you treated quicker. Patients are triaged according to the severity of their complaints, so you may have to wait if you hurt your knee because someone else is bleeding out or having a heart attack.”
—modernmule195
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2.“OB/GYN NP here: Using hormonal contraception does not make you infertile. Untreated chlamydia can.”
—evilchef76
3.“As an OR nurse, CLEAN YOUR BELLYBUTTON BEFORE SURGERY!!! Once you are asleep, we expose and clean a large area of skin that usually includes the belly button (even if that isn’t the area you’re having surgery) because if the drapes happen to tear or have a hole in them, the skin around the area of the incision would still be cleaner than I prepped skin. The number of patients I’ve cared for that have gold mines of god knows what living in their deep, deep belly buttons is shocking.”
“We have to clean it all out before we continue, and we all gag when we do it. It’s wild. If you’re having a hip replaced, a gall bladder removed, a hernia repaired, or any other number of surgeries, we will see your belly button, we will look inside it, we will clean the gunk out of it, and you will never know the difference. CLEAN. YOUR. BELLY. BUTTONS.”
—u/pamelabeezlyhalpert
4.“You cannot detox your liver, and some of the things that are recommended actually hurt your liver more. Seriously, it’s true. But there’s always someone who thinks they can make their liver better. Nope.”
—kestrelh
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5.“I’m a doctor. I’ve had lots of training, but I have not had training in every field. You probably don’t want me to manage a complicated pregnancy or do surgery. We might not know the answer to your concern, but a good provider is a good listener and can try to get you to someone who can help.”
—bingowashisnameo
6.“Doctors almost never tell a patient they only have three months to live. I have had numerous patients make a similar complaint, yet every doctor I have ever asked says they never tell a patient that. They may say that typically someone with that diagnosis doesn’t survive more than x–y months or years, but we don’t know how much time any person has left.”
—mushycrocodile77
7.“One that annoys me is that CPR isn’t meant to restart your heart! Its purpose is to keep the blood flowing throughout the body until the person can receive actual medical care. So many TV shows and films show people doing CPR for a few 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 need to be done continuously and also be strong enough to potentially break ribs.”
—mellowsquid
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8.“When we tell you you have precancerous changes on your cervix, it means that if you do not get it treated or follow it up closely, there is a CHANCE that it MIGHT develop into a cancer over time. It is NOT cancer — 90+ percent of patients who told me they had cervical cancer did not.”
“I routinely told my patients at least five times when I told them they had precancerous changes that it was NOT cervical cancer, even reinforced it at follow-up visits, yet I had one patient’s family call us because she told her family she had three months to live and was doling out all her possessions because we told her she was dying from cervical cancer and only had three months to live.”
—mushycrocodile77
9.“Pharmacy tech here. The amount of people who don’t think of vitamins, supplements, or even over-the-counter products as ‘medicine’ is stunning. You ask what else they’re taking, and they say ‘nothing,’ but then it turns out they were not reporting Tylenol, colloidal silver, and vitamins. And if your meds ‘aren’t working,’ not only should you not quit them, but also don’t layer other meds on top!”
—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 any insurance, are documented or undocumented, or if anything has to do with billing and medical benefits. If I have valid orders from the doctor to do something to help us figure out what’s wrong with you or help us make you feel better, I’m implementing them.”
“I’m not running to check and see if the hospital will be compensated. I literally don’t care. I just want to help you get better and get out so we can help the next person get better and get out, too.“
—halsven
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11.“We don’t care what your donor status is!!! If you are in a bad accident, we don’t withhold treatment because you’re 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 clinician, you don’t know what I do because you have Google. Show some self-respect, and trust the experts; we have many years of schooling, advanced practicum after schooling, not to mention the thousands of people we have seen.”
—heinzybaby
13.“You can’t just pull out an IV and walk away like nothing happened. You will bleed everywhere, never mind getting past all the layers of tape and Tegaderm holding it in place.”
“Some people clot quickly; a lot of people don’t, and if you yank an IV line and just let your arm dangle, bleeding will happen. Whether a lot or a little will depend on your clotting factors. If I don’t apply pressure for a good 10 minutes, I bleed everywhere.”
—rakishrogue
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14.“Myth: Cancer only affects older people. [Testicular cancer is most common in ages 20 to 40]. You should get checked once a month.”
“Men. Check your testicles to see if you feel a lump, bump, swollen, fullness, or pain. Pretty much anything that feels off down there. I’ve seen too many cases of young men waiting too long with testicular cancer that metastasized.“
—u/gjunon
15.“Medical assistant of 18 years here. When you come into a new appointment with a new provider, please do come prepared. Bring your med list, past medications you have been on, 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 are asleep. Nah, dog — I’m there the whole time!”
“Also, people understand less about anesthesia than almost any aspect of medicine.”
—Anonymous
And finally…
17.“Myth: You can take any 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 UTI isn’t going to work for your sinus infection. Consult a doctor, and if you have ‘leftover antibiotics’ to begin with, you weren’t taking them correctly.”
—u/K6983
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Doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals, what’s a health “lie” or “misconception” people should stop believing? Tell us in the comments below, or if you prefer to remain anonymous, feel free to use this Google form.
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
