Recently I had a sore or pimple on the roof of my mouth. It was bothering me knowing it was there and it hurt some when touched. My first thought was that it was cancer. I squeezed it as best as I could and rinsed with hydrogen peroxide. I thought I should go to the doctor ASAP to get the cancer, if it was that. Anyhow, the first symptoms appeared last Sunday and today the symptoms are almost gone.
That got me to be thinking how many times I've thought a malady was serious, maybe even going to the doctor, when it was minor and went away by itself. Other examples are various aches, pains, cold symptoms, etc. I wonder how many people think this way? Anyhow, I've decided this irrational thinking is not helpful to me going forward.
Going forward, I'm going to pay attention to symptoms as they occur and jot them down a 3x5 card, do self-doctoring, wait a week or so and see if it has improved or not.
- If improved, give it more time or say it's healed and mention it on my next doctor visit.
- If not improved at all, and I've run out of home remedies, and it bothers me a lot go to the doctor. If it doesn't bother me that much, wait until next doctor visit.
Going forward too, I'm planning on 3 month checkups with the doctor instead of the yearly physical, as usual. I do 3 month/3000 miles oil changes/checkups for my car so why not for myself? When I was a maintenance electrican we did Preventative Maintenance (PM's) Checks on machines on a regular basis, which was certainly not yearly. I can give myself a PM and report findings to the doctor every 3 months. Why not?
I also want to remember that my wonderful body has a 24/7 internal diagnosis and repair system, that works with or without my conscious thought or even a healthcare professional. I want to trust that system more and get help for that system only when needed.
Good Luck on your own healthcare experiments - Let me know how it works out for you.
