I am interested in people's thoughts. In around late November and December last year, I had problems sleeping with an awful pain in my left cheek. I 'phoned for a Doctor appointment but they phone you back to reduce people visiting the Surgery. I explained my problem to the Doctor and he said that I should visit a dentist! I knew that this was crap, as I was actually doing extra teeth cleaning during the night because this reduced my pain! I went on decaf coffee and drank plenty of beer and then bought whisky and gin to help sleep - as well as starting on over-the-counter sleeping aids from the chemist (who got worried about me as I was buying so much!) with my last really bad night being Christmas Eve Typically, I got to bed around 1am and then wake up in pain around 4am and not sleep much after that! Got up an took loads of paracetamol (that I still had in stock from my accident) and I then hit anything that warned me that it would make me sleepy! I think that I've now found the cause! I know that your nose is connected to your ear as you can hold your nose and exhale to make your ears "pop" when flying. I reckon that this passage was either blocked up of infected, or both. Now, for the first time in years, I can hold my nose and exhale and feel my ears "pop" - and I can breath in normally through my nose (which I don't think I have been doing properly since my accident, at least). I think that the idiot Doctor at my local surgery should have known this (or, at least suspected) and should have asked me to come in. Not go see a fecking Dentist! I am thinking of making a complaint - either to him or the surgery, or whoever overseas Doctors standards - as I perceive this as falling far short of acceptable standards. They MUST get told this stuff! I visit the Surgery every week for leg dressing changes done by one of the nurses - who seem to give much more practical help than the Doctors. What do people think? Complain? If so, to whom? Shut up and count your blessings?
The very reason I don't go to the doctor's. Last time I went I felt like I was wasting his time. You should at least make a comment to the surgery that they didn't investigate enough. Although with this pandemic I do wonder how many illnesses are being missed or mistreated.
i phoned my gp practice to get my ear sorted out they point blank refused to see me, so i went private.
I'd call the GP and ask for a telephone consultation, with that doctor. I'd then give him the heads up on what has happened and how that has solved your problem. See what he says? Those Sinus tubes can get blocked from colds and flu, so perhaps you had a very mild dose of them at the time? When I was diving daily and would get mild sinus infections (blocked tubes) the standard dive guide/ instructor fix was to use Sudafed nasal spray and take Ibuprofen pills which never failed & enabled me to dive. Might be worth keeping some in the medicine cabinet?
There is an overlap there between Dentist and G.P. when it comes to sinus problems and without knowing what questions the Doctor asked it's hard to know if he was passing the buck, lacked experienced or as you suggested. Adding to what Jez said, sinus tubes can block and/or get infected and become inflamed enough to create pain that's exactly like a toothache*. I had a perfectly good tooth removed by a Dentist (yes, an Idiot Dentist) who couldn't tell the difference and would have lost another two on the suggestion of the same practice if not for the extraction Dentist being on the ball. I used to do a sinus flush from time to time which involved inverting your head and pouring warm salty water into one nostril using a suitable teapot until the system was full. *worth remembering that it will always be from the top jaw if it's caused by sinus.
GP working on pattern recognition based on reported symptoms is essentially making a judgement that he/she is unlikely to be able to treat the source of the pain and would refer to ENT or dentist. Long wait for ENT potentially and no guarantee its not teeth so best option is referral to dentist which given symptoms was most likely cause of something acute that is also treatable. The only thing missing was a physical examination but this would be done by dentist looking to rule out abscess or similar prior to a hospital referral if necessary. I have trouble with my ears/sinuses sometimes. The best thing I found was recommended by a diver. Pseudoephedrine found in some nasal sprays. I found it over the counter in France after my ear didn't pop on decent following a few nights camping high in the Pyranese. Worked in about 10 minutes. Don't think it's licensed in the UK. I don't think the GP has made a wrong decision given the outcome. What did the dentist say as per the doctors recommendation?
Doctors like any other profession, have good and bad. Unfortunately it’s a career where bad has no place. Over the last 30years I have had both and some in between. I always challenge what they are telling me and asking for an explanation of their diagnosis. If I am not happy with an outcome I ask for a second opinion, this usually polarises their response. After all you are there for the benefit your health.
There's a couple of variations been available over the years due to the use of pseudoephedrine in crystal meth manufacture and various reviews to dispensing of it. The bottle I've got in the cupboard at the moment bought from a supermarket doesn't contain it but you can get one from a pharmacy over the counter that does. I had the sudafed one without it on the aforementioned trip and it wasn't working. The French pharmacy gave me the stronger one and 'pop', equalised after a mere 4 days of misery
I never went to a dentist as I knew -even with my scant medical knowledge - that it would be a waste of time and in the best dentist tradition, they would find lots to charge me for without doing anything useful. So, I would return with an empty bank account and a mouth full of metal.
With sinusitis the description one patient may give a doctor over the phone may lead to a completely different diagnosis to another patient describing the same thing completely differently. If the doctor is unable to examine the patient physically and hears nothing typical of sinusitis, but hears tooth, jaw and other dentist-trigger words, then describing him as an idiot may come across as a little harsh, especially when you consider the pressure the medical profession is under in the current climate. I've suffered from sinusitis since breaking lower jaw, splitting upper jaw, shattering cheekbone, shattering eye socket and separating my face from my skull by popping the zygomatic sutures in a crash in '78. When the sinusitis gets into that mess, it sort of gets my undivided attention! When I get it (often after a heavy cold), like others, I take Ibuprofen tablets for longer lasting relief, but have learnt that if you gently tap your face with the tip of your finger, you soon pinpoint the source of the pain and it is here that I apply Ibuprofen Gel for almost instant relief. A Sudafed nasal spray also helps massively. I hope your pain is short-lived, @PerryL and that you get back to some quality sleep Good luck
Sounds like your crash injuries trump mine! It's all fine now, as whatever it was seems to have cleared. I have to go in for a leg dressing change on Monday. I'll see wot the nurse thinks by nobody here, or among my family WhatsApp group think that there is any point in making a complaint.
I had a fall in 2018 and suffered facial cuts etc, nothing major, but my left hand was trapped underneath me , I landed on my front. Several months later, I started to feel unwell with something going on on the left side of my stomach at the front, then a sudden attack of pain like you wouldn't believe, my wife called 999 but was told it would be a 6hour wait!, I could not get to hospital myself due to the pain, but did manage to get an emergency appointment late afternoon at my GP surgery. The female doctor had a prod about, asked me some questions, then told me to go home and see what happens!!, 6 hours later, in agony, I was blue lighted straight to ER for scans, turned out I had ruptured my spleen in the fall, and had been leaking ever since.6 days in hospital and I was allowed home, luckily with no surgery. Needless to say, my confidence in my GP surgery is now somewhat diminishe.
a truly miraculous escape.. I lost a friend to a ruptured spleen, he did fall from quite a height though, they got him to hospital ok but couldn't get in and operate quickly enough.
What I would say, is that they could have given a better explanation of their thinking to you. I know that feeling of seeking reassurance, especially since you're already receiving care for other things you'll be hypersensitive to the potential for things to go tits up
The nurse reckoned that it could of been anything and some infection somewhere is quite possible. She had my record up on the screen but never bothered to look up which Doc that it was. Her attitude was, "it's sorted out now and could of been anything, so no point in complaining". So, I'll let it pass as now two nurses have said it could be anything and may have been a tooth, or gum, infection. The nurse said, "Man up and fix your fecking Ducatis!" - she didn't really, but that is what I should do!
