how to talk about these ailments, which can be annoying, to your doctor?

According to an IPSOS study for Hépar®, natural mineral water that improves transit, women rarely consult their general practitioner in the event of constipation; they generally take advantage of another reason to discuss their intestinal disorders, which are nevertheless a source of stress and discomfort on a daily basis (at a minimum). So how do you start a real conversation with a healthcare professional? How do you express yourself freely and steer the discussion in your direction? Our recommendations to discuss your transit problems with your doctor, without blushing.

We choose our interlocutor

Before even broaching the subject with a healthcare professional, let's choose the said professional. If our first instinct is to turn to our general practitioner, let's not forget that our pharmacist can also provide very good advice, especially in the first instance. The important thing is first to feel confident and not to go backwards. Another option is to consult a general practitioner that you do not know, if you are worried about being uncomfortable with the one who has been examining your throat since the age of five. To find the right person, our friends and certain forums will be a significant source of information, including the health directory on the ameli.fr site.

We choose (also) the right time

What we tend to lament is the speed at which a consultation can take place. Let's review our notion of time: we always have the impression of enjoying our doctor for two hours when, in the end, the interview only lasts seven minutes. So we speak softly, without haste, and we think of all the patients who ask their doctor when necessary. In fact, in a quarter of an hour max, we can come out of there with a panoply of solutions, so let's not feel guilty any more, but above all, let's dedicate the meeting to our problem, so that it does not become an optional subject. time to settle (and by the way…).

We think of ourselves, not of the doctor

Now, let's be clear: if it is embarrassing to show up to your doctor and expose your constipation problems, note that doctors have seen others, in the same way that beauticians see hair before removing it and that hairdressers do with the pictures of Meghan Markle or Blake Lively (I would like this cut, please). All that to say: to each his own job. So when you suffer from constipation, and it's far from fun, you think about that. To save his skin. To his well-being. In his quest for better. The doctor is not there to judge. Little chance of him rolling around on the table laughing (what, you can't defecate?). And if he ever gets into it, we go.

We master (a little) the vocabulary

We agree: to talk to your doctor about your transit, you don't have to be a doctor. The professional will take us as we are. But modesty sometimes takes over. In these cases, nothing is more reassuring than knowing a few words of vocabulary. There are certain medical terms that can get us going, help us lift our heads and avoid great moments of loneliness. We will therefore say that we have difficulty in "having a bowel movement", or in passing stools, or even in defecation. We will talk about bloating to expose a swelling of the abdomen (belly) due to the accumulation of intestinal gas (or flatulence, nice word to replace "pets"). Finally, we will speak of "rhythm" or "frequency" to give the number of times we go to the toilet in the week, of stools "more or less abundant" (to cause quantity, as for menstruation) and expulsion. incomplete (if you do not manage to "fully" do your shopping).

We talk about what we feel

Once the details of our intestinal life have been shared in the form of a practical sheet, we do not worry: the doctor is there to guide us, therefore to question us. So we bounce back and we don't hesitate to talk about ourselves, about what we feel. No need to wait until the end of the consultation, we assume (quite true) that the psychic part of our condition is just as important to our healing process as the physiological part. So, when we talk about our difficulty in having a bowel movement, we do not end our sentence with a point but with a "and that generates additional stress for me", or a "and I feel very uncomfortable. , it interferes with my concentration at work ”. Always, therefore, slip from his moods, because casually, moods say a lot about our troubles and maintain the vicious circle.

We ask questions

For a satisfactory, reassuring and life-saving consultation, we don't just answer our doctor's questions, we ask them too. It is in this ping-pong that dialogue is born, and thus, solutions that suit us emerge. We have the right, during an examination, to ask "what is the purpose of this examination", and the doctor to repeat if it is not clear to us. If the drugs or therapies offered do not "excite" us (already tried, looking for different, more natural solutions, etc.), we ask if there are other treatments. It is more than important to "understand" what is going on in our body: this is how we go back to the cause, also how we do not take a dislike to our body. If you understand the why and how, then you team up with your body and deal with your intestinal troubles all the better.

We do not arrive with a Google folder under our arm (but we can talk about it)

Often, our first instinct in the event of health concerns, and in particular an intimate concern such as constipation, is to surf the Internet in search of solutions. If, today, we decry and criticize this mode of operation, remember that everything is not to be thrown away: health sites do not replace a health professional but can help us to see more clearly, to feel less alone and thus to speak with his doctor. It can be a way to start a conversation when you don't dare (I read that, I wonder if …). There is therefore no problem in sharing the fruit of his research, as long as it is a question of hypotheses, open questions, matters to be discussed, and not statements. Because even if your doctor is not Google, Google is not a doctor.