Doctors, dentists, nurses, and other health professionals are supposed to be people we can trust. Their offices are supposed to be safe spaces where we can confide private matters and expect empathy in return – but most of us have had at least one experience that proves that’s not true.
These 15 people have pretty horrible memories that will probably give them a reason to not trust doctors again for a very long time.
15. Completely inappropriate.
He unhooked my front-close bra while listening to my heart/lungs with the stethoscope.
He then suggested he give me a pelvic exam, and kept pushing even after I said I had a gyn already and was up to date.
14. Seems extreme.
That my period wasn’t that bad and I was fine taking 18 Advil a day. Then telling me she could just sterilize me and cramps would go away. She wouldn’t prescribe me anything for pain and said if I wanted drugs to go somewhere else.
So I did.
The next doctor suggested an IUD which was the right solution.
13. Run. Fast.
“I’ll lance your cyst because I’m a f**king cowboy.”
It was a tumor.
12. That’s hilarious.
OK, this probably counts as “out of line”, but I thought it was pretty hilarious.
When my wife and I decided to start trying for a baby, she went to her doctor to get her IUD removed. She had read somewhere that after removing an IUD, you should wait a few weeks before trying to conceive, but she wasn’t sure if she believed that (turns out it’s not true). So after the procedure was done, she asked the doctor “How long should we wait until we start trying to get pregnant?” He said “Well, you should probably wait until you get home.”
11. I guess it’s all about the hustle.
Before bandaging up my hand after a carpal tunnel op, asked me to test it by picking up my phone then opening the camera app without warning he whipped out a qr code and asked me to leave him a review on Google and tripadvisor as it was the first time he’d done that surgery.
I’m in the UK but this was private surgery. 100% would not happen in an NHS hospital apart from maybe a patient survey. I think there might be a rate my doctor site too.
10. That will definitely not do the trick.
I had adenomyosis so severely that I was anemic and had to menstruate into adult diapers two weeks a month.
“Just take Iron tablets.”
The woman who removed my uterus had to cut it it to pieces to get it out. It was swollen like a basketball.
Iron tablets. Right. I know just where to stick ’em, Doc.
9. Not what it looks like.
Doc: That’s a third degree burn on your finger.
Me:No… I would know if I got that bad of a burn.
Doc:That IS a third degree burn.
Me:I didn’t burn my finger
Doc:Come back if it spreads to your arms.
Turns out I’m was impetigo that I’d caught from one of the kids in my care at a summer camp.
8. I hope he had a choice reply.
I was with my girlfriend at a clinic and the old male doctor asked her if her period was regular and then asked me if her period “made her bitchy”.
If the nurse’s glare contained heat, that a$$hole would’ve combusted.
7. I hope he was fired, too.
After standing in the hallway outside the room, loudly talking football with someone else for over 15 minutes, the Doc walks into my room tells me he does “not have time” to address my health concerns and will refer me to a specialist if I want. Then leaves. Less than 3 minutes in the room.
I reported him to both the Medical Group he was a part of, their parent medical group, and requested a change of physician with my insurance company that Day. I don’t know what happened to him, but If he made a habit of that with other patients, I hope he was fired.
6. What.
Not a doctor, but a nurse told me that I shouldn’t exercise to raise my heart rate because my heart has a fixed number of beats in it before it goes out.
5. You don’t know me, Sir.
Went in for kidney stones at 18 (it was my second). I was sitting there telling him what was going on and he was like, “if you really had kidney stones, you would be doubled over on the floor in pain right now.”
When I explained I had taken both of my remaining Vicodin as one wasn’t cutting it, he just said he was going to look at my UA.
Came back in a few minutes with a very apologetic tone, explained how there was a lot of blood in my urine, and sympathized with me as he’s had them in the past.
4. There’s probably something wrong.
That I should be happy I lost weight without trying, because other women would love it. Refused to get me tested for anything.
A few months later I had a surgery to remove the tumor that made me lose weight, because another doctor treated me seriously
3. An appropriate response.
While I was taking chemo treatments an old female nurse came in to clean my PICC line with a saline solution. I have a very strong reaction to saline (I can taste it and smell it very strongly), so I asked the nurse if she would inject the saline slowly so I don’t get sick. She responded with “saline solutions don’t make nobody sick and I ain’t got time to do it slowly”
I waved my parents off to the side away from the bed because I knew what was about to happen. She injected 20ccs of saline as fast as she could, and as soon as the stopper hit bottom I barfed up the entire contents of my stomach onto her chest and lap. I didn’t apologize, I just said, “Told you so.”
2. First and last time.
When I was in the marines I went to the doctor to complain about persistent knee and back pain. I had tweaked my lower back pretty bad being dumb trying to move a generator.
The doctor told me I was lying. I know some people try to exploit the system to score some free pain pills, but I explained I didn’t even care to get any pills, just wanted it noted in my medical record in case it got worse. Maybe give me some advise on how to manage it, maybe some stretching exercises.
Nope, just “your lying get out of my office”.
It was the first and last time I ever went to an on-base/military doctor.
1. Creepy is one word for it.
When i was 13 i got mono from drinking the same water bottle as my friend.
Mono is known here as the “kissing disease” and when i was sick I got slut-shamed for it.
I went to the doctor and he was an old man who said “i’m not surprised a pretty girl like you has mono”
It was so creepy.
I was 13, alone in the exam room with him basically.
I wish I could say I can’t believe these stories, but the truth is that I totally can.
If you’ve got a similar tale of woe, please share it with us in the comments!
