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What problems can a GP help with?
Here, people talk about the following topics: what can a GP help with? physical health problems mental and emotional health problems raising awareness of the...
Here, people talk about:
when to see the GP about minor health issues
young people’s experiences of minor short-term problems
When to see the GP about minor health issues
Minor health problems can often be dealt with by using over-counter treatments from the chemist. Other issues that aren’t serious can often be dealt with by seeing a practice nurse at the GP surgery. When a problem isn’t serious but doesn’t seem to be going away and is worrying, then it’s a good idea to see the GP. People often see their GP about minor short-term problems that have lasted longer than they expected or keep coming back. The range of minor concerns is huge – from persistent coughs to sports injuries, aches and pains, allergies, rashes and infections. Many minor health issues are ‘self-limiting’. This means that they’ll get better by themselves and have no long-term harmful effect on a person’s health. Young people who are still learning about their health might not always know whether a condition is self-limiting or whether they need to see a doctor.
Many infections, like colds and flu, and many ear and chest infections, are caused by viruses, which means that antibiotics won’t work. They only work against bacterial infections. Some people, like Aphra and Vinay, disliked taking medication too often, having it only if they really needed it. Aphra felt that some of her friends seemed to be given ‘antibiotics for almost everything’ and Jon was aware that taking them unnecessarily can cause superbugs. Paula, who’d had them for acne, recognised that the bacteria causing her acne had become resistant to the antibiotics she’d been taking (see below).
Young people’s experiences of minor short-term problems
Some of the young people we talked to rarely saw the GP – they were usually healthy and only went to the doctors’ on the odd occasion when something seemed wrong. Hannah hardly ever saw the GP apart from going to get the contraceptive pill.
Amy saw the GP for a few months as a child and had several tests. When she was playing with a friend, her friend found a needle and syringe under a car. They decided to play ‘doctors and nurses’ and the friend injected Amy in the arm. Being only 5 or 6, neither had any idea how dangerous this could be. After going to A &E (Accident and Emergency), Amy had tests that were done by the GP. More recently she has seen the GP about a long-term health problem.
Here, people talk about the following topics: what can a GP help with? physical health problems mental and emotional health problems raising awareness of the...
Here, people talk about: what is a long-term condition? young people's experiences of being diagnosed messages to GPs young people's experiences of living with a...