Just curious of your opinion (I'm not asking for medical advice)

Nurses General Nursing

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Hey everyone. I hope you are all having a good week so far. I just have a question.. more so out of curiousity than anything. I've had some fairly painful chest pains since early July. I thought that I had pulled something (by doing cartwheels, yes, cartwheels, on the 4th) but after about a week ago, I wasn't so sure. I have had a horrible pain on the right side of my chest...it hurt to inhale deeply, yawn, move in certain directions, and hunch forward.

Anyway... about a week ago, I stretched a certain way in bed and I felt something pop... after that the pain was COMPLETELY gone! I was so happy because it had been bugging me for a couple of months...

Well, last Friday it started hurting again. So I finally got off my duff and called the clinic and they recommended I come in.

So when I saw the Doc (that I've never seen before) she asked me to tell her what was going on. I told her my story (just as above) and I said, "I don't think it's a muscle...." and she said, "You're right, it's costochondritis". And that was it. She said she could prescribe a painkiller, but I declined and I went on my way.

She never touched me. She didn't listen to my heart.. she didn't even look in my ears (not that she'd need to but geesh)

Just wondering if someone can dx a patient like that without even so much as using a stethoscope?

I'm sure she is right... I just thought it was odd and wanted some of your opinions.

Sorry this is so long winded... Thanks in advance (if you were able to make it this far) :)

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Specializes in med surg ltc psych.

I for one am curious to know why a chest xray wasn't done. In my case from my personal experience doing a dumb fast jerking motion with my arm, I experienced symptoms just as you described and Cxr revealed pleurisy in my case. But I think doctors maybe don't want to expose a patient to radiation when they feel sure it's classic signs and symptoms or chronic or acute??

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The real scary part is that you were probably charged hundreds of dollars for that diagnosis. This is a huge part of the rising cost of health care- paying hundreds of dollars for essentially nothing.

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I know! It will probably be over 100.00 for her to come in and tell me something that I could have guessed myself. I called hoping to just get some information and reassurance from the nurse as to what it could be... but when she heard "chest pain" she said I had to come in.

The nurse did check my BP and pulse, oh, and the Doc did shake my hand...LOL but that was all the touching that went on in that office! LOL

I'm thinking this all started from an adjustment I had at a chiropractor just before the pain started. Maybe I should send him the bill??????

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I know! It will probably be over 100.00 for her to come in and tell me something that I could have guessed myself. I called hoping to just get some information and reassurance from the nurse as to what it could be... but when she heard "chest pain" she said I had to come in.

The nurse did check my BP and pulse, oh, and the Doc did shake my hand...LOL but that was all the touching that went on in that office! LOL

I'm thinking this all started from an adjustment I had at a chiropractor just before the pain started. Maybe I should send him the bill??????[/quote]

nope, but he would have seen you and fixed you up a lot quicker and cheaper...!

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I had a similar appointment with a doctor- no acute issues, just a visit with a new (to me) doctor. She only looked at me once, and spent the rest of the time typing into the computer. I think I spent more time interacting with the medical assistant. For this, I (my insurance) was charged $300. That's 2 car payments, or half my rent.

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I know! It will probably be over 100.00 for her to come in and tell me something that I could have guessed myself. I called hoping to just get some information and reassurance from the nurse as to what it could be... but when she heard "chest pain" she said I had to come in.

The nurse did check my BP and pulse, oh, and the Doc did shake my hand...LOL but that was all the touching that went on in that office! LOL

I'm thinking this all started from an adjustment I had at a chiropractor just before the pain started. Maybe I should send him the bill??????[/quote]

nope, but he would have seen you and fixed you up a lot quicker and cheaper...!

I will never go back to a chiropractor again! I know this started from an adjustment he did. "Mild trauma to the chest". I did nothing other than those visits to cause this. Now there is nothing I can do to make the inflammation go away. It hurts like crazy too. :(

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Specializes in Management, Emergency, Psych, Med Surg.

I have had doctors do this. It makes me so mad. I never go back to them. I was lucky enough in my early nursing career to have known a wonderful cardiologist named Dr. Hall who had been the cardiologist for President Eisenhower. He was in the ICU one day, teaching the residents and I was listening in and he told them something that I will never forget. "There is no substitute for a good head to toe physical exam and a full patient history. The patient will tell you what is wrong with them if you will just take the time to listen. The tests you order should be done only to confirm the diagnosis that you and the patient have already figured out".

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