u/HelenGonne

I found this out by accident in my 30s and thought it worth mentioning here. The American medical system is unfortunately geared towards minimal immediate treatment to get you back to work, not towards actual long-term health. So you get different answers when you shift the questions you ask.

For example, I had a minor wrist injury back then, and the advice I was given was for the short term, because that's all the insurance system wants to treat. But when I asked every person I saw in any related appointment, "What would you advise if I want this pair of hands to be fully functioning with full dexterity when I'm 85?" I would get a flood of useful information not proffered otherwise.

Physicians, nurses, physical therapists, radiologists, pharmacists, you name it, they all have a lot of knowledge and are happy to share it, but people are generally too overwhelmed to take it all in. The appointment structure may not allow them the time they want to spend on patient education, but all of these people can pack quite a lot into a single minute once you get them started and they know you're interested.

The advantage to getting a concentrated minute of knowledge dump from everyone you ask is that you are more likely to remember it all when jot it down right away, which is worth doing. Or record what they say on your phone if that's allowed and they don't mind. And it's worth asking all of them, because they all have different expertise.

And there's always the good old, "Is there anything you would suggest I do differently?" when they say you're doing everything right. Because there usually is something for a patient to expresses bandwidth for taking one additional step.

Excellent oral health? "My family has very long lifespans. Is there anything you suggest I add to keep my teeth in good order until I'm 95?"

Great cardiovascular results? No signs of risk factors in testing anywhere? Already getting the right diet and exercise? "Given that I do have X relatives with Y problem, is there anything else you'd suggest I tweak just to be on the safe side?"

And so on. It helps when they've just been looking right at you. What does that particular pair of hands make them think of? What does looking at you remind them of when you mention family health history? You get interesting nuggets. Often it can be a very minor lifestyle tweak that will make a real difference over the course of decades, but our system isn't set up for them to deliver that kind of patient education.

Edit: It's important to remember that these various professionals are all responding to what the patient's goals and ability to act on them appears to be. So another way of looking at what I'm saying is to reframe your goals for them. If you're there because it's hurting and you need it to stop hurting to do your job, they answer based on that because experience has shown that most people will only follow the directions that clearly impact the goals they're stating. If you don't care that your wrist will hurt 40 years later, they know they're not going to make a dent by suggesting you worry about that.

But when you say, "I want this pair of hands to have full dexterity 50 years from now, what do I do to make that happen?" they're often only too happy to tell you. They just haven't because most people won't take action on something they won't feel until decades later. So take a moment to tell them a long-term goal and see what you get. Then write it all down as soon as you can.

When I asked the physical therapist treating my wrist this question, I was pretty surprised that her immediate response was a firm, "Get an electric toothbrush." She let that sink in a moment, then added, "That makes a bigger difference than anyone wants to hear when you add it up over the course of decades. Get one now."

Then she gave me a printout on different types of pen grips and told me to get a variety of them and switch between them. This also sounds like nothing when your hands are fine, but she said the cumulative effect is vast in your 80s.