People Share The Worst Things A Medical Professional Has Ever Said To Them

We're not going to knock the medical profession: it's a tough and competitive field to break into and is mentally, emotionally, and physically demanding.

That said, they signed an oath to serve their patients, and it seems that some doctors have forgotten that by the time they get around to giving some of their patients "advice."

Already cringing, Redditor angelaboop50 asked:

"What is the worst thing a medical professional has ever said to you?"

The Cliffhanger

"My husband had been sick and was having many tests, x-rays, MRIs, etc."

"We got a call from a doctor on December 24 saying something along the lines of, 'The test came back and they’re much worse than I thought. But we’ll talk after the holidays. Have a nice Christmas.'"

- Simple-Shower-2174

"My cousin had a similar phone call situation when she went in because she started getting these black lumps all over her legs but otherwise appeared healthy."

"They did her bloodwork and urinalysis, and both were so awful apparently, the doctor called her and said, 'Hey, sorry, your lab results must have gotten contaminated because these results don’t make sense. When you have some time, come in and we can retake them, but no rush.' He basically said that they were so bad that an 18-year-old couldn’t possibly have them."

"She was leaving on a month-long vacation, so she figured she’d do it when she got back, and then eventually, months later, forgot about it, but then she started getting more and more black lumps, but I guess she didn’t stress."

"One day, she woke up and couldn’t breathe and had to be airlifted to a hospital since the hospital in her small town couldn’t treat her. She ended up having a really advanced case of tuberculosis, and those bumps were erythema nodosum. Her pneumonia was so bad that she was hospitalized for six months."

- Emotional-State1916

Tattoo-Shaming

"Nurse Practitioner: 'Why did you get tattoos? How will you get a job?'"

"Me: 'Um... I have a job.'"

"NP: 'Okay, well, have you considered how you'll look on your wedding day??'"

"Me: (in complete shock) 'Um... Sorry, are you going to prescribe antibiotics for my ear infection or....?'"

- NighthawkUnicorn

Never Enough

"'You’re symptoms are not severe enough to refer you to therapy.'"

"But I was bed rotting and having suicidal thoughts."

"I asked them how 'serious' they wanted me to make it. It was not my proudest moment, but I remember thinking, 'What the h**l kind of message does that send to a person desperate for help while having dark thoughts?'"

- LexiRae24

Teeth Shaming

"A dentist told me at the age of 12 that my teeth were so bad that I would never be able to get a job if I did not get braces."

"We could not afford braces. It took me years to smile with my mouth open again. My teeth were fine, and I have actually had people comment on how they look nice. I have vampire fang-looking canines, but I like them."

"I am a neuroendocrine researcher and teach genetics in college. They didn't care about my teeth, but my abilities, unsurprisingly."

- bibimbapblonde

Ah, Hysterics...

"I asked for pain medication after a root canal and was called a hysterical female by the dental surgeon."

- beccabootie

"These comments have taught me that being fat, a woman, or both is the easiest way to get dismissed and insulted by a doctor. Oh, and chronic conditions, because of course, those are all fake and invented by women."

- old_vegetables

Medical... Attention.

"I had persistent acid reflux to the point my teeth were getting damaged. The doctor insisted that if I just 'lost a little weight,' everything would be fine and that I needed to be more active. Mind you, I was at my lowest weight at the time and quite healthy (146lbs and 5’6” female) but was reassured that my weight was the issue."

"Almost two-ish years later, following the birth of my kid, I started to continuously throw up. Like, all the time. I couldn’t keep food down to save my life, and if I wasn’t throwing up my food, it was just saliva and bile, day and night."

"I was told it was new mom exhaustion and just try to suck on ice chips. Eventually, I threw up blood. I remembered watching a show, and they’re like red blood means active bleed versus black blood means it has time to coagulate. So I went to the ER with my television medical knowledge, and thankfully, they listened."

"They did a scope camera thingy down my throat and realized that not only did I have a Type 3 hiatal hernia where my stomach was literally getting pulled into my diaphragm, but that it had been left untreated for so long that I had multiple ulcers in my stomach and esophagus. As well as a gastrointestinal obstruction (hence the throwing up)."

"After the surgery to repair the hernia, I had a follow-up with my regular doctor, who looked at me with dead eyes and just said, 'Well, congratulations, you found a doctor to give you that attention you wanted.'"

"Needless to say, he’s not my doctor anymore."

- SAPK358

All In Your Head

"They said, 'I think your problems are psychosomatic. I've only been giving you medications I think are innocuous so that you'll think they'll work and manifest getting better.'"

- Higher_StateID

...We Just Want To Talk To Him!

"I got run over by a car when I was 19, the wheels ran over my legs, and one tire was stopped on my knee for several minutes. It was very painful and traumatic. In the ambulance, they had to cut off my jeans."

"Then the old male ER doctor came in to see me, the literal first thing he said was, 'Now this is my favorite, when a beautiful woman comes in with her pants already cut off!'"

- bobert_the_wise

The "Concept" Of Cancer

"'You're going to have to deal with the fact that you have stomach cancer.'"

"I did not have stomach cancer. She hadn't checked the tests she ordered before saying this."

- Maleficent_Chard2042

"I didn’t know you could diagnose cancer off vibes."

- zucchiniqueen1

Not The Leggings

"They said, 'You’re having side pain because you’re overweight and wearing tight leggings.'"

"Cue to a week later when I’m in the ER cause I’m sure my appendix has burst, but it’s a ruptured ovarian cyst instead."

- Sparklespanx

"A ruptured cyst also got me into the ER, and no one could figure out what it was. They also thought it was appendicitis but weren't sure because I had no other symptoms, and the pain was mostly towards the left side rather than the right."

"Eventually, someone had the idea to run one more test and send me to the OB-GYN, who confirmed it: a ruptured cyst."

"It's crazy that so little is known about ovarian cysts and PCOS when so many women have it."

- Evening_Ad_85

The Reason Behind The Migraines

"I’m an adult now, but this happened when I was a teenager suffering from migraines that I now know are caused by multiple sclerosis. It was said about me, in front of me, to my mother:"

"'We can’t find anything physically wrong with your daughter. But you know how teenage girls are, they’ll do anything for attention.'"

"Sir, my nerves were being attacked by my own body. F**k you."

- baked_good_babe

Not A Priority Right Now

"OBGYN saying, 'I bet HE’S frustrated,' referring to my husband, when I was 10 weeks postpartum and had said we hadn’t had sex yet because my vagina was still in a lot of pain."

"This was after having an incredibly traumatic, both mentally and physically, birth, which required a LOT of physical recovery."

"Same doctor who, a couple of weeks before at my post-birth appointment, decided to chemically cauterize a wound in my vaginal canal with absolutely no numbing or pain-relieving agent."

- National_Iron_7953

Unfortunately, Never Too Young

"They said, 'The tests did come back abnormal, even for an adult, but I'm not gonna diagnose anything because you're just too young.'"

"For context: I'd missed my period for a whole year, and when it did come back, it turned into a constant game of roulette, culminating in me bleeding for a whole month. I'm now on birth control and suspect it might have been PCOS, but I can't get an actual answer because that would require me to go off my birth control for a month to have my blood tested."

- CNRavenclaw

Do Not Give Up

"I was 18, an aspiring musician, when I was hit by tendonitis. I went to several doctors, and the specialist said, 'Well, you probably have to give up music altogether.' Absolutely devastating."

"I started playing again after a year after doing some physical therapy from the internet on my own. Never had problems since then. He was an id**t. Just because his painkillers and creams didn't work, he thought I was a lost cause."

- Erbsensupper666

Working as a medical professional has to be taxing in every sense of the word, but that does not mean it's time to throw in the towel and either take it out on your patients or ignore their needs.

Just because something is abnormal does not mean they're lying or being lazy; it's simply something you and your textbooks haven't seen before.

If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National

Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/