Image by Pelemel24 on Pixababy.
Someone wrote an article on Medium about her last doctor visit. (I’ll protect her identity by leaving out her name.) She had a chronic back problem. She had just turned 65.
According to the article, the doctor said, “This is what I tell all my elderly patients…”
This is absurd. Sixty-five isn’t “elderly.”
And the variability among patients is huge. Sixty-five could be closer to 50 or to 80. It depends on the person.
Remember that the vast majority of clinicians have never studied geriatrics systematically. They’re going by what they’ve heard or their limited experience. They often just trust the stereotypes just like anybody else.
As I write in my book, a nurse once admired me in the gym, saying, “You don’t have pain when you move do you?” She worked in geriatrics and she’d never seen a healthy person over 50. Why should she? Healthy people never see the inside of a hospital.
Have a list of comments ready for the next time a doctor pulls this on you.
(1) How old are you? If you’re under forty-five I guess I seem ancient to you if I’m over 50.
(2) Did you have a geriatrics course in medical school? A rotation when you were a resident? Is there a refereed journal article supporting your position about this being age-related?
(3) Would you say the same thing if I were a marathon runner or another type of athlete?
(4) Could “age” be a surrogate for another risk factor that usually occurs in older people? For example, older people usually have “comorbidities.” What happens physiologically apart from chronological age?
(5) If I had the same condition at age 40, what would you recommend? Why aren’t you checking it now?
Of course, sometimes there’s a valid reason to refer to age. After you’ve been abusing your body for years, it’s going to take a toll. And “abusing” might mean running long distances or working out extra hard.
But usually, there isn’t a reason to refer to your age.
There only exception might be something that grows so slowly that you’ll be dead before it causes any problems. At that point, though, you’re usually well beyond 65 or you have significant medical challenges.
Meanwhile, rehearse your answers in case the doctor dismisses your complaint as “you’re just old.”
