Some of us pay a visit to the doctor on a regular basis; some of us visit the doc at the first small sign of trouble, and some of us would rather wait or not make an appointment at all.
If you fall into category three, you could be right to wait on some occasions, but there are times when you really should make the call and see your doctor. Here are a few common scenarios where an appointment is probably needed, according to WebMD and the Mayo Clinic:
Abdominal Pain
• Pain that increases with movement or coughing and does not appear to be caused by strained muscles is more likely to be a symptom of a serious problem. A visit to a doctor is usually needed when severe abdominal pain comes on suddenly, or when new and different mild pain slowly becomes more severe over several hours or days.
Headaches
• Occur more frequently than usual.
• Are more severe than usual.
• Worsen or don’t improve with appropriate use of over-the-counter drugs.
• Prevent you from working, sleeping or participating in normal activities.
• Cause you distress, and you would like to find treatment options that enable you to control them better.
Cold or flu
• You have trouble breathing or chest pain.
• Your fever doesn’t get better.
• You can’t keep anything down.
• It hurts to swallow.
• It’s been weeks and you can’t get rid of your cough.
• Your congestion and headache won’t go away.
