Dizzy David

I had treated his wife in the past, and knew that this 75 yr old gent wasn’t going to be easy to deal with….

‘My neck needs treatment. I’m dizzy’ he said when he sat in the consultation room. I used to go to a brilliant chiropractor who treated my neck, and it would fix me’. I felt under pressure already: a previous chiropractor. ‘He’ll think I’m rubbish’ I assumed. ‘I get dizzy. It’s my neck’, he reminded me.

I examined him, looking at his neck first, of course, trying to please him. His neck was stiff and a bit tender to my touch. But he also had high blood pressure, an irregular pulse, and one of his ears was completely blocked up with wax.

When I told him of these issues, his manner became less forceful. I suggested that he see an audiologist to get his ears syringed, and to see his GP about his blood pressure and irregular pulse. ‘When these things are resolved, then let’s treat your stiff neck’ was my summary. He grudgingly left the consultation room.

He sent me an email a few months later saying that he had had his ears syringed, and was on BP medication as well as an anticoagulant. He said that his neck was ‘fine’ and didn’t need to come and see me. He didn’t make another appointment.

Questions:

• I didn’t treat him. Did I help him?
• Have ever you felt under pressure to treat a patient?
• How do you deal with imposter syndrome that we all get when someone has had treatment elsewhere in the past?
• Have you got an otoscope?
• What would your main concerns be about this patient?
• Was this interaction 'a success'?

I am a chiropractor and sonographer. I also mentor colleagues to help them become the clinicians that they want to become. Find out more here.