Doctor, Dentist, Other...?

Post Reply New Topic

What are your views on visits to the doctor, hospital (for whatever reason), dentist, opticians, and any other medical specialist who you've had to deal with in your life? Did you appreciate the formal setup that had clear guidelines and hence didn't require too much social calculation, or did you have sensory issues that made such encouters unpleasant or scary?

And that sounds a bit like the beginnings of an ad. I shall now proceed to sell you toothpaste...

Anyway.

Personally, I always quite liked the dentist as a child, as it only required me to sit still and not say anything. I just had to lie there with my mouth open, was usually praised for being so brave/sitting still/being so well behaved, was given a sticker, and before that I'd been allowed to sit quietly in the waiting room for a while reading Reader's Digest magazines. They'd probably not seen that before in a five-year-old. Even now, I don't mind going, as long as the dentist doesn't try to make small-talk.

I found the opticians slightly challenging, but saw it as a means of self-improvement - kind of like a sensory obstacle course. To some extent I still have this attitude towards it.

Going down in the list of approved-of experiences, I've always disliked doctors appointments with a severe intensity - they're all about talking.

And finally, hairdressers. The Ultimate Evil of Normal Processes. I like keeping my hair very short, and have yet to learn to cut it myself - so every few months it's small talk, natterage, are you going anywhere nice on your holiday, etc etc etc etc... All the while with some stranger buzzing around your head making clipping noises. Although, I recently found a nice one whose shop is around the corner from my house, who doesn't charge very much and who _doesn't do a lot of small talk_. Yay for minor miracles.

As far as the dentist goes, I remember being quite scared when I was as old as 13 or 14. I remember having my mom come in the room with me (which was also great for answering questions). Im sure I seemed quite odd, if not completely immature.

As far as haircutting goes, I hate it completely. I very much dislike having others mess with my hair. I hate when it seems as though they're making eye contact, although they're looking at your hair. It's very stressful for me. I often close my eyes. I also dislike the washing part more than anything, I feel trapped. As far as smalltalk, they usually give up on me after about five minutes, and they just cut my hair and get it over with.

I don't mind appointments, it is nice to know that everything works the same way and i know what to expect. Doctors are more difficult and i do avoid going sometimes. I find it hard to explain things so they understand sometimes.
Never been to a hairdressers in my life!

I really only didn't like the doctors and the dentists for social and procrastination reasons. I hated the dental nurse at school as a little kid because I didn't want to go and tell a student it's their turn to go next. (That's how bad My AS was)

I don't like going nowdays because it's just an extra hassle. I mean get in the car make appointments ect.

Alos injections don't work.. I always feel everything, even if they put double the numbing stuff in my mouth, the bottom half of my face feels like a warm slab of meat for the next 4 hours.

I can definitely sympathize on the hair-dresser thing--I like keeping mine short too, and they talk CONSTANTLY and I never have any idea what to say. I dread haircuts for that reason. I do like the headwashing bit, though; I like the pressure on my scalp.

I don't mind the dentist, but my orthodontist is a big fan of small talk and he ALWAYS asks me what book I'm reading now. I really hate questions about what I'm reading, because I can never figure out how to summarize it, and then they think I actually want to hold a conversation. Aargh. He also has a habit of talking to me WHILE HE WORKS IN MY MOUTH, which confuses me because I can't really answer. Hale_bopp, local anesthesia doesn't work on me either--and I've had four teeth out and need one more pulled! They had to put me under general to pull the first four and will need to do it for the last one too, since it doesn't seem like it's coming out on its own.

My optomologist (optometrist?) is good; I don't have to talk and my only problem is trying to keep my eyes open. I'm very photosensitive--actually, my eyes are just all-around hypersensitive except for the fact that I'm near-sighted--so I've always hated dilation and that puff-of-air test because they hurt. Eyedrops are awful, too.

I hate doctor's visits. Apart from the way they always want me to talk, I have a phobia of needles and/or getting my blood drawn. The last time they needed a small blood sample, they couldn't get anything after poking me with the little needle, so the assistant excused herself for a moment, then came back, grabbed my hand, and stabbed me with what looked very much like an awl. The cut didn't heal for weeks, and the experience seems to have made my dislike/fear of the doctor's office worse.

I kinda like going to the doctor. In Denmark doctors don't have time to smalltalk, if he can get you in and out in two minutes he's happy. My last doctor had ten min. my new one has 15 min., so theres a focus on what's essential and nothing else. Maybe it's because of my deformity, but I get a respect from doctors I dont get elsewhere, and I like the care and concern they show for me.

Dentists do more smalltalk, and when I feel confident around NT's I tend to blurt out the wrong things to say in the wrong way, so at my last dentist I one day found myself in the chair at a dentist that had recently arrived. The secretary said: Oh, you are seeing the new dentist, but she's also very nice! It was very uncomfortable to have a dentist forced upon you, and I was in the middle of a treatment.
So now I'm scared at saying anything at my new dentist.

I see a physiotherapist once a week, which I hate, but it's neccesary.

I cut my own hair so going to a salon is history.

I like goíng to the vet, then I get to talk about my cats! And they respect me too, cause I treat my cats good.

The dentist is awesome. I haven't gone in a few years though. But I love it when they use that tooth polish thing. It feels so good on my gums. And no talking required!



I never thought of it that way. It's all about, "Come over here, I'm going to get really close to your face. And then I'm going to give you whiplash by blowing a puff of air into each eye. And now I'm going to put this one contact in your eye and then I'm going to take it out. Now for some eye drops. Uh oh, you can't see anymore. Please ignore that. Now we're going to shine really bright lights into your eyes to see how long you can stand it." I have terrible vision and I wear contacts so I get twice the fun. I've found that if you just concentrate on the fact that whatever sensory obstacle you're going through will be over soon. And you'll get to do another. And then you get to leave with very confused eyeballs.


And it's usually when you're in some kind of uncomfortable position. I wish they just had a questionarre you could fill out and check off your symptoms before you went in.


I wish they'd just ask what you wanted and leave it at that. I hate trying to make small talk with hairdressers. I have one I've been going to for years, but I can't stand to get any more than a trim because I never have anything to talk about with her. She's very nice, but I'm always so out of it. It's not that my life is particluarly boring, but when I'm at the hairdresser, I'm the most boring person in the universe. I never have any gossip. I only have, "You know what I did the other day? I went to the store" kind of thing. Gossip/small talk sucks. I have no juicy secrets if you don't specifically ask me about them. And if they're juicy secrets about me, there's no way I'm telling the person that just washed my hair.

I used to be afraid of those visits when I was little, but now I don't mind them and in fact am sort of fascinated by them.

[EDIT]For those of you who don't like making small talk with hairdressers--would it work to take a newspaper and pretend to be absorbed in it? I'm not entirely sure whether that would be seen as impolite, but it might work. Can you keep your eyes open to read while they cut your hair?

I hate having my hair cut!! Since I left home for college, I've always cut my own hair--anyone else doing it, and I'm annoyed to the point of frustration by tickling and poking and... ugh! I'm shivering now to think about it!

Of course this has caused some problems for me: Cutting one's own hair is a skill one learns through practice, and after failures. I've learned to cut it straight; but, as I learned yesterday, giving myself a buzz cut isn't as easy as just cutting hair straight. I finally had to shave my head; which marks the second time in four months I've been completely bald--unusual for a girl who's not having chemo.

I'm wearing a kerchief on my head now. I don't want to shock anyone with my appearance in this little conservative Baptist town I'm in... In a week, when I've got a few millimeters of hair, I'll remove it and hope they just think I'm counterculture.

But I really, really love having my hair short (or nonexistant). It can't tickle the back of my neck, or get in my eyes, or touch the tips of my ears; and strands of it don't come out in the shower and clog the drain, or come out during the day and tickle my neck or fall down my shirt...

Yeah. I need to figure out how to give myself a buzz cut.

Enough with that hair rant.

Doctors? No problem--except for needle phobia. Dentists--scary.

I've always had a horror of anyone doing anything to me that I'm not fully in control of--so injections, medical procedures, fillings, even haircuts are something I dread.

Now I just need to learn how to fill my own cavities and give myself flu shots, and I'll be all set.

No. Well, I've tried bringing a book and reading through it, but A: I have trouble keeping my eyes open, and B: She just tries to talk with me about what I'm reading. Augh. Once I go to college, I plan to cut my hair myself, and then I will probably copy you and shave it--that's been my dream for quite a while, but my mother won't let me. (Apparantly it's too weird.)

Huh. And I thought reading over peoples' shoulders was rude?

Apparantly, it is more rude to glance at the title on the cover of the book someone is reading than to interrupt the reader's comfortable haze with intrusive and highly annoying demands to know the title of the book, what it is about, and 'is it good.'