Common pains, fever can be indicative of some underlying condition; know when to visit a doctor

Dr M Udaya Kumar Maiya

The human body is prone to aches and pains and thus, a random headache, stomach pain or an occasional sore throat should not bother you. However, it can be difficult to decide which symptoms are indicative of some underlying condition and require immediate medical attention. It is important to know when you can afford to wait and watch for things to get better and when your condition is serious.

There may be many questions on your mind.

• Is the heartburn due to indigestion or could it actually be a heart attack?
• Is it a stress-related headache or something as serious as a tumour in the brain?
• Is the night-time snoring due to a heart ailment?
• Is any symptom indicative of cancer?

This article is an effort to alleviate some general doubts about when to seek a doctor’s advice.

CHECK-UP AT ROUTINE INTERVALS
Even seemingly healthy individuals need to pay the doctor a visit at regular intervals. Depending on age, this could be anywhere between annual to quarterly or even monthly. Infants, the elderly, and those with chronic ailments such as diabetes and heart problems may require frequent visits. These visits may be preventive in nature or to seek care for a medical condition. However, you do not have to run to a clinic for every cold, cough, stomach pain and fever. Similarly, small wounds and injuries can be handled at home. Regular preventive health screenings are essential to monitor your health from time to time and can help identify silent ailments that may not produce symptoms until it is too late. Routine medical checkups should include eye, ENT and dental examinations with a gynaecology screening for women.



DURING AN EMERGENCY...
Conditions that are life threatening require immediate medical attention. Here again, it may be difficult to decide whether the symptoms qualify for a visit to the emergency room. However, it is wise to use good judgement and take advice on anything that appears serious. It is also advisable to have basic knowledge of first aid as some serious complications can be averted through quick response even before visiting a doctor. Emergency situations include:

• Deep cuts that are bleeding pro-fusely
• Severe head injuries
• Injuries due to accidents Dislocations and fractures Sudden rash or an allergic re-sponse
• Snake or bites of insects that are poisonous
• Signs of stroke or heart attack
• Severe pain anywhere in the body
• Incessant diarrhoea or vomiting
• Very high fever with or without convulsions
• Shock and breathing difficulty
• Severe burns
• Inhalation or contact with harmful chemicals
• Radiation exposure

CHECK-UPS FOR SPECIFIC PROBLEMS
If you really think you are feeling out of the normal and that the symptoms could indicate some serious problem, it is best to see a doctor at once. It is good to know how to address primary signs and symptoms at home as first aid. However, certain health issues such as a chronic cough lasting longer than two weeks, a high fever that doesn’t subside and problems in people with a weakened immune system may need immediate attention.

KNOW THE MAJOR FROM THE MINOR
A visit to the doctor is always good. While minor fleeting signs of simple ailments are a part of normal life, it is important to raise our awareness to tell the minor symptoms from the major ones. It is advisable to neither be a stoic denier nor an obsessive hypochondriac when it comes to understanding your body.




—The writer is Medical Director of Portea Medical.