I broke a rib a week ago. This morning I answered my son’s question something like this:
In the 50s doctors would diagnose a broken rib, then wrap the chest supposedly to stabilize the break for healing. The broken rib(s) would then heal in an unnaturally compressed position out of alignment with the other ribs.
Today they do not do anything … well, they send you for a photograph of the break, then advise you, “If it hurts, don’t do it”, while prescribing pain killing drugs so you can abuse your broken bone and delay the healing.
Two hundred dollars worth of help I do not need.
Which reminds me of people going to THE DOCTOR for flu, cold, sniffles and such. After the drive in, they spend 30-60 minutes in a chair previously occupied by a string of sick people, handling periodicals previously handled by sick people, sitting next to sick people coughing into their hands, spraying through their fingers, then handling chair arms, periodicals and such.
They finally earn their 3 minutes of glory with THE DOCTOR, who is often as not a nurse practitioner, physicians assistant or other student of pharmaceutical medicine. The advise, if it is accurate, goes like this:
“I can prescribe drugs for you. It will go away in 7 days. Allowed to take its course, you will get over it in a week. The former likely has detrimental side effects. The latter helps strengthen your natural immune system.”
You likely can guess which I choose.
