I've had some patients lately who complain of urgency and stress incontinence. When you talk to these ladies their stories are completely different, and their assessment (their bladder and bowel diaries) are on opposite ends of the spectrum, but they have one thing I common...
It comes to a point in a health professionals day to call on someone else and go , "hey my patient has these symptoms and I think they may be x, y, or z, but I DO know that I need a hand figuring this out". Sometimes this person is a colleague, another physio, a dietician, naturopath, a GP, or really just anyone else.
As a Women's Health Physio I work with women and any issue they want to bring to me. Some of them I can help with and others I know I need to refer on to someone who does.The message here is "how long have you been seeing one practitioner?, Is what you are doing showing improvement?, and have you though about or has your practitioner thought about referral to someone else for a change of pace?".
No one practitioner should be a one stop shop. There are some really talented people out there but seen though different eyes can give a different result.
No, I'm not saying to go practitioner shopping or to have 20 up your sleeve but to explore other options if you are not improving. The practitioner should beat you to that stage and refer on or ask for assistance. There is nothing better than health practitioners working together to achieve a common goal. We are more powerful as a group than on our own.
