Don’t be shy about getting a second opinion

As a primary care physician, Dr. Joseph Teel is used to seeing patients who want to get his medical advice—and then double-check it with another doctor.

Don’t worry, he’s not offended. And there’s a good chance your doctor isn’t, either.

“All of us have been in a situation where it doesn’t seem like there is anything concerning, and the patient says, ‘I really am concerned,’” Teel says.

It can tough to decide whether that headache or stomach pain warrants a second opinion. Am I overthinking it? Should I spend the money on a second visit to a specialist? Is my doctor going to be annoyed or think I don’t trust him?

There are certainly times when a patient should go with their instinct about their own body, says Teel, who also serves as assistant professor of clinical family medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. After all, he says, no one knows better than you when something definitely feels off.

“It’s also true with pediatric care. Sometimes moms and dads have a sense of what’s going on,” he says.

Make it a conversation

If you feel like you need a second exam or the help of a specialist, Teel suggests first double-checking your insurance plan. If you have an HMO, you have to get authorization from your primary care provider to get an insurance referral for a specialist, he says.

But other plans don’t require that step, which means you could go straight to a cardiologist or neurologist or other specialist without having to first get the opinion of your primary physician.

If you do see your family doctor first, Teel says most are happy to provide a recommendation for a specialist, even if they first advise you that they don’t believe another appointment is necessary.

Approach the topic as a conversation, rather than an accusation.

“I wouldn’t put it in the context of telling the provider, ‘I think what you did is incorrect,’” Teel says. “You can personalize it, putting it on yourself to say, ‘I feel something else is going on and maybe someone else could weigh in.’”

Do your research

The wealth of health information available online can be a useful part of the conversation, especially if patients are careful to do research with reputable sources, Teel says. The websites of some of the country’s large medical systems—places like the Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic—provide useful systems to investigate your symptoms so you have a good sense of questions you can ask your doctor on that first visit.

“If you get there and are asking those questions and there are inadequate answers or someone is stepping around the question, that could help you feel empowered (to get a second opinion),” he says.

Do what feels right

It’s important to go with what feels right to you, Teel says. If a patient will feel better by having another conversation with another doctor, it doesn’t make sense for a primary physician to stand in the way.

“In the end, this is not our body, our health or our life,” he says. “We’re there to provide guidance.”