Disabled people sometimes need to see more doctors than non-disabled people because a lot of the time, we have very complex medical issues that require more specialized training than your primary care doctor can give you. When you have Spina Bifida, sometimes you have to see multiple doctors because you can have multiple muscle groups that do not work properly that require more than one doctor to treat. As a disabled person, I have a lot of doctors, but I don’t have to see every doctor all the time, and most of my doctors I only see when I am having problems. People with Spina Bifida can have quite a lot of health problems, but not everyone will need to see as many doctors as I do, and some people may need more or less. It depends on what form you have because people with milder forms often have less health issues and won’t need to go to the doctor as often. What specialists do I see as a disabled person? In this post, I am going to talk about a few specialists I see as a disabled person to manage my health problems.
Primary care doctor– As a disabled person, I see a lot of specialists that not everyone is going to need, but I do also have a primary care doctor that everyone should have. A primary care doctor is an expert in general health and is usually the first person you go to if you get sick. Primary doctors are so important for everyone to have because they can do preventative screenings and catch serious illnesses that you may not be having symptoms for. A primary doesn’t treat cancer, but if they suspect you might have it, they can order a test to confirm and send you to a specialist who can treat it. As a disabled person, I don’t get sick often, but I do need to have yearly physicals because my insurance requires it, and my primary doctor is the one who prescribes my preventative for migraine, and without a primary care doctor, I don’t get my meds.
Urologist – If you were to get a UTI, you could go to your primary care doctor and get medication to treat it, but because my bladder does not work properly, I don’t go to my primary care when I am having a bladder issue and go to a urologist. A urologist is a specialist who is trained to treat a wide-array of conditions that affect the urinary tract in both men and women. When I was having a problem with bladder stones, my urologist was the one who removed them and found a medication that helped prevent them, and both my stoma’s for my bladder and bowel were created by my urologist. I need a more specialized doctor to manage my bladder issues because I have had a lot of reconstructive surgeries that my primary care doctor doesn’t fully understand. I get yearly scans to check the health of my bladder and kidneys because kidney problems are also common with Spina Bifida. If I were to have a problem with my kidneys, I would likely go to a nephrologist, which is a kidney specialist, because although a urologist can diagnose some kidney problems, they are not kidney experts.
Neurosurgeon– A neurosurgeon is a doctor who specializes in the nervous system who treats conditions that affect the brain, spinal cord, and nerves. When you have Hydrocephalus, it is so important that you have a neurosurgeon because they are going to be the ones who can do surgery to repair a shunt that is not working. I have had a condition called Chiari malformation, which is a structural defect where the brain extends into the spinal cord, and I have needed surgery to remove some pressure because it was giving me pain. I have been very fortunate and haven’t needed many shunt surgeries, but I do have a neurosurgeon just in case, because shunt problems are fatal if left untreated, and you never want to be in a situation where it feels like something is wrong but you don’t have a doctor to fix it.
Neurologist- A neurologist and neurosurgeon both specialize in the nervous system and treat conditions affecting the brain and spinal cord, and the main difference between the two is that one operates, and the other typically doesn’t. At the moment, I do not have active seizures, but I have in the past, and my neurologist is the person who would treat them. My current neurologist only treats epilepsy, but not all neurologists specialize in epilepsy, and sometimes their area of expertise is migraine and headache disorders.
Orthotist- As a disabled person, I wear leg braces because I have mobility issues, and they help me walk straighter and keep my body in the right alignment. When I need new leg braces, I see an orthotist, which is not a doctor but a healthcare professional who is trained to fit leg braces.
Orthopedist– If you have ever broken a bone, it is likely that you have gone to an orthopedist to get a cast because these types of doctors are bone experts. As a disabled person, I go to an orthopedist a little more often than most people because I have hip dysplasia and a lot of other mobility issues that most people do not have. I have two orthopedists because one is just a regular orthopedist that I would go to if I broke an arm, while the other one is a hip specialist who specifically only treats hip and knee problems. I need an orthopedist to monitor the health of my hip because hip replacements do not last forever, and I also can’t get scripts for new leg braces without an orthopedist.
Gynecologist- I recently started seeing a gynecologist, who is an expert who specializes in treating female reproductive organs, and every woman should be getting gynecological exams every year or two. I have ovarian cysts that are measured when I have my yearly bladder scan, but if I were to start to have problems, my urologist wouldn’t treat that because that is something that is usually done by a gynecologist. A gynecologist is important for every woman to have because they can diagnose pelvic pain, endometriosis, and ovarian cancer. Gynecologists can check areas that we can’t easily see and tell you if your period pain is normal.
Ophthalmologist – I do not have 20/20 vision and need to wear glasses to help me see, but it has nothing to do with my disability, and my poor vision has nothing to do with disability, and it’s bad genetics. I live with an eye condition called strabismus, which is when your eyes are not in the right alignment, causing them to point in different directions. When I was a child, I had eye muscle surgery to correct it, but I still need to see an ophthalmologist to monitor that condition to make sure nothing has changed, and the surgery still holds. I see an ophthalmologist, who is a medical doctor who specializes in advanced eye care and is trained to detect diseases affecting your vision and can perform surgery. An optometrist can perform routine eye exams and write a prescription for glasses. The main difference is that one has more advanced training and can do surgery, while the other can’t.
Disabled people sometimes will have a primary care doctor and dentist that people without disabilities also have, but a lot of the time we have a couple more doctors that not everyone is going to need. Some people with Spina Bifida will have quite a bit of specialists while others will see very few because everyone is different. I see a lot of different types of doctors, and sometimes people may think that I live at my doctor’s office, but the reality is I don’t go to the doctor that much, and sometimes I go years without having to go to a specialist appointment. Some people with Spina Bifida may have more or fewer specialists than me because disability affects everyone differently. I hope you learned something about the different types of specialists that I see, but if you have any more questions, feel free to leave a comment below. What types of specialists do you see? If you liked this post, please leave a comment below and share it with your friends.
New posts are shared most Tuesdays and Thursdays. Subscribe to my blog’s email list to be notified when a new post is published. Your information is never shared with anyone, and I will never spam you!
My Rockin Disabled Life 