It is how much you are willing to pay, who you are & whom do you know, the usual stuff. For example, a reasonably price family Family Physicians you visit cost you a total of at least $50, a good one, you only need to see the doctor once or twice for a simple flu. Say, doctor prescribed you for a bad sore throat, all you need is paracetamol, amoxycilin, maybe a Dhysidl ( spell right I hope)if you have cough, plus maybe lozenges for local relief. These few items, have patented drugs for them & cheap generic ones. Which one, you think will heal you faster?
The other thing is , if you aren't HSK....you think, you will be up & about, propped up by medications & the best medical care at your disposal, ( NNI), you will not be able to go back to work & your employer, will "gently" ask you to leave..& in some case, " a very sorry" we have to let you go.
250mg Amoxycillin for example....taken over two days as prescribed will heal faster than the cheaper generic say 125mg from you know where, & which can use PIONEER card etc...& you will end up going to the doctor, maybe two or three times to heal your sickness....you won't die, but, it won't heal that fast & the more you visit the faster you finish your "free entitlement" & yo have to pay more...
Most people don't want to know this....
I have not found anything that works for the common colds, which is one condition, that medical science have not found a cure for. Anything out there or prescribed is to relieve not cure & usually they make you sleep. As for coughs, I rarely have any as in a condition or sickness, what I know are cough mixtures that people uses & cough mixture the docs like to giver, when you visit them for a flu.
As for nose spray, I did not know that, they cause the lining in the nose to get dry, especially if they are alcohol based. There was a time I use to get a nose bleed & suspected all the usual "suspects"; looking at woman ( ha ha ha ) digressing, too heaty, infection etc. Doctor recommended a visit to the ENT specialist & explained to me, the cause of the nose bleed....the nose sprays that can be bought at the ususal places...
Flu...it has so many changing virus, that you get cured from one, you get infected from another new strain...if the basic medication does not work....I head to the doctor.
Halsey02. You are contradicting yourself lah. Initially you make it seem like
Amoxicillin 250mg vs 125mg is superior for "flu". You even said "
Most people don't want to know this...."
Then now you say that there is really no cure for Influenza ( you are correct). What the heck man? Make up your mind.
And lastly, knowing what you know, when you say
"Flu...it has so many changing virus, that you get cured from one, you get infected from another new strain...if the basic medication does not work....I head to the doctor." What exactly are you expecting from the GP anyway? Amoxicillin 250mg? If someone is very ill from Influenza, even when they are admitted to the hospital, the treatment is largely supportive only. There is no good treatment for the flu. With most anti-viral drugs you got to take it really early in the disease process to stop the virus from replicating. If you present too late when the virus has replicated so much that the viral load is very high, the use of the anti-viral drug is useless.
Anyway I get the impression that most sinkies see GP as cough and cold , diarrhea doctor. For diabetes and hypertension chronic illness, go polyclinic as medication cheaper. Correct? I also see it that way cos Singapore primary care system is one of the worst in the world.
Over in Canada, family physicians deliver babies, manage chronic pain, give injections for rotator cuff tendonitis, subacromial bursitis, knee steroid or Hyaluronic acid injections, trigger finger, minor surgery for lumps and bumps, acne, eczema, rosacea, liquid nitrogen for plantar warts, seborrheic keratoses, BPH, urinary incontinence, IUD insertion, contraception, hypothyroidism, H Pylori gastritis, migraine, allergic rhinitis, otitis media, otitis externa, pre-natal care, well baby checkups, zoster/shingles, Hepatitis B liver surveillance for liver tumours and viral load, etc (just off my head what I see regularly)
Singapore a lot of these people will not pay the GP to do cos they say GP "rip off" but will go to specialist to do for even higher cost! So naturally GP in Singapore see no point training and learning to do stuff when patients not willing to pay and there is no demand for those services.
Can't blame the GP in Singapore. I was once a GP in Singapore so I know how boring and brainless the work is. Mind you it is not the doctors are brainless. It is the work that patients present to the GP with is brainless. For those more complicated stuff they go specialist.