Common Health Issues that can be Handled with Online Doctor Consultation

Online doctor consultation has been improving over the years, advancing with the pace of available technology. The global covid-19 pandemic has made its growth more necessary and even faster with the lockdown that had to be imposed in several countries to combat the covid-19 spread. Online doctor consultation is a branch of telemedicine. 

KEY POINTS

• Online doctor consultation is a branch of telemedicine that allows patients to talk to a doctor via text messages, chat, calls, video chat, or a combination of any of these.
• Online doctor consultation offers several advantages over traditional in-person doctor visits, including convenience, time savings, cost-effectiveness, safety, improved access for those with disabilities, and faster and unconventional access to care.
• Common health conditions that can be treated through online doctor consultation include infections, allergies, asthma, pain, sexual health problems, hypertension, diabetes, sickle cell anemia, and more.
• If you have any of the health issues listed above, you can speak to a doctor online through KompleteCare, a telemedicine platform that provides you with an excellent avenue to talk to a doctor online within Nigeria without the hassles of going to the hospital physically.

How Does Online Doctor Consultation Work?

Online doctor consultation involves talking to a doctor via text messages, chat, calls, video chat or a combination of any of these. It entails the typical consultation with a doctor in a hospital but this time without face-to-face contact.

Similar questions are asked about health conditions by the online doctor. In cases where physical examination is required, the patient does it with guidance from the online doctor. 

Investigations can be ordered for which the patient can take at a lab of their choice. Medications can also be prescribed by the doctor for treatment purposes.

Advantages of Online Consultation

Convenience

• You don’t have to wake up by 4am to be first in line in the usually crowded Nigerian hospitals. 
• No seating on uncomfortable chairs or standing in line. 
• No sitting close to other patients with unknown disease conditions or smell (due to an underlying disease). 
• No fear of stigmatization if your case is sensitive (e.g, infections like HIV or mental health).
• Online consultation makes your session with the doctor memorable and you have the choice to choose where you want to be during the consultation and also the time of the consultation.

Time saving

• You have total control of the consultation time. You could even work it into your schedule for the day and not miss out at work, picking up the kids from school or going for other extracurricular activities.

Cost effective

• Considering the rising cost of goods and services due to inflation, an online doctor consultation helps you to save money in terms of transportation costs to the hospital. It equally gives you valuable time to make money and not spend valuable time in hospital queues.

Safe

• Online consultation has helped a lot in social distancing, not only for the Covid-19 infection but for other disease conditions which could be gotten from contact with other patients like upper respiratory tract infections, skin diseases like chicken pox, and even more deadly infections like Lassa fever or Ebola. 

Improved access for those with disability.

• Unfortunately, the design of most Nigerian health facilities does not favour people with disabilities. This makes it a difficult task for both the patient and their relatives when they present for check-ups. Online consultation makes check- ups easy for everyone.

Faster and Unconventional Access to care

• You can be attended to outside work hours for conditions not deemed life threatening.

Common Health Issues that can be Treated through Online Doctor Consultation

Most health conditions can be treated online except in life-threatening cases or where a physical procedure is necessary to aid treatment such as surgery. Common health conditions which can be consulted online include:

Infections

• Urinary tract infection
• Upper respiratory tract infection
• Skin infections & rashes
• Sexually transmitted infections e.g. Herpes

Allergies

Asthma

Pain

• Back pain
• Neck pain
• Abdominal pain

Sexual health problems such as erectile dysfunction.

Hypotension

Hypertension

Diabetes

Sickle cell anemia

Peptic ulcer disease

Hepatitis

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection (follow-up) 

Kidney stones

Headaches

Fever: from malaria and typhoid etc

Nausea& vomiting

Diarrhoea

Constipation

Hair Loss

Oral/Dental health problems

Eye problems like red eye, and eye itch

Minor injuries can be attended to with available first aid kit at home.

Menstrual problems even from conditions like fibroid

Infertility in both male and females

First trimester of pregnancy

Post-partum depression

Menopausal symptoms

Breast lumps 

Stroke (follow up)

Mental health disorders like Mild anxiety & depression

Sleep problems

Stress 

Epilepsy (follow up)

Note that once a condition is deemed life-threatening, the patient should be immediately taken to the nearest hospital (not necessary the hospital you are registered with) for immediate resuscitation and care.

How to Consult an Online Doctor

With the advantages provided by online consultation, you would be able to see a doctor at anytime and anywhere using your smart phone or personal computer.You are deemed fit to speak to a doctor online as long as your health issue is not life threatening or a medical emergency

Do you have any of the health issues listed above? Speak to a Doctor on Kompletecare now.  KompleteCare is a telemedicine platform that provides you with an excellent avenue to talk to a doctor online within Nigeria without the hassles of going to the hospital physically. All you have to do is Sign Up, schedule the time of your consultation and Talk to a Doctor in a matter of minutes.