Well, I think this one needs explaining for my particular career. I work in a military clinic for acute issues (rule of thumb is a week or less). So we get a lot of people who lie about how long and issue and then when they're in the screening room they tell us how long it's actually been going on.
If you are seeing a regular civilian doctor I don't think this is a particular issue, and you can say whatever the heck you want for how long it's been going on.
I made this reply already, but here is my explanation.
I only go to the doctor, or dentist, when something starts interfering with my ability to live my day-to-day life. So pain or bleeding could have been going on for years, and I'll wave it off [even if it's pretty chronic]. But, if it gets bad enough that I can't focus, or I writhe in pain - time for doctor. So, the debilitating part of it is new [to me], but I always describe to the doctor that it's been going on for a long time but recently got worse in a way that is impactful.
edit: I just realized you meant you were explaining your initial comment, d'oh. But anyway, I'm not going to delete my comment because I do think that people with chronic issues deserve immediate/acute care if they avoid going to the doctor, because when they DO it's means they are in pain.
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u/kurinevair666 May 02 '26
How long has this been going on?
About a week.
Okay so tell me about when this happened?
I've had this pain for over two years....