ANOTHER IDEA

Now that pandemic restrictions are easing up, people are madly scheduling in-office doctor’s appointments that they had put on hold for a year or longer. That puts great pressure on you and your doctor to catch up on your health status. Given that the average doctor’s appointment is only about 20 minutes, you’ll want to make every moment of your allotted time count.

Here are some ideas to help you get the most out of your in-person doctor’s appointment:

■ Ask for a longer appointment. If you have a lengthy list of symptoms and concerns to address, tell the receptionist that you have a lot to talk about and that you’d like an extended appointment.

■ Take care of what you can ahead of time. Find out if there are any blood or imaging tests you can have performed before the appointment so that you can discuss the results during the visit, said Michael Hanak, an associate professor of family medicine at the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. You may have several screening tests — breast, skin or colon cancer, for example — to catch up on.

■ Record your latest health info. Use the patient portal to update the list of medications you’re taking — including prescription and over-the-counter drugs as well as vitamins and nutritional and herbal supplements — so that you won’t need to spend valuable time during the appointment doing this.

■ Prioritize your issues. Before you go to the appointment, create an agenda and identify the top three to five concerns you’d like to address with your doctor, advised family physician Lou Edje, associate dean of graduate medical education at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. If a problem is embarrassing to you, write it down and hand the paper to your doctor, who will lead the conversation from there.

■ Be honest about your lifestyle habits. In particular, describe how your diet, your use of alcohol and caffeine and your exercise regimen have changed since the pandemic began. Don’t be embarrassed; you’ll be in good company on this front.

■ Make sure you understand what you’re being told. Bring a pad and paper to the appointment so that you can take notes — or ask a family member or friend to accompany you and perform this task. If you don’t understand something your doctor says, ask clarifying questions until you get

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Stacey Colino