To make appointments with these GPs purely to tell them it’s their fault?

[TheAngryBatBot]

5yo DD has had a wart on her hand for the last two years. To begin with I thought it would go away. It didn’t and it grew. I have never had warts and neither has any of the rest of the family - I have no experience of them. Googled, but as she was under 4 to start with, a lot of the treatments weren’t suitable.

When I showed the GP and asked what to do, she pulled a face and asked why I wanted to do anything with it. I muttered about being worried she might get teased, but the GP looked at me like I was made, so I accepted her response that I should do nothing. I felt pretty mortified for even asking.

Despite feeling like a complete tosser for wanting to sort out the bloody wart, I took her to the pharmacist when she was 4 and he gave us a gel thing to put on. This didn’t work, and a friend who had had warts suggested going back to the GP and getting them frozen off. So, I thought maybe I’d just had a strange experience and another GP might actually help. Well I got the same fucking response - a sideways, judgmental look and the feeling that he thought me a neurotic mother were all I got from this GP too. It’ll go away on its own he told me.

DD has had a bad spell of health lately, she has ricocheted from virus to virus and also unfortunately developed eczema on her face. Between the blocked, runny noses and the eczema she has touched her face a lot. Tonight I have discovered a fucking wart on her beautiful face. On closer inspection, she now also has 3 other smaller warts on her hand, along with the very large original wart. I am so upset. With myself for accepting what the areshole judgmental doctors said, but also with them. I don’t have a degree in medicine and didn’t know they could spread like that. Why didn’t they help me with the original wart? Why did they not consider the fact that they could spread?

I am a teacher and if I rolled my eyes and dismissed a concern raised by a parent which then escalated, I would have my arse handed to me, not only by that parent but also my line manager. I’ve got an appointment with another GP tomorrow who I really hope will actually help us properly with this (I’ve been told he is very good). But AIBU to want to make appointments with the previous two GPs, show them DD’s face and tell them that I hold them personally responsible for this?

Disclaimer: I would never waste GP time by actually doing this. But AIBU to want to? As I said, in my job I’d be hauled over the coals.

@marymarkle , True . I just felt really sorry for the lady as there really were lots that were visible .

newhousestress - it was I who said that UK GPs are really ignorant about dermatology and you are really very wrong to claim that other countries overdo dermatology. The British suffer needlessly from eczema, acne, rosacea etc, all of which are easy and inexpensive to treat in the right hands.

The best thing to get rid of a wart is to cover with duct tape (not porous human plasters) for 2-3 weeks, it works! Dd had warts for 2 years and the gp said that they aren't treated because they are cosmetic and go away on their own, she handed me the duct tape method printed off the internet!

@theredjellybean But the GPs didn't say that though did they. They do what most doctors do and didn't explain the options properly and just appeared arrogant, dismissive or judgemental.

If either if the two GPs had said "that treatment is very painful and not guaranteed to work so we don't recommend it for young children" or "there is no effective treatment for warts" (insert whatever the correct position is) then the OP would have understood and reacted accordingly.

Doctors need serious work on how to overreact with patients. Most of them are seriously lacking in skills in how to interact with patients. And then as you have done, blame the patient.

In terms of treating warts, I found a plaster over them gets rid in a couple of weeks. No idea why, found out by accident! Also got rid of another one on my arm when I accidentally got a bit of sunburn. That finished the fucker off! Wouldn't recommend that one though!

Warts are so annoying!

Ask for blood tests to be done. I'd also look at her diet for eczema causes - dairy is common inflammatory

@phenomenalcat Loving the idea of a Master Wart! Sinister! Lol!

My dd had verrucas that didn't seem tires pond to any treatment.During year 6 she got warts on her hands that proliferated around her nails and looked aweful.The GP advised that we left them,they could try to treat but there were no guarantees and we could permanently damage nail growth.
Before the summer holidays her feet were suddenly covered in very as and the warts got much worse.
By the end of the holidays every single one had gone.It took a while for the skin on her hands to really heal and all her nails to grow normally but now you wouldn't know.
It's frustrating but time will make them go not getting annoyed with your GP for giving you the correct advice.

Out of interes Maria, t in what ways do GPs not treat acne/rosacea/eczema?

Haven't rtft but just to say Drs used to freeze them off children with liquid nitrogen. I have a wart on my face and every Tuesday after school ide go along to the cryo clinic to get it done.

It's definitely shrunk in the 25 years I've had it but sometimes I'm very self conscious of it. Another old wives tale which helped for me was cutting a potato in half rub it on the wart then bury it in the garden.
Good luck.

They fail to cure those things! Which are so easy to treat, and very cheaply. Instead, people buy endless useless or harmful OTC remedies.

The NHS generally doesn’t offer cosmetic procedures. This is something that would be more quickly resolved by just paying to get rid of it.

Maria - certainly in my experience GPs treat acne / refer to dermatologists if necessary and treat eczema flares (I didn’t think eczema was curable?) Lots of the most effective dermatology treatments can have pretty nasty side effects so it’s understandable that they are reserved for a minority!

I do agree though that perhaps there is a mismatch in expectations, with GPs being great at reassuring patients that conditions are benign but forgetting that they can still significantly impact the patient - as in OP’s daughter’s case !

MariaNovella I'm intrigued - what's the miracle cure for rosacea and eczema then?

There aren’t “miracle cures”. There are different treatments available which any properly trained dermatologist (not one trained in the UK) would use, after making a proper diagnosis.

MariaNovella so why did you say that NHS gps "fail to cure those things"? That quite strongly implies that they are curable and GPs just aren't trying hard enough.

Another one here recommending oilatum in the bath. You don’t need to use soup

SevenMelon - they fail to do so out of ignorance because dermatology is not a strong specialty in the U.K. GPs receive little training in dermatology (which is strange given that skin complaints are frequent but relatively easy to treat - just the sort of thing GPs ought to be handling) and even consultant dermatologists lack knowledge that is common in other countries.

MariaNovella I find that quite an insulting accusation. What is your evidence that we receive 'little training in dermatology'? Have you been to medical school in the UK? What are you basing this upon?

MariaNovella can you tell us in what way you are qualified to comment on the knowledge and experience of uk doctors with regard to dermatology please?

at the suggestion that dermatologists in the UK are not “properly trained”. Obviously an internet random knows far more..

This is possibly the most bizarre thread I have ever read. The disparaging comments and rudeness towards medics who have trained and worked for years is quite staggering. Over a wart. Quite amazing really

As you seem far more knowledgable than us lowly medics MariaNovella, how about you train to be a Doctor and show us how it really should be done?

It’s threads like these that make me wonder why the hell I chose to do medicine.

Memorial - agreed. Utterly bizarre. The idea that a wart warrants a referral to a dermatologist is astonishing (but not a UK trained one, mind).

But to go back to the original AIBU - yes OP, you would be totally unreasonable to book several GP appointments to blame them for your daughter's wart.

I agree Lostmychristmasspirit

Anyone going into medicine in the UK has been highly motivated and worked extremely hard from at least age 15. It upsets me more than it should when people make sweeping statements about doctors; I (and the vast majority of my colleagues) went into this career to help people not to annoy them. These threads are depressing.