Skin-Deep and Confidently Wrong

"What brand of shampoo do you use?"

"What type of conditioner?"

"What sunscreen?"

"What shaving cream?"

I had my first dermatologist appointment this morning, the first step in joining the bleached-white-teeth, blemish-free, full-head-o'-hair bunch.

I think the DermaDoc was frustrated that I didn't know the answer to any of his questions.

The DermaDoc then proceeded to bejezus-scare me, telling me that a prescription I had been on for two years could destroy my liver and cause lupus, and since I have only worn sunscreen once in a while when I go outdoors I might as well be dead. Basically at Colorado altitude, we need defense against deep-space X-rays. I barely exaggerate.

And I agreed to a point, that I should've been more careful, as I had moved and had different doctors I hadn't paid much attention. However, when I mentioned that I had also taken doxycycline as a malaria-prophylaxis, the know-it-all style of the DermaDoc started to annoy me. He said doxycycline wasn't an anti-malarial with an undue tone of confidence, since I was very certain that was an accepted use for it.

He may have just meant it wasn't the first-line prophylaxis, but he expressed it obnoxiously as if I had confabulated it. I didn't get into a debate that early in the morning, but it reminded me that medicine is so vast it's not smart to give just one doctor the final word, while at the same time it is also wise to look into the risks of medications and procedures on your own and not assume harried doctors have the whole picture.

I'm going to give the DermaDoc's RX a shot, although after looking at what it entails, you could could say the RX amounts to becoming a metrosexual. "Buy only from the following list of approved moisturizers...Apply an even coat of sun block...ad naseum."

What a bitter pill! Then again, a month or two ago I met this resident doctor who had worked in rural Ecuador, who talked about the difficulties of medical compliance there. One of the problems was that people thought they needed a shot or drug to cure anything, and stopped taking their medication as soon as they felt better despite her directions.

So, it looks like I have to squelch my carping at minorly altering my routine, and maybe I can take up some other metrosexual hobby like cooking food that doesn't come from a box, while I am waiting for a facial peel or whatever the hell the DermaDoc wrote in his scribbling that I ought to do.