Medical professionals are revealing the “bad” daily habits that are slowly destroying your health.

Note: Some responses were pulled from this Reddit thread by u/Sea_Fig1387 and this one by u/setealemtresspasser.

1. “I’m a surgical physician associate (PA). Don’t let your stomach ache linger for a week before seeking medical attention. For example, surgery on a week-old infected gallbladder is astronomically more challenging than if you came in when it started. It also puts you at higher risk for surgery.”

– Anonymous

2. “Not taking care of your joints and using proper form when exercising. Pushing through discomfort is okay. Pushing through pain is not – your body is telling you something!! Also, warming up and cooling down are essential, not optional!!”

-tlpg92

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3. “Eating highly processed foods. Processed foods have hidden sugars and other bad ingredients. Processed foods are your body’s real and essential ‘food processor’ from chewing with saliva to fiber cleaning the lower part of the alimentary canal.”

-StylishSquid1271

4. “Internal Medicine PA here. Not getting age-appropriate cancer screening is just negligent. Early detection can save your life. Get your Pap smear, mammogram, annual full skin exam, screening colonoscopy (or do the non-invasive colonguard and skip the prep and procedure altogether; if you have cancer, you need cancer and screening). Criteria.”

“Men, talk to your provider about PSA prostate-specific antigen testing (ages 55-69). See USPSTF screening guidelines.”

– Anonymous, 46, Minnesota

5. “Brushing your teeth is only half the job. Flossing removes food particles stuck between your teeth and gums. If left for too long, they break down and become acidic, slowly eroding your enamel.”

“Also, Brushing immediately after vomiting increases the damage to teeth caused by stomach acid. Rinse your mouth with warm water and bi-card soda to avoid any further damage!”

—u/tminor94

6. “I work in the ER. Actually follow up with your doctors: If I tell you to see someone, you need to do it. The reason your condition worsens is because you don’t really know anything about it, so you can’t tell when you need intervention or not. That’s why you have doctors, and that’s why I tell you to see them even if you feel fine now.”

—u/YoungSerious

7. “Do not wash your hands after: A) blowing your nose; B) breaking into the bathroom; C) handling pets, pet food, and litter boxes; D) cooking or eating, before and after; E) removing sanitary or medical gloves; F) any first aid, before and after; G) visiting someone who is sick to you and touching a store, after touching hands in public, H) etc., when you return home and (i) Your hands are soiled.”

– Anonymous, 72, Texas

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8. “Abandoning vaccines. There’s a reason some diseases have gone extinct (eg, polio), a reason people live longer, and a reason cervical and HPV-related oral cancers have steadily declined.”

—gaba2191

9. “To emphasize the importance of not smoking, if you smoke and develop lung cancer from smoking, the cancer is going to be very aggressive, have no actionable mutations and low immunogenicity, making treatment options very limited and less effective.”

—gaba2191

10. “I’m a first responder who works with medical professionals in the field of public safety. For the love of God, if you’re involved in anything high-risk, wear a helmet. Being ego-driven and risk-taking will eventually kill you. I’ve seen a 35 mph crash die without a helmet. ‘She went off, and she needed a new helmet.’ You only get one skull, one brain and one life. You don’t use one because ‘I need to feel the wind on my face’ or ‘helmets are for bad riders’.”

“My family was devastated when my mom’s little brother hit another deer on his motorcycle, and it ended up in organ donation — his skull was obliterated. Wear a helmet. And a seat belt. Or a flak jacket. Wear whatever you wear for your sports protective equipment; Your loved ones will thank you for it, and if you live to old age, your future old self will thank you too!“

– Anonymous, 37, Wisconsin

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11. “Don’t stretch. Even 10 minutes a day can do wonders for your health.”

-[redacted]

12. “If you have been diagnosed with a chronic condition like heart attack, diabetes, kidney failure, etc., we take a lot of time to teach you how to take care of yourself. Please, do Follow the instructions. If you don’t understand, please let us know so we can continue working with you. Do these things so you don’t have to be hospitalized again and again, as this will continue for a day until you are discharged from the funeral home. We hate to see you slowly kill yourself.”

-[redacted]

13. “Take your medicine if it’s prescribed to you. I can’t count the number of people I’ve seen who have a problem that they know, then another problem arises, and when I ask if they’re taking their medicine, they say, ‘Well, I didn’t need it, so I stopped.’ I don’t care if you feel better; If your blood pressure is 200/110, you can go from ‘fine’ to ‘bleeding in my brain’ in a second.

—u/YoungSerious

14. “When you’re prescribed antibiotics, take them as prescribed and don’t keep extra so you can ‘use them the next time you get sick’.”

“Also, if you’re asked to follow up on something, you should probably follow up on it…we’re not asking to come back for no reason.”

—u/alex_subo

15. “Ignoring your irregular sleep patterns and overall not getting enough sleep!”

– Anonymous, 65, Arizona

16. “Educate yourself on your health, your condition, your medications, etc. It amazes me that people get prescriptions and don’t know what they’re for, or who don’t know the basics of the condition they’ve been diagnosed with. ‘I don’t know’ is now a common answer. Why don’t you know? Why don’t you know things about your body?”

“The Internet is a huge research tool that you should be using, and there are many ways that you can use it to help you understand and make informed decisions about your health.”

– walk around

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And finally…

17. “Medical dietetics students here. A healthy diet includes VARIETY! Eat a variety of whole grains, nuts, beans, fruits, vegetables and lean meats.”

—u/severebabyface

Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.

Doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals, what other “bad” health habits do people not realize are seriously harmful? Tell us in the comments, or if you want to remain anonymous, you can use the form below.

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