When you're sick, how long do you wait before you see a doctor?

[Alnitak]

You don't need antibiotics for a sore throat; gargle with salt water, eat more garlic and onions, pop vitamin C lozenges to suck on, along with medicated throat lozenges.



I start with Web MD and other sites that allow me to narrow down what I have. If I'm not certain, my insurance has a help line and I can talk through the symptoms and get their input on a diagnosis. Only if I can't figure it out do I bother seeing a doc; fortunately, thanks to the religious folks who run the hospital and clinic here, there's an Immediate Care section where the longest wait I've seen was forty minutes.

You absolutely need to use antibiotics for strep throat, which can lead to rheumatic fever and heart valve damage.

 

[Kulindahr]

You absolutely need to use antibiotics for strep throat, which can lead to rheumatic fever and heart valve damage.

I sit corrected -- I should have remembered that. OTOH, if you start with salt water at the first hint of a sore throat, it will take care of strep if you're otherwise healthy. If you wait until your throat isn't just a little sore but is fiery and aching, it gets painful to swallow, and/or the stuff has migrated into the sinuses, besides the fact that you've been foolish it's definitely time for the antibiotics. The problem comes in when people think, "Oh, it's just a little sore throat" and do nothing, because in less than twenty-four hours strep gets serious enough that home treatments are generally futile -- so if you have a sore throat longer than a day, getting a test to see if it's strep is recommended.