"Invaluable virtual GP service helped with sudden neck pain"

The patient wishes to remain anonymous

“I’ve just been diagnosed with pernicious anaemia. So, I have to go for injections every three months. I’m  starting to suffer some side effects of it, one of which is constant injury, and I don’t know if that’s the B12 or just getting older.

On the day this happened, I literally just flipped my head back, getting ready for work. As my head went back, all of the bones in my neck made this really awful crunch sound, and I couldn’t move. I couldn’t shake my head, I couldn’t lodge, I couldn’t turn. I was just stuck. I remembered about the Teladoc Health service and thought I could get advice on whether to worry or see the doctor. It was more to put my mind at ease because I couldn’t move my neck and started panicking.

Very knowledgeable GP

I had a call with a Teladoc Health GP just a few hours later, so it was rapid. The GP was very nice and super friendly. It was quite dramatic at the time, and I was in quite a bit of pain, and she was very understanding of that. It only hurt when I moved. She offered a prescription for a painkiller, but to be honest, it didn’t feel bad enough to take anything stronger. As long as I stayed still, it didn’t hurt. The GP was really knowledgeable and said to give it a couple of days, try to keep it moving, and it should start to ease off. She was pretty spot on with the timescales. I can still feel it now, so I can’t get all the way around, but I can move. I even played six hours of cricket yesterday, so it’s eased right off!

A real employee perk

If I hadn’t had access to this service, I probably would have just suffered in silence and waited it out or potentially rang the doctor or 111. It was the noise that it made that scared me. It felt like my bones had crunched together and that I had done some real damage.

It’s great that a company like ours has given us access to Teladoc Health. We have a GP at our fingertips, so to speak! I appreciated how quickly the GP rang back. It’s extraordinary that it’s all on a phone call (or a video call), and somebody can help you without taking time off work to go to the doctor.

I’ve got my granddad, for example, who will not go to a doctor and is always obviously in his 80s. But if he were of working age, he still wouldn’t have gone to the doctor. He would have just suffered in silence, even if it was severe. So I think this service might spur people on if you’ve got somebody with that mentality.

It’s a highly valuable service, and I am very grateful to the GP I spoke to and my employer.”
REFAIG