My Journey With Health And Fitness – Bias Against Obesity

I got up this morning and was thrilled that it wasn’t raining. I checked my weather app and it showed I should be good to do a 2 hour walk starting at 5am. Off I went, all bundled up because it was cold, and it was a lovely walk. Driving home from my 8am bootcamp class I was thinking I might be lucky enough to get in another 1 hour walk before it starts raining. As soon as I had that thought it started raining. Sigh, another walk on the treadmill.

More than a decade ago I went to my doctor because I had chronic back pain. He told me it was likely due to the fact that I was fat and lazy (ok, he didn’t use those words but that is what it felt like). I saw him again 6 months later and admitted I was living on daily Advil to survive the pain. At that point he told me he no longer thought it was my weight and started me down the path of being diagnosed with spinal stenosis. Move forward to about 5 years ago when I saw my new doctor because of shoulder pain so bad I couldn’t raise my arm. She said it was likely the stenosis (the back was better after having a permanent nerve block) which was causing 2 bulging disks. She referred me to an orthopedic specialist who was a young woman that look like she was about 12 to me. She told me that the issue was, again, because I was fat (ok, her words were overweight) never once mentioning the stenosis. She told me to lose weight and try going to a gym. My chiropractor was livid when I told her because the stenosis was causing this pain and she assured me regardless of my weight I was going to be dealing with this issue for the rest of my life.

Try googling medical bias against obesity and you might be surprised by what you find. There have been numerous studies on the subject which have found that some in the medical profession blame the patient’s weight for a myriad of issues. It can often be their first go to response for the treatment of symptoms. Moreover, some studies have shown that there are medical professionals who actually believe that their patients are to blame for their illnesses/disabilities if they are obese because the patients have control over their weight. Of course when you are obese and you get that vibe from your doctor/nurse or other medical professional it makes you hesitant to seek medical treatment for anything. Trust me I know this because that is how I felt.

I do want to be clear, there are health issues that are directly impacted by obesity. My diabetes and hypertension are 2 that immediately come to mind. Because I lost all the weight I no longer take medications for either of these and I work hard to keep it that way. I also know that even a 10% weight loss can have positive impacts on your health. However, losing weight is not a cure all and to me it is imperative that medical professionals look past just the obesity when treating all patients.

I mentioned previously that I am having a flare up of my stenosis and it is causing some pain in my right shoulder. There is no way that if I went to my doctor now that the pain would be blamed on my weight (note my current doctor would never do that anyways) or fitness level. Still, in my head I am still that short, fat, chick and so I really don’t want to risk being made to feel it is my own fault for having a congenital health issue. Instead, I think I’ll go see my chiropractor who has always been supportive of me and never once suggested weight loss as a method to control pain.

To end on a positive note, according to my scale this morning only 3 more lbs to go and I am back to my goal weight. Here’s hoping those 3 lbs decide to leave before Xmas.