After being diagnosed with a disease like MS, making a decision on a Multiple Sclerosis Specialist is one you should not delay on. You don’t want to leave the disease untreated, because left unchecked, the disease progresses rapidly. An MS Specialist can help you get started on deciding what course of treatment you want to pursue. This may well be one of the most important, if not the most important things you will do in the remainder of your life. You will trust this person literally with your life. But remember that it is a choice, and the choice is yours. So make a thoughtful one. One of the first considerations is if you want a generalist or an MS specialist.
Do you want a General Doctor or an MS Specialist?
While primary care or family doctors may be OK for everyday medical problems like a cough, ear or throat infection, or the flu, a Multiple Sclerosis Specialist will have the special training and experience to treat the complexities of Multiple Sclerosis. You will need the knowledge of the MS specialist to be able to give you all the options on medications, therapies, treatments, and new trials that you might benefit from. But you also should make sure your MS specialist will take care of all the general things that you will need help with as well and that he/she has the time to devote to you as an individual. So while you need a doctor with intimate knowledge of the symptoms and special needs of a disease like Multiple Sclerosis, specialist doctors can sometimes be too busy for you or lack bedside manner skills to comfort you when needed. Make sure you feel right with the doctor – that you can talk to him/her about intimate and very personal problems that will arise. If you feel uncomfortable at all, take the time to find an alternative.
A Neurologist MS specialist is a good choice
A Neurologist is probably the best choice as your Multiple Sclerosis specialist. But take care to find one that sees only MS patients. If your Neurologist also treats Alzheimer’s and epilepsy, he won’t have as much experience with MS. That could limit the options he offers you or is even aware of. And chances are good that if your neurologist is not also an MS Specialist, he won’t have the resources available to offer you some of the alternative treatment approaches you will want to try. One final note is that if you are interested in trying alternative and complementary medicine options; make sure your Neurologist is willing to work with you on this. You don’t want a physician that is “married” to a certain drug or committed to one treatment course.
MS specialist nurse can compliment your specialist
A good idea is to seek out an MS clinic that offers a multitude of services under one roof. Ideally, not only will they have more than several Multiple Sclerosis Specialist doctors, but also therapists, counselors, advocates, and volunteers to help you at home. Perhaps the most important extra service a clinic can provide is an MS specialist nurse. These are registered nurses that specialize in caring for MS patients. They have vast knowledge, and will have more time to give you individually. They can not only provide your care, they will offer support and advice, teach you ways to cope with the disease, and even take the time to fill out paperwork. They can be that important bridge of care between you and your doctor.
