Questions for your doctor

Appointments are short. Three good questions asked early are worth more than a page of them asked at the door.

How to open

Start with one sentence that states the problem and its effect: what the symptom is, how long it has been there, and what it stops you doing. Then stop and let the clinician ask. Saving the real reason until the end of the appointment is the single most common way a consultation goes wrong.

Bring dates. When it started, what has been tried, how long each thing was used, and whether it helped. If a treatment has already failed twice, say so at the beginning, because it changes what happens next.

A cervical screening appointment

• Can a smaller speculum be used, or can I insert it myself?
• Can I lie on my side instead, if that is more comfortable?
• Can I have a longer appointment slot, because previous examinations have been painful?
• Is a self collected sample available in this programme?
• What exactly is being tested for, and how will I get the result?
• What happens if the result shows human papillomavirus?
• When is my next test due?
• I have symptoms as well as attending for screening: can those be assessed separately, since screening does not test for them?

If examinations have been painful or impossible before, say so when booking rather than at the moment it begins. Treating dryness in advance often makes the difference, and so does knowing that the appointment can stop at any point. See vaginismus.

A menopause consultation

• Do these symptoms fit perimenopause, given my age and cycle pattern?
• Is a blood test useful in my situation, or is the diagnosis clinical?
• What are the options for the symptoms that bother me most, hormonal and non hormonal?
• Given my medical history, is hormone therapy suitable, and what specifically rules it in or out?
• How long before I should expect a change, and when should I come back if there is none?
• I also have vaginal dryness and urinary symptoms: can those be treated separately, since they respond to local treatment?
• Can local vaginal treatment be used alongside, or instead of, systemic treatment?
• Do I still need contraception, and for how long?
• What should I do about bone and heart health from here?

Take a completed symptom record. A few weeks of notes turns a vague account into a pattern.

An appointment about painful sex

Answer these four before you go, and say them at the start.

1. Where is the pain: at the entrance, or deep inside?
2. When does it happen: on contact, on entry, during movement, at the end of a thrust, or afterwards?
3. Is it every time, or only sometimes and in some positions?
4. Did it start at an identifiable point, or has it always been there?

Then ask:

• Can the vulval skin be examined, with good light?
• Are swabs needed to rule out infection?
• Could dryness or low oestrogen be contributing, and is treatment for that worth trying?
• Could the pelvic floor muscles be involved, and can I be referred to pelvic health physiotherapy?
• If deep pain is the main problem, should endometriosis be considered, and what would investigating it involve?
• If the first treatment does not work, what is the next step and when should I come back?

See painful sex.

A suspected vulval skin condition

• Can the skin be examined rather than treated over the telephone?
• Does the appearance suggest a specific skin condition, and if so which?
• Is a biopsy needed to be certain?
• If this is a skin condition, what is the treatment and for how long do I use it?
• Do I continue treatment after the symptoms settle, and at what frequency?
• Is this condition associated with any longer term risk that means I should be reviewed?
• What changes should make me come back sooner?
• What should I stop using on the skin?

If two courses of antifungal treatment have not worked, say that first. It is the fastest way to move an appointment from a repeat prescription to an examination. See lichen sclerosus.

Before you leave

Three questions worth asking at any appointment, whatever it was about.

• What is the working diagnosis, and what else is being considered?
• What should happen if this treatment does not work, and by when?
• Can this be recorded in my notes, so the history is there if I need a referral?

If you disagree, or feel dismissed, saying so plainly is reasonable: that you are not reassured, that the symptom is affecting daily life, and that you would like it documented. Asking for a second opinion is a normal part of medical care rather than a complaint.

Last reviewed: September 2026