Is this really a thing in Japan?

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1988/12/18/Japanese-doctors-lie-about-can...

Every time I go to a hospital or clinic here in Japan, the doctors always tell me "you are ok" no matter if the symptoms are terrible and really something to be concerned about.

I can share a couple examples:

I went to a clinic about a possible issue with my left kidney and the doctor had me take a urine test, which didn't reveal anything. So he then scheduled me to have another check up at the biggest hospital in town. So I go to the hospital and they do an x-ray and say it is nothing and that my symptoms must be just muscle pain...really?

I even explained that I almost always have this dull pang sensation in the exact spot where my left kidney is on my back and it is a deep sensation not just on the surface of my skin. If it isn't a kidney issue, why do I often feel it while I'm urinating. I found this entire hospital visit really strange and unsatisfying.

Another time, I when to a neurologist because I sometimes get nerve pains in my hands, arms and legs on one side. The neurologist mentioned that if it is only on one side, I'm fine but only serious if it is on both sides because that signals cancer. I can understand that if it only occurs on one side, but is most likely not cancer, but why does he excuse it so easily as nothing serious?

I explained to him that I had brain surgery for a growing subarachnoid cyst 5 years ago and he still mentioned that he doesn't think these nerve pains are related to that...what? He thinks it is just from stress?

I guess this is possible but I'm starting to have different symptoms. In fact, just last night when trying to fall asleep, for a moment my face lost sensation and it was like my eyes lost control for a brief moment (less than a second), the sides of my head felt like they had an invisible vice on them. I also had really really tight neck and upper back muscles. My neck and upper back muscles tighten up because of my online job has be sitting at a PC all day, along with stress and also work outs three times a week.

My friend gave me a neck and back massage to soften up the muscles, and my strange symptoms slowly went away, so I'm thinking that maybe my muscles were so tight that they literally cut off the blood circulation to my brain for a moment? I think my blood circulation was cut off for a moment because my body temperature changed. I went from being hot (summer here) to feeling cold and needing to put a long sleeve shirt. My body warmed up and I was no longer cold when my muscles softened up.

I'm still reading more about this situation online because this is the first time experiencing this. I just know that the doctors here in Japan would most likely just tell me "you are ok" as usual.

Have any other foreigners or Japanese people on here had any experiences with Japanese doctors or symptoms like this before?

1988 was a long rime ago...

Without going into too much detail, let's just say that my nervous system is a wreck and I have had multiple neurosurgical procedures, including one here in Sendai. My experience with doctors has been nothing but positive, but I have found that you sometimes need to be assertive and, for example, request a CT/MRI/whatever yourself because they don't suggest it.

You don't have to go into detail but have you experienced any of the symptoms I mentioned in the post with regard to what happened to me last night?

The sudden weird involuntary eye movements, vice-like squeezing type headache, weird sensation in head,sudden change in body temperature?

I hope I don't need a surgery myself. I'm happy to hear your experiences with doctors here in Japan have been positive.

Yes, I have symptoms similar to what you describe, but those symptoms are typical of neurological disorders and can have a wide range of possible causes.

You say you went to "the biggest hospital in town", how big is the "town"? Living in Sendai, I am familiar with major hospitals in a major city; in smaller cities it may be different since in general smaller cities tend to be more conservative. In Japan as elsewhere, if you are not comfortable with your physician, you should definitely go see another one.

I live and work in Shizuoka City, which is smaller than Sendai but not too small of a city.

It is tiny compared to cities like Tokyo or Osaka of course, but it is a convenient and relaxing city to live in.

The neurologist I will see tomorrow lived and studied neurology for like 15 years and attended Harvard. The staff mentioned that he can speak English really well, so looking forward to meeting him and finding out what the cause is.

I feel less alone in that you mentioned that you experience these symptoms and that they are common.

Are the chances that it is or isn't from a serious cause pretty much a 50/50 tyoe situation?

If you don't minf me asking, what was/were the causes of the symptoms you share with me?

*50/50 type of situation

Also, how often did or do you experience these symptoms?

This has happened to me a couple times within about a year. No idea if that is considered frequent or not.

If you don't minf me asking, what was/were the causes of the symptoms you share with me?

There would be no point in telling you that; it is 100% certain you don't have the same condition I do. If you did, it would certainly have been detected already.

I can't say about the practise in Japan, but every society has their culture which forms their medical approach too. Learnt the hard way from the past several medical conditions, I agreed with Firas that getting a second opinion is very important and do extensive check as much as possible. I believe in medical test such as MRI/X-Ray/CT Scan as it provided the second opinion from the radiologist to the diagnosis of the doctor. Request for it, or if possible, sign up for the test yourself and take the result with you.