A night in the tropicals

In a recent column, I considered the different meanings some words we use every day can have when patients use them. The word I discussed was “biopsy.” There are, of course, many other words our patients use, or at least pronounce, differently than we do.

Many middle-aged men, for instance, have troubles with their prostrate.

Patients of both genders may be quite outgoing in general, but the cells in their skin cancers are squeamish.

And lots of people ask me to take a look at their molds. Or remove them. Or they write as a reason for “Why are you seeing the doctor today?” the answer “Check molds.”

Or sometimes patients tell me that the medicine I prescribed for their eczema not only hadn’t helped, but had exasperated things. (This works both ways. The other day a friend complained that his kids were really exacerbating him. As a parent, I can relate.)

And then there was Jim, who came in last month. “Dr. Skirball sent me over to have you look at this rash,” he said. “He wants you to do an autopsy.”

Well, Dr. Skirball was just going to have to wait, wasn’t he?

But then I saw Emma, who presented me with a linguistic insight I never heard before. Even after many years, patients can surprise you.

Emma is 17. She has acne. One glance showed that after 2 months of treatment, Emma wasn’t getting any better.

“Is the cream irritating you at all?” I asked.

“No,” she said. “I’m not using it, Doctor.”

OK, I thought. That happens often enough. I needed to find out why, though. Maybe I could convince her to try it after all.

“How come you didn’t use it?” I asked.

“I read the instructions that came with it,” Emma said, brightly. “And I followed them!”

“That’s great,” I said. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I read the small print at the end, and I saw that there was a warning: ‘Only for tropical use.’ ”

“What?”

“It said it was just for tropical use. And just around then it got kind of chilly, so I decided not to take a chance.”

I’ve seen plenty of people who read a label warning that says, “Avoid excessive sun exposure,” (whatever that means) and think they should stop the medicine every time the sun comes out. In fact, I always tell patients up front to ignore that warning, to follow routine sun precautions when relevant, and take the medicine.

And I’ve also heard plenty of people pronounce topical treatment, “tropical treatment.” Or refer to the branded version of desoximetasone as “Tropicort.”

But never, ever, had I met someone who not only mispronounced “topical” as “tropical,” but understood it as “of or pertaining to the tropics.” And then didn’t use the product, because they live in the temperate zone.

Besides, it’s late fall in Boston. What was Emma planning to do? Wait till next spring? Move to the Cayman Islands?

While we’re at it, why don’t many patients bother calling to tell us that the reason they’ve decided to stop using something we prescribed? But that’s another story.

“Emma,” I explained. “It’s not ‘tropical use.’ It’s ‘topical use.’ That just means you use it externally. On top of the skin.”

“Oh, I get it,” Emma said.

As I said, patients never cease to amaze. The weather’s gotten even chillier around here, but now that Emma will use the cream, we’ll see how she does. If she goes to Mexico for winter break, she’ll do even better.

Where is global warming when you need it?

Dr. Rockoff practices dermatology in Brookline, Mass., and is a longtime contributor to Dermatology News. He serves on the clinical faculty at Tufts University, Boston, and has taught senior medical students and other trainees for 30 years.

In a recent column, I considered the different meanings some words we use every day can have when patients use them. The word I discussed was “biopsy.” There are, of course, many other words our patients use, or at least pronounce, differently than we do.

Many middle-aged men, for instance, have troubles with their prostrate.

Patients of both genders may be quite outgoing in general, but the cells in their skin cancers are squeamish.

And lots of people ask me to take a look at their molds. Or remove them. Or they write as a reason for “Why are you seeing the doctor today?” the answer “Check molds.”

Or sometimes patients tell me that the medicine I prescribed for their eczema not only hadn’t helped, but had exasperated things. (This works both ways. The other day a friend complained that his kids were really exacerbating him. As a parent, I can relate.)

And then there was Jim, who came in last month. “Dr. Skirball sent me over to have you look at this rash,” he said. “He wants you to do an autopsy.”

Well, Dr. Skirball was just going to have to wait, wasn’t he?

But then I saw Emma, who presented me with a linguistic insight I never heard before. Even after many years, patients can surprise you.

Emma is 17. She has acne. One glance showed that after 2 months of treatment, Emma wasn’t getting any better.

“Is the cream irritating you at all?” I asked.

“No,” she said. “I’m not using it, Doctor.”

OK, I thought. That happens often enough. I needed to find out why, though. Maybe I could convince her to try it after all.

“How come you didn’t use it?” I asked.

“I read the instructions that came with it,” Emma said, brightly. “And I followed them!”

“That’s great,” I said. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I read the small print at the end, and I saw that there was a warning: ‘Only for tropical use.’ ”

“What?”

“It said it was just for tropical use. And just around then it got kind of chilly, so I decided not to take a chance.”

I’ve seen plenty of people who read a label warning that says, “Avoid excessive sun exposure,” (whatever that means) and think they should stop the medicine every time the sun comes out. In fact, I always tell patients up front to ignore that warning, to follow routine sun precautions when relevant, and take the medicine.

And I’ve also heard plenty of people pronounce topical treatment, “tropical treatment.” Or refer to the branded version of desoximetasone as “Tropicort.”

But never, ever, had I met someone who not only mispronounced “topical” as “tropical,” but understood it as “of or pertaining to the tropics.” And then didn’t use the product, because they live in the temperate zone.

Besides, it’s late fall in Boston. What was Emma planning to do? Wait till next spring? Move to the Cayman Islands?

While we’re at it, why don’t many patients bother calling to tell us that the reason they’ve decided to stop using something we prescribed? But that’s another story.

“Emma,” I explained. “It’s not ‘tropical use.’ It’s ‘topical use.’ That just means you use it externally. On top of the skin.”

“Oh, I get it,” Emma said.

As I said, patients never cease to amaze. The weather’s gotten even chillier around here, but now that Emma will use the cream, we’ll see how she does. If she goes to Mexico for winter break, she’ll do even better.

Where is global warming when you need it?

Dr. Rockoff practices dermatology in Brookline, Mass., and is a longtime contributor to Dermatology News. He serves on the clinical faculty at Tufts University, Boston, and has taught senior medical students and other trainees for 30 years.

In a recent column, I considered the different meanings some words we use every day can have when patients use them. The word I discussed was “biopsy.” There are, of course, many other words our patients use, or at least pronounce, differently than we do.

Many middle-aged men, for instance, have troubles with their prostrate.

Patients of both genders may be quite outgoing in general, but the cells in their skin cancers are squeamish.

And lots of people ask me to take a look at their molds. Or remove them. Or they write as a reason for “Why are you seeing the doctor today?” the answer “Check molds.”

Or sometimes patients tell me that the medicine I prescribed for their eczema not only hadn’t helped, but had exasperated things. (This works both ways. The other day a friend complained that his kids were really exacerbating him. As a parent, I can relate.)

And then there was Jim, who came in last month. “Dr. Skirball sent me over to have you look at this rash,” he said. “He wants you to do an autopsy.”

Well, Dr. Skirball was just going to have to wait, wasn’t he?

But then I saw Emma, who presented me with a linguistic insight I never heard before. Even after many years, patients can surprise you.

Emma is 17. She has acne. One glance showed that after 2 months of treatment, Emma wasn’t getting any better.

“Is the cream irritating you at all?” I asked.

“No,” she said. “I’m not using it, Doctor.”

OK, I thought. That happens often enough. I needed to find out why, though. Maybe I could convince her to try it after all.

“How come you didn’t use it?” I asked.

“I read the instructions that came with it,” Emma said, brightly. “And I followed them!”

“That’s great,” I said. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I read the small print at the end, and I saw that there was a warning: ‘Only for tropical use.’ ”

“What?”

“It said it was just for tropical use. And just around then it got kind of chilly, so I decided not to take a chance.”

I’ve seen plenty of people who read a label warning that says, “Avoid excessive sun exposure,” (whatever that means) and think they should stop the medicine every time the sun comes out. In fact, I always tell patients up front to ignore that warning, to follow routine sun precautions when relevant, and take the medicine.

And I’ve also heard plenty of people pronounce topical treatment, “tropical treatment.” Or refer to the branded version of desoximetasone as “Tropicort.”

But never, ever, had I met someone who not only mispronounced “topical” as “tropical,” but understood it as “of or pertaining to the tropics.” And then didn’t use the product, because they live in the temperate zone.

Besides, it’s late fall in Boston. What was Emma planning to do? Wait till next spring? Move to the Cayman Islands?

While we’re at it, why don’t many patients bother calling to tell us that the reason they’ve decided to stop using something we prescribed? But that’s another story.

“Emma,” I explained. “It’s not ‘tropical use.’ It’s ‘topical use.’ That just means you use it externally. On top of the skin.”

“Oh, I get it,” Emma said.

As I said, patients never cease to amaze. The weather’s gotten even chillier around here, but now that Emma will use the cream, we’ll see how she does. If she goes to Mexico for winter break, she’ll do even better.

Where is global warming when you need it?

Dr. Rockoff practices dermatology in Brookline, Mass., and is a longtime contributor to Dermatology News. He serves on the clinical faculty at Tufts University, Boston, and has taught senior medical students and other trainees for 30 years.