Family Medicine Physician in Portsmouth, Newington NH

Finding a good family practice doctor takes patience, but it also takes time on your behalf to ask the right questions and see if the doctor is a good fit for you and your family.

Start off by searching for family medicine doctors that are accepting new patients. You can do this by asking your family, friends or even colleagues if they know of any great family medicine doctors near you that are accepting new patients. You may be shocked to hear their experiences and learn a few tips and tricks on how to find a good family practice doctor.

If you do not find any good information for a clinic or doctor, you can do a simple google search, using keywords like “family medicine doctor” or “primary care doctor” as well as “accepting new patients” or “near me” this will open up more doors for you to investigate and read into before calling up a few clinics to ask questions and eventually book your consultation appointment with a doctor at the clinic.

Make sure to bring questions with you that you feel will help you make the best decision when choosing a new family doctor. A few good questions would be about their schedule, is it easy to book with them, do you have a certain time frame when visiting to get what you want to talk about done or can you bring up a few things you are worried about.

The similarities between the two may shock you, as internal medicine and family practice doctors both fall under the same primary care category, as they both practice in the same field and offer similar services; however, that is about as far as it goes in similarities.

The main difference and will eventually be the reason you go with one and not the other is that internal medicine doctors only care for adults. They do not have any specialty other than on adult health and wellness, so you cannot take children to see an internal medicine doctor, as that is not their speciality, or what they focus on. If you want a doctor that can care for you and your young family members, it is best to go to a family practice with family medicine doctors available.

Family medicine physicians care for people of all ages. They are generalists in their field of study, and treat many chronic conditions, diagnose symptoms, and offer preventative care to their patients as well as providing referrals if needed to see a specialist.

Family medicine physicians normally work in private office settings or with a group of other family medicine physicians. Family physicians provide a wide range of medical care services including:

• Routine checkups like well-child (from infancy to 18 y/o)
• Health risk assessments
• Immunizations
• Physicals
• Screenings
• Healthy lifestyle counseling
• Treatment of common chronic conditions and management
• Referrals to medical specialists
• Treatment for illnesses and injuries

Many wonders when they should go to the doctor, often they stay home thinking they do not need medical care, or they do not want to burden their doctor for something they think is minimal. However, family medicine doctors are trained and at the availability to the public to help with illnesses or problems they may be dealing with. If you are unsure what to do, it is best to call your doctor and make an appointment.

A few common things you should be making an appointment for include:

• Cold and Flu Symptoms
• Painful swallowing
• Earache
• Cough that lasts more than 2-3 weeks
• Persistent or severe vomiting
• Fever that does not lower or go away
• Symptoms that last more than 10 days or become worse

• Diarrhea
• Lasting more than 3 days
• Looks black, and tar like
• Notice blood in your stool
• Severe abdominal cramping or pain
• Signs of dehydration

• Headache
• More often and more severe than normal
• Get worse or over-the-counter meds do not help
• You cannot work, sleep or even participate in activities due to your headache

• Digestive issues
• Feel like something is stuck in your throat or chest
• Heartburn that does not go away, becomes worse
• Difficulty swallowing or painful to swallow
• Voice becomes hoarse
• Sore throat doesn’t go away
• Nausea that doesn’t go away
• Blood or green bile in your vomit
• Severe or persistent abdominal cramping or pain
• Constipation or diarrhea that will not stop
• Stools that look black or have blood in them

• Back pain
• Constant
• Spreads from the back to down one or both legs
• Weakness, numbness, and/or tingling in one or both legs
• Unexplained weight loss
• Swelling in the back
• Redness in the back
• Fever

• Head injury
• Dizzy
• Nausea and vomiting
• Confusion
• Concentration issues
• Memory issues
• Feeling slow
• Sensitive to light and noises
• Sleep issues
• Moody

• Menstrual issues
• Period becomes irregular
• Extreme feelings of high and lows
• Excessive fear, anxiety, and/or worry
• Changes in your sleeping and eating patterns
• Can’t cope with daily issues
• Substance abuse
• Suicidal thoughts

• Other symptoms
• Extreme dizziness or feeling like you may faint
• Shortness of breath
• Rapid heartbeat
• Unexplained weight loss
• Extreme fatigue
• Sweating extremely
• Cold sweats
• Swelling in your ankles and legs
• Rash
• Fever
• New or growing mole or other skin concern

Contact our clinic today for a consultation appointment. We serve patients from Portsmouth NH, Newington NH, Durham NH, Madbury NH, Dover NH, Greenland NH, Stratham NH, and Newfields NH.