For a time your primary care physician may double as your diabetes doctor and that is okay at first. Over time, however, you will probably need to see and endocrinologist, which is a specialist diabetes doctor. As your diabetes progresses you are likely to begin seeing a number of specialists. In fact, a lot of people end up having a healthcare team, which are specialist that work together to bring their patients to optimal health. Specialists that usually make up a person’s healthcare team are:
- Your primary care physician
- An endocrinologist
- An eye doctor
- A dietitian
- A dentist
- An exercise trainer
- A nurse educator
- A podiatrist
Diabetes Specialist Doctor
An endocrinologist is a doctor who is trained to treat and diagnose hormone imbalances. They take care of conditions such as:
- Diabetes
- Thyroid disease
- Metabolic disorders
- Hormonal imbalanced
- Menopause
- Osteoporosis
- Hypertension
- Cholesterol disorders
- Infertility
- Lack of growth
- Obesity
- Cancers of the endocrine glands
As you can see, they have the skills to help with many of the conditions which go along with diabetes, so many people choose an endocrinologist as their main diabetes doctor. If you feel like you want to have a specialist help you to handle your diabetes, you will probably have to get a referral from your doctor. If your physician feels that you are not at a point that you need a specialist, remember that you are in charge of your diabetes, not your doctor. According to dLife.com, you should remember that you are not firing you family doctor, but simply adding a professional to your healthcare team.
Best Diabetes Doctor
If you are looking to use an endocrinologist as your doctor for diabetes, it is usually as simple as asking you physician for a recommendation. You can also get a few names from your local hospital, or ask other people who have diabetes to recommend someone. dLife.com also has a diabetes locator that can help you see what endocrinologists are available in your area. There are other websites that help you to research a doctor of diabetes such as Wellness.com and Hormone.org. If you would like to look into them a little bit further some websites review, rate, and even compare doctors. RateMDS.com, Vitals.com, BookofDoctors.com, and HealthGrades.com are just a few examples. Researching in this way is a great way to find the professional who doctors diabetes best.
