Medical help in Japan

Neurokun · 7 Jun 2007

So I:m here in Osaka (as evidenced by my awkward use of keyboard characters, as that:s where they are on Japanese keyboards), and as of June 2nd, I have contracted strep throat somehow. I:m fairly certain it is indeed strep, as the redness and the white spots both exist, not to mention the suddeness with which it came, as well as the lack of other cold-like symptoms.

The problem is, I came as a student and had insurance. That is, until it expired. Great timing.

So now I have strep, so I should be taking antibiotics to ward off further complications, but I don:t have insurance to visit a doctor. Would it be a large expense to visit a doctor to get some antibiotics? If it:s going to be quite a lot of money, the problem is, I:m very short on that at the moment, as my apartment unexpectedly required a 2 month deposit. I hear strep goes away by itself after a while, though there is a risk of some rather unpleasant consequences, as well as the fact that, left untreated, I would still be contagious for a few weeks (not exactly great for a social life). Short of medical help, any words of advice from those who have left strep untreated?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Mike Cash · 7 Jun 2007

Is there some reason you have not signed up for the government insurance scheme? Depending on your status here, it is mandatory, you know. In fact, legally you can't not be signed up for it. They even consider folks who aren't on it to technically be on it, and will hit you up for back premiums when you finally do get around to it. The good flip side of that is that they will also retroactively cover treatment.

All that aside, though, medical treatment is very affordable here. I've had times when I actually chuckled at getting a bill for less than the amount of buying a soda. The sensible (and socially responsible) thing to do is to take your butt to get treated and worry about the bill later. It isn't as though they hold you hostage in the hospital broom closet until you pay it. They'll even let you come in and pay a bit at a time, if you're too seriously strapped for cash.

PS: the apostrophe is above the 7.

Davey · 7 Jun 2007

I went to the doctor a couple of months ago without an insurance and needed to pay a total of 4000 yen for the small check, antibiotics and some other small pills. I had bronchitis, though.

Neurokun · 7 Jun 2007

Mike Cash said:
Is there some reason you have not signed up for the government insurance scheme? Depending on your status here, it is mandatory, you know. In fact, legally you can't not be signed up for it. They even consider folks who aren't on it to technically be on it, and will hit you up for back premiums when you finally do get around to it. The good flip side of that is that they will also retroactively cover treatment.

All that aside, though, medical treatment is very affordable here. I've had times when I actually chuckled at getting a bill for less than the amount of buying a soda. The sensible (and socially responsible) thing to do is to take your butt to get treated and worry about the bill later. It isn't as though they hold you hostage in the hospital broom closet until you pay it. They'll even let you come in and pay a bit at a time, if you're too seriously strapped for cash.

PS: the apostrophe is above the 7.

I came as a student at Kansai Gaidai last August (and continued to study through spring, with a visa good until this coming August), and as far as I know, they only asked that we have our own insurance coverage from home. I don't recall any Japanese insurance-related forms, nor was there any sort of premium we were asked to pay.

Thanks for the pointer on the apostrophe.

Thanks Dutch, as well, as that tells me it probably won't be too terribly expensive. I really don't need more than antibiotics, so it should be similar.

Any advice on where to go? It's not really an emergency, so hospital seems like an overreaction. Specialized doctor, general place? One in Osaka that speaks English? Sorry, I'm not exactly well-versed in this, so if I seem a bit helpless, well, that's because it's kind of how I feel. I guess I could always take a run back out to Hirakata and ask the school if there's a place they recommend.

Ewok85 · 7 Jun 2007

Anywhere near you with "Clinic" in the title would be fine, thats just like a GP's office.

pipokun · 7 Jun 2007

If you were not super rich student, the premium is something like 1000-2000 yen/month (the minimum one) for the first year.

I don't know if you just need the medical insulance till August, so it may be an idea to do cost-benefit analysis after you go to the city hall nearby tommorow morning, the NHI scheme or not.

aokami · 7 Jun 2007

I would definitly look into what the other posters are saying about seeking affordable treatment and registering in the health programs.. untreated strep can get nasty and lead to a myriad of complications, not least of which being heart problems. It may not, but you will totally kick yourself for not being cautious if it does complicate. Good luck, and hope you feel better soon!

Ewok85 · 7 Jun 2007

Well National Health Insurance (国民健康保険 - NHI for short) premiums can be back dated a maximum of 2 years, so if he has been here a year he would be looking at around 25,000'ish in premiums, which can be paid back whenever you wish, or he can just go to a doctor and pay in full (which would be around 4000 yen as written elsewhere).

The right thing to do would be get NHI. The cheap thing to do would be to not get NHI. Seriously though, you should have had it from the start.

mr.sumo.snr · 7 Jun 2007

Neurokun said:
Any advice on where to go? It's not really an emergency, so hospital seems like an overreaction. Specialized doctor, general place? One in Osaka that speaks English? Sorry, I'm not exactly well-versed in this, so if I seem a bit helpless, well, that's because it's kind of how I feel. I guess I could always take a run back out to Hirakata and ask the school if there's a place they recommend.

You go where you can get treatment - if the nearest and easiest place to find is a large municipal hospital then that's where you go. Don't think of the hospitals as just places for the critically ill or for serious medical emergencies - it doesn't work that way here.

That said, you'll generally get faster treatment at a private clinic - but will spend more time having to explain your lack of medical insurance. The large hospitals will usually have someone who speaks English and will certainly have treated people without medical insurance - the small clinics will fuss a lot more - I dunno, I guess it's a toss up.

Hope you get better soon.

--

Pachipro · 7 Jun 2007

I concur with the other posters in that you should seek treatment immediately as, in my own case a couple of weeks ago while visiting Japan, I had an emergency, had no insurance and my cost was a little over 4,500 yen. I'm sure your case would not be more than that and that you could afford it. To steal a quote, "Get thee to a clinic!"

Mike Cash · 8 Jun 2007

Ewok85 said:
Anywhere near you with "Clinic" in the title would be fine, thats just like a GP's office.

Actually.....no.

There's no such thing as a General Practitioner in Japan. Every doctor is a specialist. He would do best, I suspect, at a 窶愿?窶ｰﾃ (internal medicine).

KirinMan · 8 Jun 2007

Mike Cash said:
Actually.....no.
There's no such thing as a General Practitioner in Japan. Every doctor is a specialist. He would do best, I suspect, at a 内科 (internal medicine).

Mike is correct that there is no such thing as a GP per say.

However for strep throat or any symptoms similar you dont need an internal med doctor for strep throat, if you have throat, ears, or nose problems you would be better off seeing an ENT (Ear/Nose/Throat) specialist or "Jibika" 耳鼻科.

The internal med doc may just send you to an ENT anyway, better off going to the ENT first.

Jibika Hospitals and Clinics

That link is to a web page that has a very large list of 耳鼻咽喉科じびいんこうか,耳鼻科じびいか hospitals/clinics in Osaka. Sorry that link is in Japanese only.

Here is a link to a medical services site in Kansai that may be able to direct you to the doctor that you need.

TELEPHONE CONSULTATION for Medical Services
Center Kansai TEL : 06-4395-0555

English, Spanish Monday - Friday 9:00 - 17:00
Portuguese Monday 10:30 - 14:30
Chinese Tuesday - Friday 9:00 - 17:00

Hope you feel better.

Neurokun · 8 Jun 2007

There's a jibika in the very same building as this manga kissa, so I might start there and see if they complain about the insurance. Just in case it unexpectedly is more expensive, I'm getting a small loan from a friend of mine. I literally have less than 10,000 at the moment. I was serious when I said I didn't have money.

"The right thing to do would be get NHI. The cheap thing to do would be to not get NHI. Seriously though, you should have had it from the start."

Tell that to Kansai Gaidai. I wasn't responsible for setting that up, nor was I told to. If I DO have it, they never told me anything about it.

Ewok85 · 8 Jun 2007

Mike Cash said:
Actually.....no.
There's no such thing as a General Practitioner in Japan. Every doctor is a specialist. He would do best, I suspect, at a 窶愿?窶ｰﾃ (internal medicine).

True, but worst case he would be directed to go somewhere else.

Mike Cash · 8 Jun 2007

Ewok85 said:
True, but worst case he would be directed to go somewhere else.

Quite right. Quite right.

When one is in doubt, it is a good idea to just to to a large municipal/public hospital since they generally have just about every specialty one could expect to need. Just give some indication of the nature of the problem at the information desk and some nice person will see that one gets to the right place.

nice gaijin · 8 Jun 2007

I just talked to a medical professional (midwife) and she told me that the average copay is about 3%...

I'm still looking for my jaw.

Neurokun · 8 Jun 2007

Well, that was useful.

By useful, I mean completely worthless. First, I went to a hospital, only to find that reception was already closed (it was about 4). Ok, there was a jibika clinic a little way back. I go in, fill out the form. They didn't make a big fuss about insurance. I go back into the room with the doctor, and he takes a look.

"It's really red, isn't it? Well, it looks like it's doing fine. Have you had a fever?"

"Well, it's been hot the past few days, so I'm not really sure." He didn't bother to check either. I voice my concerns about infecting others.

"No, it's fine." I push a little further. He writes down "tonsillitis" in English on a piece of paper. He writes down "common cold" and says it would only spread if it was that. Fine, well strep is a form of tonsillitis, too. I push about that. "If it was strep, you won't infect anyone." Hmmm. Well, he then rubbed something on my tonsil area, had me inhale from a humidifier for 5 minutes, told me to come back next week if I have any problems, and I left with 3,600 less yen than I started with. This only served to remind me how worthless I think doctors really are.

Absolutely. Worthless.

Hey, can't say I didn't try, anyway.

Mike Cash · 8 Jun 2007

You remind me of my aunt. She always knew more about what was wrong with her than any doctor, railed against them for misdiagnosing her, generally refused to let them treat her (since their diagnosis was wrong anyway, doncha see)...and is currently a total physical wreck.

KirinMan · 8 Jun 2007

nice gaijin said:
I just talked to a medical professional (midwife) and she told me that the average copay is about 3%...
I'm still looking for my jaw.

Umm did she happen to say "san wari" which means 30% and not 3% btw.

ﾋ?ｪﾅ?窶楪 is 10% 窶愿ｱﾅ?窶楪 is 20% and so on and so forth...I'll bet she said the copay was ﾅｽOﾅ?窶 am I right?

Mikawa Ossan · 8 Jun 2007

If you don't like the answer you got, you can always get a second opinion, of course.

KirinMan · 8 Jun 2007

Mikawa Ossan said:
If you don't like the answer you got, you can always get a second opinion, of course.

I agree with Mikawa-san and btw Mike as well; I dont want you to take this wrong but how can you be sure that you have strep throat?

He writes down "tonsillitis" in English on a piece of paper. He writes down "common cold" and says it would only spread if it was that.

The more you learn Japanese you will understand the word or phrase "kaze" which is a catch all phrase for a number of ailments.

I take it he gave you some medication as well right? If he did, I'll also bet that included with them was the anti-biotics that you were looking for in the first place. Remember to take them until they are finished, probably 3 to 5 days worth. Once you start on the regimine of taking the medication, even if you have strep throat, you will not be contagious after 1 to 3 days.

Also can you be sure you DONT have tonsillitis? Did you ever stop and think that MAYBE he knew what he was looking at when he checked your throat?

Are you aware of the differences in symptoms between strep throat and tonsillitis?

Does your throat pain not improve or lessen after drinking a sip of water?
Do you have any of the following symptoms as well, headache, high fever, stomach ache, vomiting, or severe tiredness?
Do you have any signs of a rash anywhere on your body?

If you have these symptoms you MAY have strep throat.

Or do these sound more like your symptoms;

Pain in the throat (sometimes severe) that may last more than 48 hours and be associated with difficulty in swallowing. The pain may spread to the ears.

The throat is reddened, the tonsils are swollen and may be coated or have white spots on them.

Possibly a high temperature.

Swollen lymph glands under the jaw and in the neck.

Headache.

Loss of voice or changes in the voice.

Only you know and like Mikawa san wrote you can always get another opinion. Why not just take the medication that the doctor gave you and let things go for a few days. Chances are you are going to get better and in the end it will be a learning experience for you.

nice gaijin · 8 Jun 2007

She said 3 percent. In English.

30% makes a helluva lot more sense though. It's very likely she simply misused the phrase.

KirinMan · 9 Jun 2007

nice gaijin said:
She said 3 percent. In English.
30% makes a helluva lot more sense though. It's very likely she simply misused the phrase.

btw my jaw would have dropped too, maybe next time I would try and get her to pay the additional 27%

Mike Cash · 9 Jun 2007

nice gaijin said:
She said 3 percent. In English.

30% makes a helluva lot more sense though. It's very likely she simply misused the phrase.

It is not only very likely; it is an absolute certainty.

citygirl07 · 9 Jun 2007

antibiotics needed to treat strep throat

crdts:drugs.com

Strep throat is from bacteria forming in your throat... In order to treat strep throat, antibiotics is needed.
Ex: Benadryl for allergy...
Take 2 over the counter, don't drive drowsy, stay at home for at least one day until you are well.
Hope that helped!
Doo itashi mashi te.
Ja, mata!

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