When you go to the doctor’s office, you’ll likely have to wait for the doctor’s arrival in the medical examination room. Sitting on the examination table while waiting has become the norm for many. But one woman’s viral TikTok is calling this common practice into question.
In her video, TikTok user Tracy (@itsmetracy83) sits in the doctor’s medical examination room and looks around. “It’s taking me 36 years to realize it’s not mandatory to wait on the [doctor’s] table whilst at the doctors. Who knew,” she states in the text overlay.
“I wish I was kidding,” she added in the caption.
To sit in the chair? Or on the table?
Tracy’s video accumulated 96,000 views. Viewers shared where they wait while in the room.
“I never get onto the table until they ask me [to],” one viewer shared.
“At some lot of my appts, I never even get on the table at all,” another added.
Others shares what ages they were when they found out it wasn’t mandatory to hop on the table.
“I learned at 32 so not much better. I learned by my new doctor walking in and saying ‘Oh, first time I’ve had anyone waiting on the table,’” another recalled.
“At 28 my new dr. This summer said take a seat ‘in the [chair]’ & I was like [‘Oh okay no table ?’” and another shared.
The question of where to sit has been posed by other people online in the past.
On Reddit, one user asked, “Every time I enter a medical exam room, I wonder if I’m supposed to sit up on the bed thing or in one of the chairs by the door. Is the bed only for kids or when you need to lie down? Or are you always supposed to sit up there?”
The most upvoted response encouraged the Redditor to sit in the chair.
@itsmetracy83 I wish I was kidding. #doctorsoffice #whoknew #nowyouknow #fypwednesday #fyp #doctorsoftiktok ♬ Just A Girl – No Doubt
So, where should you sit?
Normally, there are chairs in the room, and patients can sit in them while they wait. But doctors will likely not say anything if you prefer to wait on the examination table.
However, it does seem to matter where you sit in the examination room. According to the American Heart Association, you run the risk of being misdiagnosed as having high blood pressure if you sit on the examination table while getting your blood pressure taken.
One doctor also shared on RheumNow that the “correct place” to sit is in the chair closest to the doctor’s desk and computer. However, most of his patients, he shared, opt for the chair furthest away from his desk.
The Daily Dot reached out to Tracy via TikTok comment and direct message.
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