“Your test results show that you have two different kinds of parasites,” the doctor told me during our FaceTime call. “One is relatively common, but the other is quite rate in this part of the country.” This wasn’t the best news, but I was happy to at least have a diagnosis and options for treatment. But how do you find a good doctor in Mexico if you don’t live there, and how do you find the right treatment?
Important note: If you’re going to react to my diagnosis with one of those “should have known better” faces, shut up and don’t be stupid. I’ve been traveling to Mexico since 1991 and have visited, perhaps, about 45 or 50 times since the turn of the 21st century, staying for as long as two and a half months at a time. And I’d never gotten parasites, ever (or anywhere else in the world, for that matter). So, considering how often I travel, the fact that it’s taken me about 30 years to finally find some little friends to move into my stomach means that I’m not particularly concerned about it happening again, and I don’t think of this as a common occurrence if you take normal precautions when traveling anywhere. I’ve suffered from more common stomach issues in Mexico, Austria, Colorado Springs and Ecuador, so you can’t generalize about any one destination.
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But what should you do if you do happen to get sick while traveling in Mexico? Whether it’s a business trip or a Mexico vacation, feeling under the weather is definitely not how you want to experience this wonderful nation.
First things first: if you have a serious injury or life-threatening condition that requires immediate attention, of course, you should move quickly and get to an emergency room or urgent care center. A COVID-19 diagnosis also requires a very specific and rapid response.
But there are lots of medical conditions and illnesses — like the one I had — that don’t require such immediate (and expensive) attention. My goal is to show you how to find a good doctor in Mexico for these less urgent situations, so that you can get the attention you need and feel better as quickly as possible. With a bit of research, it’s probably easier than you think.
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I had no clue that I had parasites. I experienced mild gastrointestinal issues that would come and go over the course of two or three weeks, but since I’d had stomach problems previously, I just assumed they’d pass. When they didn’t, I finally decided to seek treatment. Here are a few tips I learned from my recent experience about where to look for medical assistance for non-urgent conditions.
Check with the U.S. Embassy website. The United States Embassy and Consulates website maintains an extensive listing of doctors, hospitals, air medical evacuation services and land ambulances, including categories of doctors by specialty, although only in a few Mexican cities. The site also provides recommendations about insurance coverage and how to navigate the medical system, and notes which languages each doctor speaks, which can be a big help, especially for travelers who don’t speak Spanish. Checking this site can be a good first step when looking for non-emergency medical attention (although in my particular case, I wasn’t satisfied with the limited number of doctors or their inconvenient locations, so I kept looking elsewhere).
Consider an urgent care or pharmacy walk-in clinic. As in the United States, many pharmacies in Mexico now have walk-in clinics, and many don’t require an appointment. Farmacias del Ahorro is one such pharmacy chain — although, if possible, you may want to avoid the times when lines could be long due to COVID-19 testing services. Also note that you may not always find someone who speaks English in these clinics, so if you don’t speak Spanish that could be an issue — although in international tourism destinations and big city neighborhoods with large expat populations (like Condesa or Roma Norte in Mexico City, for example), finding someone who speaks English usually isn’t a problem.
Try other treatment options. I’m gay, and even though having ongoing stomach issues had nothing to do with my sexual orientation, I realize that it’s sometimes possible to get more attentive and specialized service through smaller clinics that focus on a limited range of clientele. I searched the internet and found a Mexico City LGBTQ health clinic — and while their main doctor was out of town for a week, they did suggest that I try another helpful resource to find an appropriate doctor (that LGBTQ clinic has since closed, unfortunately, but there is a website called Proud Clinic that lists LGBTQ-friendly medical specialists around Mexico)
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The LGBTQ clinic recommended that I use a general medical referral website called Doctoralia, which lists some 180,000 medical professionals around Mexico, with detailed information about specialties and different prices for both online and in-person medical appointments. I picked a doctor and — since I knew it wouldn’t be possible for them to check out my stomach right away in person — opted for a virtual appointment, which was easy to set up through a few clicks and was definitely easier than going to a doctor’s office.
The doctor first prescribed some medications (which were delivered straight to the door of my Airbnb rental in Mexico City by San Pablo Farmacia, which I’ve been told is the only pharmacy chain in the city that does delivery (a handy thing to know if you’re really not feeling well and don’t want to go out). The doctor was very good about following up via WhatsApp text messages, and when I still didn’t get better, she arranged for me to have tests done at Laboratorio Médico del Chopo, a laboratory chain (I was able to avoid the long COVID-19 lines there only because the lab staff advised me about the hours when they do those tests — so I recommend that you verify if there are certain hours to avoid too, if you need non-COVID tests).
Results were delivered faster than promised via email, after which I shared them with my doctor via WhatsApp and she immediately responded with new prescriptions. I printed out the form at a coworking space, ran to a pharmacy and started the new medication, which worked almost immediately.
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At no time during this treatment process did I need to go in to see the doctor; everything was done via FaceTime calls, WhatsApp message and emails, with the exception of the lab tests and the pharmacy run at the end. I paid via the Doctoralia website, and each of the two appointments cost less than $30, if I remember correctly.
Do you need health insurance or travel insurance in Mexico?
Well, my regular U.S.-based health insurance wouldn’t have covered anything, and I didn’t even bother checking about the travel insurance that I carry throughout the year. With prices this economical and service this efficient, it wasn’t worth the hassle of trying to determine if anything would be covered. In general, I’ve found Mexico’s health and dental system to be efficient and reasonably priced (at least for those who can benefit from favorable exchange rates with dollars).
Cover Photo credit: hang_in_there on Visualhunt
I’m a travel writer, travel blogger and Mexico travel specialist, and I love sharing travel tips to make your next vacation or business trip better. Please feel free to share your comments, experiences and questions about Mexico travel and Latin America travel and vacations!
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