Not all of us can enjoy the benefits of medical aid and health care. There are countries where you will not even receive emergency treatment at a hospital if you have no medical cover. So, people start looking for ways and means to help themselves, consulting free on-line doctors and seeking advice from others who have similar problems. Have you ever asked anyone on the internet about some worrisome symptoms you were experiencing?
I try to stay away from Dr. Google as it can sometimes lead you to believe that you are dying when what's really wrong is that you have a cold. My online advice asking extends about as far as posting a status on Facebook asking if anyone knows of remedies. Otherwise I go to the doctor. I will admit that after I know what's wrong, I will Google to see if there's anything my doctor left out. Ways to treat, what to expect, etc etc.
I sometimes look up stuff online. Fine I know that most of the advice I'll get online won't be helpful that much but for the sake of trying to find out ways to deal with non-life threatening issues like depression, insomnia, etc, I'd rather post questions online and if after using the suggestions given to get improvements but see no change, I simply move on to the next place and post the same question.
Yep, pretty much like Denis says, sometimes I look up online for diseases or symptoms I have just to have an idea of what's going on. One thing is to look online for information, other thing would be to act on a relatively serious disease based on that, I would not do it. If it's something simple why not though, why bother going to the doctor?
Most people who look up their symptoms don't have the first clue how to research them or don't know that they should. I do look everything up, but I also know where and how to get the right information and I take full advantage of that. I also know how to read these things and how to put the puzzle together. I don't jump on the first thing I see works for others either. It may be helpful to get advice from others who have similar issues, but it's quite dangerous to jump all over whatever they do to help themselves merely because it helped. We're all extremely different inside and what works for one, will not work for the other most times. You have to research the crap out of everything and most people don't do that, even when they think they are. I don't trust doctors for the most part, but I do suggest doctors to those who don't have the time or knowledge to do the digging themselves. Plus, a doctor is a very good help to at least figure out what's wrong. For the most part, I get their opinion and go off on my own from there. Once it's serious, I'll reconsider, but the trust still won't be there lol.
I try not to sometimes because I tend to be a hypochondriac but it's often better than a doctor. A doctor just wants easy money so they'll prescribe medicine for anything and everything instead of looking for alternative ways. You just have to take what you read with a grain of salt and try something that is suggested only if it makes sense to you. Most of the time what can't help you won't hurt.
Yes, all the time, I think it's easier to Google your symptoms than to go all the way to a doctor, wait for hours and then get a prescription for a few painkillers. looking my symptoms up online lets me know if what I'm experiencing is not a big deal and can be taken care of at home or if it's something that might require immediate medical attention. Obviously, you need to exercise some caution when doing this, not everything on the internet is reliable and some cross checking may be required.
We all know the routine, you feel a bit under the weather and you quickly fire up Google, type in your symptoms and hit search. You quickly scan the search results, open a couple of webpages and within minutes you come up with several illness possibilities, some highly unlikely. The most common illness? Cancer. Any symptom that you type, a possible diagnosis is cancer. Online self-diagnosis is extremely unreliable. Any doctor you speak to will strongly advise against self-diagnosis via Google, Yahoo Answers and similar sites. The safer approach is to make your way to your local clinic and get yourself examined by a licensed medical practitioner.
That's funny, because in the not so clear cut cases, your diagnoses totally depends on the doctor you see. You're just as likely to find your answer yourself as from a doctor it seems. I'm seeing a serious lack of proper care. Fine and dandy if you've got a sore throat or the sniffles or something. Something easy to diagnose, but most illnesses share symptoms with several other illnesses and doctors aren't doing their detective work.. just guessing and throwing prescriptions at you. Definitely go see a doctor, but if you can't get a second opinion, use your critical thinking and don't take their drugs unless you look into them first. Doctors don't just have your best interest at heart. Treating is not healing.
Generally only for things such as cuts, scrapes, bruises or burns, anything else I avoid the internet like the plague. Way too much info out there that could send someone into a frenzy, something that is complicated I will leave to the professionals.
I have looked online before when I've had medical issues. I don't have medical insurance (lost it along with my full-time job last month), so I can't really just walk into any doctor's office when I have a problem. I like using natural healing techniques for anything I'm experiencing [on a minor level]. I like to look up my symptoms and then research what mixture of herbs and foods might help me. It may sounds like a stupid idea when it comes to serious issues, but this only applies for things like stomach aches, cramps, etc.
Yes like I say they just want money. They will treat your symptoms but usually not cure you. If they were to cure you of everything they could, then they'd lose out on a lot of profit. Even if you were on an insurance that fully covers you, they still lose out on money because the insurance is not going to pay them money if you're no longer visiting.
Yes - I am a big fan ofLog In. This site (to me) offers the best FREE medical advice. Details on conditions are complete. Also, you can find solid advice on cures or treatment. Lastly, the information is easy to understand. There's not so much medical jargon that what you read sounds like a foreign language.
Nothing can replace seeing a doctor to be able to get diagnosed correctly, but I also research the signs and symptoms of an illness first to see if what I feel is an omen of more worse things to come or it's just a simple bodily discomfort that I should not worry about, like the recent lump that I got on my leg underneath my bruise, it turns out that it's nothing serious. So I think these online medical sites are a big help to humanity.
