So You Googled Your Symptoms

You know you shouldn’t consult Dr. Google when you really need a real doctor, but you’re here because you did. You’ve had a headache and now you’re half sure it’s a brain tumor and you’ve lost your mind. Sit down. Take a deep breath. Everything will be fine. Let’s talk.

Why search results may not match what’s going on inside your body

Our bodies are messy and complex, and there is not always a direct link between symptom and disease. If you have a device that is flashing orange, you can look at the manual and find out exactly what this means. The human body is not so simple.

This means that searching Google for a symptom or even a medical test result can lead you down rabbit holes that have nothing to do with what is actually going on in your body. For example, fever and nausea are not characteristic of one specific disease. They are part of an inflammatory response that your body can activate to deal with problems ranging from a cold or period to cancer or a deadly infectious disease.

Even if you have something fairly minor, you can quickly see the symptoms of a serious illness and learn many things that seem familiar. However, the opposite can also happen when you overlook something serious because the search results make you think it doesn’t mean anything.

There is another reason why search can mislead us: search results pages are not meant to be diagnostic. Things that people search more on Google, or that might be more engaging or readable, or that make money from sponsored results, are more likely to appear at the top of the results.

The results are also biased towards what people most want to write about online. I remember looking up information about foot pain I had while running and kept getting results on plantar fasciitis. This condition is common, moderately severe if you run, and has some characteristic symptoms that people who write for running magazines can easily describe. By the time I got a real doctor to examine my leg, it turned out that something completely different was happening to me – irritation of one of the lesser known tendons in my leg. There are not many search results on this.

Stop googling if you’re looking for certainty

When you find yourself addicted to googling symptoms, stop and ask yourself why you’re doing it. Most of the time we google because we want some certainty. We just got our test results and we want to know what they mean, or we’re worried that we might have a specific injury and we want to know for sure.

The problem is that Dr. Google can’t tell us what’s going on in our bodies. He can only suggest possibilities and give us information about these possibilities. Once you realize you’re looking for an answer and not background information, it’s time to change tactics.

In other words: call the fucking doctor . Go to emergency room. Make an appointment for telemedicine. Send a message to MyChart. Whatever the most direct way to get an answer to your question, do it. If you are still not sure if your symptoms require a visit to the doctor, find out if your health plan has a nurse line that answers these calls; many do. If not, telehealth appointments tend to be quick, not too expensive, and they’ll happily send you to the emergency room if they think that’s where you need to be.

Keep Googling If You Want to Plan for the Worst

Google isn’t that bad. If you’ve already been to the doctor and are waiting for test results or a follow-up visit, you can start reading about possible diagnoses and what happens if one of them is confirmed.

For example, when I was waiting to find out if my dog ​​had cancer (she did), I read about what you even do when your dog has cancer. What treatments are usually offered? What decisions can I make? What are the survival rates? I was able to read all this information without the emotional burden of knowing the diagnosis; it was just an opportunity. And by the time I got the official word from the vet, I wasn’t shocked to hear it and I knew what questions to ask as we planned our next steps.

If you go down this path, remember to keep an open mind about the possibilities. Your diagnosis can always turn out to be something you haven’t read about at all. But if you have a certain possibility in mind, keep reading.

How to Google Your Symptoms Responsibly

Once you accept that your Google search can only provide you with background information and not certainty, you will be better equipped to decide if you want to keep clicking.

If you do, be sure to look for legitimate medical sources. Many of the best places to read about medical conditions are organizations dedicated to them, especially those with lots of reading material and resources for patients. For example, the American Academy of Pediatrics has a website called healthchildren.org , which is great for learning about children’s health issues. The National Cancer Institute has a ton of great information about cancer and cancer treatment. The National Eating Disorders Association has information, as well as a helpline and an online screening tool.

To find these organizations, search for “[medical condition] association” and you’ll often find exactly what you’re looking for. It’s also worth checking the CDC, the World Health Organization, and your state or county’s public health department. All of these organizations exist to help people stay healthy.

I would n’t recommend reading anything from message boards, social media influencers (some are good and some are charlatans), or random search results that look vaguely medical. Many of the latter are articles created for marketing purposes for doctors’ offices and do not always contain the best or most recent information.

Finally, when you contact your doctor again, don’t repeat everything you’ve read until you’ve been up all night, google. Let them make a diagnosis based on the data they know how to work with – the examination, the results of the tests, your description of the symptoms that bother you the most.

If you stumble upon an opportunity in your Google search that wasn’t mentioned in a conversation with your ISP, it’s perfectly fine to ask about it. Say, “I’m afraid it might be cancer, is there a way to rule it out?” and then listen to what they have to say. After all, doctors are good at making diagnoses, which is why you went to one of them instead of spending another night with Dr. Google.