Can Googling your symptoms be beneficial?

We’ve all been there. A strange mark on your arm or a pain in your side, Google will know what it is. Or more realistically, google will tell you seventy different things it could be, ranging from indigestion to cancer and imminent death. That’s why we’re constantly told off by friends and family: ‘don’t google your symptoms’ or ‘don’t be crazy’. But can googling the symptoms sometimes be helpful instead of triggering us into a spiral of concern? Why is it that women, especially, turn to google as a doctor for diagnosis?

Why are we so eager to self-diagnose? 

We attempt to find our own diagnoses for a number of reasons. Often, accessing a doctor’s appointment can be extremely difficult in the UK, due to a lack of funding and staff within the NHS. Sometimes, symptoms also feel a little embarrassing and so instead of speaking to a rigid doctor, a quick delete of the search history feels much more manageable. Another key reason, for women however, is that even when able to get booked in to see a GP,  there seems to be a recurring theme where women’s health issues are minimised by health care professionals and herded into a ‘menstruation’ tick box. Being told that there’s nothing wrong with us and that it’s just ANOTHER symptom of our natural cycles, is disheartening at best and dangerous at worst.

It’s not uncommon for women to feel unheard by their doctor, but because of this we also tend to struggle in advocating for ourselves against a supposed expert. We’re made to feel like a burden for wasting precious NHS time for a silly little cramp and are ignored, until something serious occurs to prove that we weren’t actually crazy. From causes such as implicit bias to a sheer lack of research into women’s health problems, Prevention Magazine found that women are significantly misdiagnosed when it comes to things like heart disease, endometriosis and auto-immune issues. This poses extreme risks for our health. The longer we feel excluded from the medical world, the longer we’ll continue to be over-anxious and under-diagnosed. So if the solution is to be persistent and ensure we’re heard, perhaps a little google search could be advantageous.

Does google provide a solution?

A great benefit of google is that it can make us feel more knowledgeable, if we decide we’re going to head to the doctors with an issue. It’s much harder to be dismissed if you have ideas about what could be going on and are willing to push your GP for tests, to ensure that their assumptions are correct. My apologies, at this stage, to all doctors because I know you worked hard and don’t need patients to think they know better than you; however if this is what we need to feel listened to and at peace, I will continue.

Researching our concerns could be a way to slowly ensure more women are being listened to and that we are more protected by our health services. Advocating for ourselves and making sure we leave our appointments feeling better, not ignored or belittled, is so important. Unfortunately, but perhaps not surprisingly, these changes still only begin with us doing the hard work.

While the internet is a good starting point, it shouldn’t be your final answer to diagnosing your symptoms

Anonymous Nurse, Healthline

Google shouldn’t be the last step

I’m not going to lie to you, I find that googling my symptoms, occasionally, puts my mind at ease. I tend to be able to rationalise my thoughts by seeing not-so-worrying answers to my symptomatic searches. This is a tricky one though, as for others it could be extra-triggering. Persistent googling habits do have their risks and it would be wrong for me to advise you to always search for answers yourself. Know your limits when looking online. Google can be a tool to support you, but it’s not a final solution. If you find that you’re becoming even more concerned after a google search, don’t keep digging.

Self-diagnosing, to rationalise the whiz of possibilities in your mind, could also mean that you miss necessary symptoms that a GP would recognise. Unfortunately google still doesn’t know it all, so it’s still important to seek professional help; the pair should go hand in hand.  Speaking to a health-care professional can be done much easier now by calling 111, instead of struggling for an appointment.

Remember: Recurring or constant health worries should always be met with professional advice. If you feel that you regularly spiral about your personal health, speaking to a doctor about this is just as important as it would be for a physical issue. Whilst we all might be – self-diagnosed -hypochondriacs, for some people health stress is a very real problem and there’s no shame in seeking support for it.

If there’s one thing I want to stress above all, it’s that the NHS is meant to be there to take care of us. Even if you feel like a Karen for wanting a second opinion or a blood test, you have every right to ask for one.

You can find much more advice on symptom Googling at Benenden Health.

• google
• health
• misogyny
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• symptoms