Health problems

[Seen the light]

I know that one of DU's rules says not to ask for medical advice and I'm not going to do that. However, I'm wondering where the best place WOULD be to go to get answers to a question I have about a very personal health problem that I've been experiencing? I'm not a big fan of just calling up doctors and I'd like to find this stuff out online. Any thoughts?

Mods, just let me know if this too isn't allowed. Thanks!

[skygazer]

1. I don't really know of any particular sites

What I've done on occasion is simply type a description in the search engine and see what comes up - for instance, I did that when no one seemed to be able to figure out what was wrong with my knee. I typed "knee pain" and got a bunch of sites, some better than others. But I gathered from all of them that what I probably had was a torn meniscus (which is what it turned out to be).

I've also tried that with more vague things - like "abdominal pain" which turns up a huge range of things but you can narrow it down in a lot of the sites it brings up.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

4. That's what I do

I also go to webmd.com and nih.gov.

If the problem isn't serious I google "problemname" + "home solution" to see how I can treat it myself.

[AlCzervik]

2. webmd?

[undeterred]

5. WebMd is a good place to get started.

[grannylib]

3. I like Dr. Andrew Weil's site; lots of good advice on natural and homeopathic stuff

as well as 'traditional' advice.

[petronius]

6. I think WebMD is OK, but if it's at all serious a physician is the way to go

It's far too easy on the web to key in on the worst possible outcome - I've diagnosed myself with everything from Guinea Worm to brain cancer based on web searches - and it's very difficult to sort the wheat from the chaff, the likely from the unlikely, with online info. Not to mention you have little chance of assessing the reliability of web info...

[NC_Nurse]

7. Amen to that.

You can always find the WORST case scenario immediately on the web. I would go to the doctor.