How to Look Up Medical Symptoms Online

Thanks to medical information sites like WebMD, ordinary folks can simply plug their symptoms into a search engine ("sore back," "chronic headache") and obtain a virtual diagnosis or treatment plan. However, these sites aren't intended to take the place of a real doctor, and the information they provide can be overwhelming to folks who haven't mastered the art of differential diagnosis. Here's how to find out what's ailing you without driving yourself around the bend.

Things You'll Need

• Computer with Internet access
• Your doctor's phone number

Instructions

1. Know when to see a doctor right away. If you're experiencing crushing chest pain, you'll waste valuable time by typing "crushing chest pain" into a Web site search field (especially if you're using a dial-up connection). If you feel something is seriously wrong, don't waste time on your computer-call 9-1-1 or get to the emergency room.

2. Zero in on the right description. At most medical sites, typing in the word "headache" will give you a list of further options to explore. Depending on the site, you may be prompted to refine your search according to severity (such as sudden, acute or chronic) or accompanying symptoms (nausea, dizziness or coughing, for example).

3. Read the results carefully. People are natural hypochondriacs: If you've searched a medical site for the words "headache," "dizziness" and "nausea," your eye will likely be drawn immediately to the diagnosis "meningitis," even though (as the site itself will tell you) this disease has some additional, and usually unmistakable, symptoms. If you read the entire entry, you'll be able to understand this worst-case scenario in context, and know if the next step is calling your doctor.

4. Get a second opinion. If you don't quite trust what one Web site is telling you about your symptoms, visit another one and repeat your search. Odds are that you'll receive exactly the same results, but it's also possible that the site will employ slightly different terminology that better suits your symptoms and steers you to a more accurate diagnosis.

5. Call a doctor. In some cases, your symptoms will be familiar enough to reveal a bad cold or the flu (in which case, you can wait for a few days, then call your physician if you're not feeling better.) In other cases, what you thought was a horrible form of cancer will be revealed, via an online search, to be a simple hemorrhoid (in which case you can medicate yourself and leave your doctor alone.) But if you're ill in an unfamiliar way, don't be content with an online search-call your physician, explain your symptoms (and what you found out about them online) and see if a professional concurs with the online diagnosis.