Self-Diagnosis: Why You Shouldn’t Ask Dr. Google
Written by Melissa Schenkman, MPH, MSJ
We have all done it.
Not one of us is immune to the temptation and ultimately taking the action of typing in a few words and searching Google for answers to our questions about why we are feeling the pain or other symptoms we are having.
It’s easy, it’s fast, but you never know for certain if the diagnosis is an accurate one. That’s because you need a real person whose eyes and ears have seen and heard from many patients experiencing different symptoms that they have treated—taking note of what the diagnoses were and the treatments that were most effective. A real person like Jessica Gray, MD, FAAFP.
As a board-certified Family Medicine physician, she shares with us why you are walking a fine line when using the Internet to find your diagnosis. While there are reputable sources of online health information that do exist, Gray finds that when you go to your doctor with your mind made up about a diagnosis from Google, it can do you and your doctor more harm than good.
YMyHealth: What are the dangers of self-diagnosis on the internet?
Dr. Gray: Google is a great resource for looking up directions to a restaurant or finding the phone number to call for your gym. Despite the wonderful algorithms Google or WebMD have however, they did not go to medical school, residency, fellowship and have years of practicing hands-on medicine. Doctors don’t follow an algorithm to diagnose a patient. They use their many, many years of training and expertise to determine if your headache is a migraine or a stroke. They use physical exam skills, technology such as an EKG, and labs to determine if your chest pain is indigestion or a heart attack.
Jessica Gray, MD, FAAFP, is a Family Medicine physician who practices in Lubbock, Texas, as part of the UMC Physicians Group. In caring for patients, she brings her passion for preventive care, health maintenance, and overall women’s health including mental healthcare.
The difference between the recommendations you may find on Google versus what a doctor recommends can be the difference between life or death. The internet is filled with a wealth of information from a myriad of sources.
This unfortunately means there is a massive amount of inaccurate information readily available. This includes inaccurate information about dangers of some very important medications your doctor may prescribe, or the fallacy that your over-the-counter herbal supplement is safe.
If you have questions, go to your physician to discuss. They will use their knowledge as well as the various tools at their disposal to help answer your questions with evidence-based advice.
YMyHealth: Why is using Google in general before you come in to see the doctor not helpful to your doctor?
Dr. Gray: It is best to come into the doctor with an open mind and allow the doctor to first make an interpretation of your symptoms or concerns. Coming in and telling your doctor, ‘I just know I have lupus based on what I read online with Google’ can sometimes give a rocky start to a conversation with your doctor.
Certain conditions such as systemic lupus erythematous are complicated and require professional workup. When you come in and say this, it may seem like you are telling your doctor, ‘I know more than you based off of my Google search.’ Most doctors have enough experience to ask: ‘Please tell me what symptoms you have been experiencing,’ and keep an open mind to all the possible differential diagnosis, which includes but is not limited to lupus.
So, if you have a diagnosis you are wondering about based on what you read online, absolutely ask your doctor about it but understand their medical knowledge far exceeds the capability of Google to apply the results of an internet search to your situation. Your doctor should be able to direct you to many reputable web-based resources you can use to understand your condition further, find support groups, or find the most up-to-date research available. The internet is a fantastic resource but needs to be used in the correct way, and your doctor should be able to guide you with this so you are not alone.
YMyHealth: If you could give one general PSA to all millennial-aged people about something they should know about how to make sure their relationship to their doctor is the best it can be, what would it be?
Dr. Gray: Be honest and develop a partnership mentality for your healthcare. Your doctor wants you to be successful and achieve your health goals, but without all the background information or the patient’s own investment, these goals are not attainable.
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