When you start to experience pain, a lot of people will Google their symptoms before going to the doctor because the Internet makes it easy to look stuff up and diagnose yourself. If you have a diagnosis and want to learn more about it, I think the Internet is great for that because doctors don’t tell you everything, and you can get a lot of support online but personally, I have never googled my disability or any of its symptoms as a way to get out of going to the doctor. When you Google your disability, you have to be really careful with what you read online because not everything you read online is true, and it’s better to make a doctor’s appointment and figure out what is going on. As a disabled person, I can understand why some people heavily rely on the Internet to diagnose themselves because disabled people often have more negative healthcare experiences and struggle to find a doctor who believes. Why don’t I Google my disability or any of its symptoms? In this post, I am going to talk about why I don’t often use the Internet to Google my disability or any new symptoms I have.
Some things I don’t want to know– Spina Bifida is a full-body experience, and you can have multiple muscle groups that don’t work properly. There are a lot of health issues that people with Spina Bifida could face, but that doesn’t mean everyone will because there are a lot of things you may not experience. People often think that I want to know about every possible challenge that I could face in life, but the reality is, I don’t want to know about every health problem that I could have one day because it creates more fear and makes me anxious about something that may never happen. I like to live in the moment and focus on things I am dealing with right now because it’s silly to worry about things that might happen but probably won’t. If I need a medical fact for my blog that I don’t know at the top of my head, sometimes I will Google it, but you won’t find me googling Spina Bifida on a regular basis because there are some things I don’t want to know. I am aware of all the health challenges I could face, but I don’t need to read about health challenges I have never experienced because all that does is create more fear.
Sometimes the Internet creates more fear– When you Google your symptoms a lot of the time the Internet will tell you that you have something serious and that your abdominal pain is a stage four stomach and you have three weeks to live but your doctor disagrees and says it’s only gas and to stop eating so much fiber. The Internet sometimes will get your diagnosis correct but it’s always a good idea to see a real doctor because sometimes you may be reading outdated information or it’s just wrong to begin. I don’t Google my disability or any new pain I am experiencing because sometimes it creates fear unnecessarily. I am a big believer in not worrying about things until you have a reason to!
Sometimes it tells you not to worry when you should be- When you use the Internet to diagnose yourself sometimes your Google searches will tell you that you are dying but sometimes the opposite is true and it will tell you not to worry when you should be. If something with your health has changed I think it can be very dangerous to diagnose yourself because sometimes you may read something that says you have the common cold when you truly have something that needs immediate treatment. If you have concerns about your health, it is so important that you see a real doctor because it could be nothing, but it also could be something. You don’t want to be that person who delays cancer treatment because the Internet told you it was the common cold and to not worry. It is always better to be safe than sorry because illnesses can be treated if you catch them early but if you wait too long a lot of time it becomes untreatable.
Some of my health issues are quite complicated- When you have a disability, sometimes it can be difficult to find a doctor because not all doctors will understand your health challenges and know how to treat them. I don’t Google my disability or any new symptoms that may come up because my health challenges are very complicated, and sometimes, I have to manage things such as migraine pain in a slightly different way than a non-disabled person. The Internet often will give you basic health information, which is fine for the average person, but not helpful for disabled people with complex health issues, because a lot of the time it’s not relevant to us. I need a doctor who understands Spina Bifida, and you are just not going to get that by reading random health information online.
If you are in pain and are not getting solutions from medical professionals, I think that the Internet can be a great resource because it allows you to connect with advocates who understand what you are going through but at the same time it’s important to be very cautious and question everything you read because not everything is going to be true. You should never use the Internet as a substitute for going to the doctor because the Internet does not know your health better than your doctor does. There is nothing wrong with using the Internet to educate yourself on a new diagnosis and I did that when I was diagnosed with endometriosis to learn more about it, but it is important to remember that not everything you read online is going to be relevant to your health and you should always ask your medical team before panicking. Disabled people are sometimes shamed by medical professionals and told their pain is not real and I understand why some people think the Internet is their only hope for getting better and need to do better so patients don’t feel like they have to do that. Have you ever used the Internet to look up your disability or diagnose yourself?
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