Unpopular Opinion

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I'm so sick of every single medical-related question people have online constantly getting spammed with 'talk to your doctor!!!!' (lemmy.world)

submitted 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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The way people online constantly say 'talk to your doctor' like it's a panacea is a lot like how medieval peasants weren't able to read scripture and they just had to trust their clergy's interpretations

Sick of it. Usually it's not even like if I'm trying to find out if I have fucking cancer, I'm saying oh i feel sad in the evenings. why in the NAME of GOD would i want to then, for that, find the guy's number, call, leave a message cause it's midnight, wait for them to call back, schedule something 2 weeks later, worry the whole time, and try to remember and rephrase in formal clinical terminology exactly what's happening and get formal cold clinical advice for it from a guy I see twice a year. Just tell me! Give me colloquial advice and home remedies! good god!

There could be so many miracle tips or tricks online that really work but nooo people constantly shout 'talk to your doctor! call your doctor!' i don't want to fucking call the doctor, medical environments give me anxiety and all the bureaucracy and insurance and bills don't help matters either.

some zoomers on tiktok seem to get this and happily share 'oh this worked for me!' and usually it's somewhat helpful and a very nice, casual interaction that doesn't involve interaction with an authority figure and potential bills. it's that easy.

'ooh what about liability' don't care. liability has destroyed modern america, gatekeeping knowledge behind a culture of fear. if you're so scared about liability over a reddit comment, simply don't say anything! rather than leaving a pointless piece of advice that every single person on the planet knows is the default 'ideal' answer, that isn't necessarily actionable for many who don't have easy or trivial access to healthcare.

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[–] [email protected] 32 points 6 months ago (11 children)

"I have had a dry cough for the past few months." Can mean all sorts of things. Random speculation from somebody working off of very limited information can lead someone to try a "cure" that masks or exacerbates an otherwise treatable or eventually deadly condition.

There is a reason doctors have to go through so much school and gain so much experience before they become an "actual doctor".

Do you have a 10cm mass in your right lung, or do you have allergies? A doctor visit can tell you if your cough can be treated with medication or surgery and chemo that you will die without.

I am not someone who likes to go to the doctor if I know that I can't treat myself, but you can be damn sure I will not ask the internet if it is something I have no idea about.

I'd love it if healthcare was top of the line and free as air, but that is not the world we live in and people giving people medical advice with an unknown level of expertise and next to no empirical evidence of a diagnosis gets people killed or harmed. Let the information doctors have be freely available for people to use as they see fit for their personal use and all medication be cheap as dirt, but medical advice should only come from a licensed doctor that is qualified to practice medicine and not some stranger on the internet that barely has the experience and ability to treat a simple laceration.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago (10 children)

"I have had a dry cough for the past few months."

You have esophageal cancer. You're welcome.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (2 children)

I looked up your symptoms online, and it says here you might have "internet connectivity issues"

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

I did! How'd you know?

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