Health forums/discussion boards – an important source of health information today

Internet has indeed become an indispensable source of information. What are the chances your doctor is “googling” your unrecognizable symptoms to come up with a possible diagnosis? The chances are great, as Google offers access to over 3 billion medical articles which is “a few” times more in comparison to the regular 2 million facts doctors are able to keep in their heads.

As the medical knowledge expends with a speed of light, doctors cannot keep up with all the new stuff. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have the information but it is crucial to know how and where to get it. This is where the internet comes into the picture.

Did you know that about 80% of Americans dig up health information online before going to the doctors and that 50% of them do the same thing again when they come home?

However, it is important to remember that the internet is rife with misinformation, which can be dangerous when it comes to health. The usefulness of the information one can obtain through the internet depends on the searchers’ knowledge base. Internet can offer diagnosis but there is a great chance of misdiagnosis.

This is why many turn to health forums/discussion boards to check and correspond with others who have had similar signs and symptoms, who have gone through different testing and analyses, who have seen different doctors and specialists and who have a lot of experience in their quest for their medical solutions.

It is very well known that experience excels theory as it represents an interaction with a product, person, service, and an event on both physical and cognitive levels. Experience is a term broader than theory as it includes the situations that occurred, the actions done, and the results and this is why it is so valuable. This is why health forums are valuable.

In my effort to share the best health forums, forums I have learned the most from and in my opinion the most visited ones, I have come up with the following: WebMD message boards, Steadyhealth.com health forums, Medhelp.com forum, and Mayo clinic blogs.

There are many health experts on these boards who supply the answers to the members’ questions. The health experts include doctors, specialists, nurses and medical students. Additionally, many so-called ordinary people reside and just hang out on the boards for the support of the others in need, so you can always have a conversation that more than often can boost your mood for the day.

Besides health boards many of these forums have additional features and services. For example, Steadyhealth.com has a private ask expert service, which enables you to have your question answered within 24h totally anonymous. They also have a blog service where you can keep a sort of a diary and follow your progression as well the progression of others or just share your stories, experiences and deepest thoughts.

WebMD has also, beside a message board, news and blogs section as well as weekly and biweekly newsletters on different topics you can subscribe to.

Mayoclinic.com has self-assessment articles as well as Ask a specialist service where numerous questions are answered on a wide range of topics by different specialists.

The best part about medical forums is that you are anonymous and can talk freely about what’s on your mind without having to think about the anxiety related to the person-to-person communication.

My personal problems have led me to discover the value of these boards. Two years ago, I got a new job in a high demanding company. The amount of work needed to be done kept me occupied more than the ordinary 8 hours a day. The stress started to build up, my old socializing habits to disappear, junk food to pile up on my desk and a few months after I started having additional health problems. I started getting this annoying sensation of a lump in my throat. At first I thought nothing of it but the lump persisted and I could not neglect it any longer. It made me self-concession to the point I could not focus on my work properly. I kept thinking what if it was cancer but I could not feel the lump or see it. I decided to see a doctor. The family physician inspected my throat, found nothing and gave a referral for an ENT. The ENT found nothing too except rotten tonsils but they were highly unlikely to be the cause of my lump sensation. The anxiety started to overwhelm me and the throat was getting tighter and tighter. I kept swallowing the lump but it would reappear shortly after. It took a month to get an appointment with an endocrinologist to have my thyroid checked - my hormones normal, no increase of the gland, no gland cysts, anything at all. This was really getting to me - being in the dark, not knowing what’s behind my tight throat, work piling up, so I decided to look for the possible causes on my own. I approached my already turned on computer (work waiting for me, remember?), typed in my lump in the throat symptoms and incredibly there it was on the first page of the google results. I found my diagnosis on steadyhealth.com health forum – too much stress and anxiety. Apparently, to much stress intensifies cricopharyngeus muscle spasms in the throat contributing to the lump sensation in the throat. The moment I read about the symptoms and confirmed this was my case too, the lump in the throat disappeared, just like it said it would on the forum. Amazing!

On top of things, I realized that so many other people suffered from the same problem and could not get their minds together. Health forums are an excellent source of knowledge and experience and support for those in need!