Picture this: A few days ago, you made a “mistake” as you’d like to call it, and had sex without the typical precautions of condoms and birth control. You start to feel uncomfortable itching in places that you’ve never even thought of scratching before. At first, you brush it off as a fabric that may be irritating your skin. But then, as you begin to think more about it, you start to worry it may be something more serious. You scramble to your laptop and type in the site doctors dread most – Google. You type in your symptoms and next thing you know, you’ve diagnosed yourself with chlamydia.
Despite what we like to think, Google does not know everything. It’s a great source to fact-check when you’re up at two in the morning writing a research paper, but not so great when you find yourself browsing through websites looking for a cure, diagnosis, or even relationship advice. The thing about the internet is that anyone can post a “fact” and claim it’s true, but that alone doesn’t mean it is.
A great, and definitely more reliable, source for accurate advice is talking to a parent or physician about issues you’re having. Although we don’t like to think about what our parents were like before they had us, there’s no denying they were once young too. The odds that they went through something similar to what you’re going to is pretty high, and they’re sure to offer some useful advice.
When it comes to Googling symptoms – don’t. It’s a slippery slope to becoming a hypochondriac. It’s a lot easier, and safer, to quickly call your doctor and make an appointment. Having a trained individual physically examine you is obviously much better than typing in vague words like “itchy” to a search engine and expecting to be handed a totally correct diagnosis.
Remember: Just because you read it online, doesn’t mean it’s true. You can still use the internet to hold you over until you visit your doctor; just make sure the sites you go to are reputable. Here are some sites that you can trust: