A pain here or there, an annoying ailment. More and more people are turning to health information on the internet. Wise or not?
Pitfall when looking for a condition
If you google ‘big bump behind ear’, you can find information about mastoiditis (a bacterial infection of a bone behind the ear), swollen lymph nodes, but also cancer. Before you know it, you think the worst and you may panic unnecessarily. It is not wise to make a diagnosis yourself on the basis of information on the internet. Especially not if that information is unreliable. But should you stay away from medical information on the internet? Certainly not.
Using Online Medical Information
Searching for medical information is helpful. The more you know, the better choices you make. Find medical information online:
- if you want to know what symptoms can mean;
- if you want to know what you can do about an ailment;
- in preparation for a doctor’s appointment;
- to learn more about what you have after a diagnosis.
For all information, ask yourself who the source is. Who is the sender? Is this a reliable party? What are the motives for sharing the information? Does the sender want to earn money with something?
Discussions on forums may give an idea of ​​complaints and possible treatments, but they are only examples. It is not reliable information, but it can give you ideas for things that you want to investigate better.
Where is reliable health information?
A website that general practitioners participate in, and to which general practitioners refer themselves for additional information, is Thuisarts.nl. For example, if you want to know what can be done about watery eyes, for example, then this website is a good starting point for reliable information. You will then quickly find out whether you can do something about it yourself or whether it is better to go to the doctor. And if you have visited your GP, you can read at your leisure what a condition entails at Thuisarts.nl.
on Kiesbeter.nl The National Health Care Institute (a government initiative) provides an overview of websites that have been assessed for independence and reliability. So you can get information from here with confidence. The websites are divided into different categories. For example ‘Disorders and medicines’ and ‘Choice aids’.
Specialists sometimes also take the initiative themselves to set up a website around a specific condition. Please also inquire about this with your doctor.
Prepared for the doctor
If you have an appointment with a doctor, gain some knowledge about the subject via the internet beforehand. It is good to check in a conversation whether what you have read is correct in your situation. You may have come across things that you have questions about. Write them down and bring them with you to the interview. You will then set off prepared.
If you are going into a conversation in which treatment options are discussed, take a look at the website 3goodquestions.nl. Together with, among others, the Dutch Association of General Practitioners (NHG), the Patient Federation Netherlands has drawn up tips for a good conversation with a doctor.