We recently wrote a post where medical professionals revealed the health warning signs you should never ignore, and it was extremely eye-opening. In the comments, fellow doctors, nurses, and other professionals revealed subtle (and not so subtle) health signs that could be very dangerous. Here’s what they had to say:
Note: Some responses were pulled from these two Reddit threads.
1. “MD here. Unexplained weight loss. Fever unexplained by illness. Night sweats. Blood in stool. Please continue with regular cancer screenings.”
—u/chubbyostrich
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2. “If your medication tastes off, smells bad, or is discolored or otherwise looks strange, tell your pharmacy! We can check to see if they’re fake or recalled — or if we gave you the wrong meds. Ineffective or wrong meds can make you sick or even kill you. Tell us, you can literally fix it and get the FDA to investigate.”
– Bad daughter
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3. “Difficulty breathing – this can be a life-threatening pulmonary embolism.”
– Anonymous
4. “If there’s something about your fingernails (or toes) that’s different than most people’s, don’t assume it’s ‘normal for you.’ Fingernails that are wrinkled, over-domed, concave, covered in lines, or have dark spots (which aren’t the obvious result of injury, then show obvious signs of healing)* can be a sign of a variety of things, from a minor but persistent nutritional deficiency, to cancer.
“Show it to your doctor. Let them know if it’s something you can safely ignore or not.”
-etconner
5. “Red blood in poop is not always hemorrhoids and is not normal. I have seen many patients with colon or rectal cancer, Crohn’s, or ulcerative colitis.”
– Anonymous
6. “Sleep specialist here. Getting up three or more times a night to go to the bathroom. It’s a predictor of early death and often a symptom of undiagnosed sleep apnea. Evaluation and treatment can add years to your life, not to mention greatly improve quality of life.”
– Anonymous, 53, Canada
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7. “I’m a paramedic. For women: neck pain, pain in the middle of the back, jaw pain, headache, nausea and vomiting are all symptoms of a heart attack (STEMI: ST-Elevation myocardial infarction). For men: blood in the urine (hematuria) can be a sign of kidney cancer. Pain in the teat or abbing in both places. An ascending aortic aneurysm usually affects the abdomen and back. The pain is accompanied by a pulsating mass.
—u/According-Drop-2067
Science Photo Library / Getty Images / Science Photo Library RF
8. “When your vision is moving back and forth between blackness and visibility, you will probably pass out quickly. Try to stay somewhere so that at least the fall is not too bad, and try to be close to other people if possible, so that they can help you if you are completely unconscious.”
—u/Strict_Common156
9. “Weakness, sleepiness and fatigue when you shouldn’t be. It’s a sign of iron deficiency. It’s very unsafe, especially when you’re driving.”
—u/indigowaters23
10. “Any new skin lesions that are bad, itchy, oddly shaped, or have any changes to old lesions, moles, etc., need to be examined by a primary care doctor or dermatologist. It may be normal, precancerous, or cancerous; if it is precancerous, it can be removed by an MD. Cancer may also require other treatments to be removed as part of treatment.”
“Also, when doing a full body check for abnormalities, don’t forget that The bottom of the feet and legs also need to be examined.“
-fabprincess48
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Marie Wurm/Getty Images
11. “Inability to have a bowel movement.”
– Anonymous, 50, Canada
12. “Chest pain. It sounds obvious, but there are many cardiac arrests that end with the patient being pronounced dead at the scene, and a relative/friend saying, ‘He had chest pain for a few days / today, but put it down to indigestion.’ Chest pain is an emergency. CALL 911!!!”
—u/energizemusic
13. “Sudden sensorineural hearing loss has a normal ear exam. However, symptoms other than hearing loss in the ears are tinnitus and ringing. … If you suspect sudden hearing loss, call your favorite otolaryngologist. We’ll be happy to evaluate it.”
—u/headholologist
Jacob Wackerhausen/Getty Images
14. “MD here. New hyperreflexia and a positive Hoffman’s sign – especially if accompanied by balance problems or hand tingling – require a cervical spine and possibly brain MRI at the same time. ASAP.”
“I have caught more than 10 cervical stenoses with myelopathy in patients referred for EMG with a presumptive diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome. Always with heightened reflexes in the upper extremities.”
—u/olyfishmouth
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And finally…
15. “Pain in general. Honestly, people need to stop with the ‘walk it out’ and ‘push through it’ stuff. Pain is a warning sign your body is giving you that something is wrong. It’s now a physical sensation of pain that’s an emotion, it’s 👏 what 👏 👏 pain 👏, except, there can be great pain. Know the cause is bad.”
—u/proud_not_prejudiced
Furtnig/Getty Images
Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
As doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals, what are some other “small” health signs people should never ignore? Tell us in the comments, or if you want to remain anonymous, you can use the form below.
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