Many of us have been there... Lost down a dramatic rabbit hole of late-night Google searches, prompted by a headache or pain that just won't quit. One minute, we're calmly checking our symptoms. The next, we're having a panic attack and mentally drawing up our last wishes - convinced we've got a fatal case of some rare disease, and have months, if not days, left to live.
Thanks to the internet, it would seem like a medical degree is no longer needed to make a diagnosis. Armed with WebMD, MayoClinic, TikTok, and a false sense of confidence, ordinary "experts" believe they have it all figured out. But often, it's this very determination that leads to hilarious, and sometimes disastrous, results.
Someone once asked, "What was the MOST incorrect self-diagnosis you've encountered in your practice?" and judging by the answers, the real doctors out there have seen it all… From a patient who was convinced they had a bee in their eye, to another who claimed they'd had 20 heart attacks.
Bored Panda has put together a compilation of the best of the worst self-diagnosis cases doctors have witnessed. While some are funny, others are quite the opposite. All are a reminder that Dr. Google isn't always right, and it's advisable to seek expert advice IRL when it comes to your health.
We also unpack some stats, and the dangers of deciding that your own opinion trumps a doctor’s. You’ll find that info between the images.
#41
Not a medical pro , but I've wrongly self diagnosed myself for 10 years.
Every other day in winter I'd get two headaches a day. Right behind my right eye. They lasted 45 minutes. Tear eyes and stuffy nose ensued. This started when I was eleven and happened every year on the dot. I started going to the doctors and I'd get sinus headache diagnosis. Boom took pills for a month and the headaches would be gone.
So every year I'd wait about a month or two into the headaches I'd go to the doctor and get antibiotics. This went on til I was 19 and I remember the headache that changed me. I was watching a movie at the theatres, and boom i get a headache. This headache was like no other, in less than thirty seconds I was in the most excruciating pain I've experienced. Stabbing behind my right eye. Tears flowing.
We leave the theatre and I can't even drive. My head is in my hands not moving at all. So agitated. I just want to sit there and snap at any advances of help by my gf. Her trying to rub my back I can't take. I need to be left alone and not thinking. Thinking hurts. It lasts 80 minutes of me crying and just sitting there physically not able to move or comprehend speech because of the focus on pain you have.
Thenext day I'm driving and get one. I go to a new Dr and tell him "I get sinus headaches , can I get this and this and I'll be happy to go" something like that. So him being a good Dr. takes the time to go through my symptoms and correctly diagnoses me with Cluster headaches.
All I can say is, cluster headaches. Im lucky and usually get mild headaches. I've only encountered 4 or 5 crippling headaches that is unimaginable. Some people get a cripplING headache every day at the same time every day.
Every other day in winter I'd get two headaches a day. Right behind my right eye. They lasted 45 minutes. Tear eyes and stuffy nose ensued. This started when I was eleven and happened every year on the dot. I started going to the doctors and I'd get sinus headache diagnosis. Boom took pills for a month and the headaches would be gone.
So every year I'd wait about a month or two into the headaches I'd go to the doctor and get antibiotics. This went on til I was 19 and I remember the headache that changed me. I was watching a movie at the theatres, and boom i get a headache. This headache was like no other, in less than thirty seconds I was in the most excruciating pain I've experienced. Stabbing behind my right eye. Tears flowing.
We leave the theatre and I can't even drive. My head is in my hands not moving at all. So agitated. I just want to sit there and snap at any advances of help by my gf. Her trying to rub my back I can't take. I need to be left alone and not thinking. Thinking hurts. It lasts 80 minutes of me crying and just sitting there physically not able to move or comprehend speech because of the focus on pain you have.
Thenext day I'm driving and get one. I go to a new Dr and tell him "I get sinus headaches , can I get this and this and I'll be happy to go" something like that. So him being a good Dr. takes the time to go through my symptoms and correctly diagnoses me with Cluster headaches.
All I can say is, cluster headaches. Im lucky and usually get mild headaches. I've only encountered 4 or 5 crippling headaches that is unimaginable. Some people get a cripplING headache every day at the same time every day.
22points
#42
I had some guy come in the ER in the middle of the night, because he had a pimple on his forehead; he had been prodding at it non-stop, so of course the thing turned reddish.
He just sat there terrified, explaining that "I was on the Internet, and I have no idea why, but then I googled 'head cancer' and saw pictures and they were horrible and I went, that's it, I'm going to the ER!"
Final prescription: do not go to the Internet for symptoms, and stop waking me up because you've got a pimple please.
He just sat there terrified, explaining that "I was on the Internet, and I have no idea why, but then I googled 'head cancer' and saw pictures and they were horrible and I went, that's it, I'm going to the ER!"
Final prescription: do not go to the Internet for symptoms, and stop waking me up because you've got a pimple please.
22points
#43
I was the person self-diagnosing. I thought I had Lyme disease. Nope, just physically crippling depression.
22points
#44
Not a doctor, but my PCP told me that I had a sinus infection when I actually needed a heart transplant. Got my transplant 3 years later. Doing great now.
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21points
#45
I had really bad abdominal pain and I thought I had an appendicitis but turns out I was just crazy constipated.
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21points
#46
Just a few weeks ago, I had a patient come in for an eye exam. She tells me that her allergies are really bothering her eyes and she just needs her eyeglass prescription tweaked. Her best corrected vision is 20/80 and her retina is a mess- she's got Stargardt's disease (not previously diagnosed). She is going blind and there is nothing we can do to stop it. I want to refer her to a retinal specialist to confirm the diagnosis but she refuses because, "it's just allergies and I just need to prescribe her some drops."
I should also add that her eye were not at all tearing, itching, and there was no inflammation of the conjunctiva at all- not that this would cause your vision to drop to 20/80 even if they were present.
I should also add that her eye were not at all tearing, itching, and there was no inflammation of the conjunctiva at all- not that this would cause your vision to drop to 20/80 even if they were present.
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20points
#47
I thought I had pancreatic cancer...turns out it was just an infected gallbladder. They removed it and I am 100% fine now...
20points
#48
Had a patient who was convinced he had contracted syphilis from "immoral conduct". After a long conversation it turned out it was just salt sores from a long period where we on short rations of fresh water and he had been washing his clothes in seawater. He was convinced he'd contracted an STD from self pleasuring and impure thoughts.
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19points
#49
Guy came into ED with occipital headache, talking following directions--thought it was a migrane. CT came back subarachnoid hemorrhage but by that time he had worsening lethargy, stopped following commands, intubated. Brought up to NSICU where I believe he passed away the same day
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19points
#50
Had one guy come in thought he had a bad pimple or a boil.
Turns out it was a gummy bear.
Turns out it was a gummy bear.
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18points
