"Never trust the Internet with health advice," people say. When I think of how many times a visit to WebMD has given me a cancer scare, I'd agree. 54% of American consumers say they see food and nutrition content on their feeds regularly.
Yet, Baby-Boomers are the most skeptical: only 59% trust the food and nutrition content on social media, compared to 71% of Gen X, 68% of Millennials, and 76% of Gen Z.
One netizen wanted to hear from true medical experts on the internet about the everyday things we need to look out for if we want to stay healthy. So, they decided to ask: "Medical professionals, what are some of the most mundane reasons most people are unaware of that make them sick?"
And the medical professionals of Reddit delivered, reminding us why such simple habits like brushing our teeth, washing our hands, and taking our meds are so important.
Bored Panda got in touch with the netizen who addressed the medical professionals of Reddit. R/chickencaesar8 kindly agreed to share their thoughts on healthy living with us. Read our short conversation with them below!
#1
Leaving a tooth infection without treatment. It can cause so many bad things.
Image credits: lhollmann
In the age of the internet, lots of people look for health advice online. The CDC reports that 58.5% of Americans admitted looking for medical information online in 2022. R/chickencaesar8 tells Bored Panda that one of the reasons they started this thread was because of their partner's recent health issues.
"Lately, my partner has been getting these itchy rashes all over his body and we don't know where they're coming from," the Redditor shared. They say that they often turn to Reddit to find out the answers to random questions or ideas when there's no one else who could answer them.
"I also think that medical professionals will have better knowledge in answering the question through their expertise/experiences in their field," r/chickencaesar8 says in regard to this particular thread.
#2
Derm PA here- please moisturize your skin. Wearing lotion is not only a “girly” thing to do. Dry skin can lead to itchy skin, which can lead to chronically itchy skin, which can lead to intense scratching and can leave open wounds and sores.
Itchy skin can drive a person bonkers. I see it everyday. The easiest way to prevent this is to wear lotion.
Image credits: atelectasisdude
#3
People don’t realize how their partners make them mentally sick.
Image credits: No_Lion_8923
With so much information available to us, we might think that we're more health-conscious than ever. For example, when it comes to nutrition, 77% of Americans claim they would like to be eating healthier.
r/chickencaesar8 doesn't spend much time thinking about their health. "I have never considered myself health-conscious as I enjoy eating all kinds of food though I always know when to stop," they share.
"I guess I consider myself a sensible eater. I also do not smoke, I drink enough water and sleep around eight hours a day."
#4
If your toes start turning black from untreated diabetes, it’s not going to get better on its own, it will only continue to get worse, and lead to irreparable damage including the loss of the foot entirely.
idk if people also realize that aspirating things (something “going down the wrong tube” as most people say) causes pneumonia.
also idk if this counts but i can say that after multiple months doing xray at an inner city level 1 trauma hospital, i will never ever get on a motorcycle, four wheeler, atv, dirtbike, none of that. nope no thanks im good.
Image credits: ghoulxgrl22
#5
Not brushing your teeeeeth, mouth bacteria can lead to a hundred different head to toe issues and can even k**l you.
Image credits: athrowawayhandle
#6
Finishing antibiotics.
Always finish the full course you are prescribed. You think k you are better. But the bacteria may not be dead and it’s gonna come back stronger.
Image credits: Fianna9
"My partner and I love going for walks, play badminton occasionally and play board games. I would say we have a relationship that's full of laughter, nice conversations, adventures with a bit of drama every now and then," r/chickencaesar8 adds.
If you think the habits the Redditor listed don't count as a healthy lifestyle, think again! A 2023 study of lifestyle behaviors identified the healthy habits that can prolong our lives by 24 years. And what are those magical tips? Mostly things we've all probably heard before: a healthy diet, regular exercise, less stress, getting enough sleep, and positive social relationships.
#7
Vaping. I have pts that repeatedly see allergists/pulmonary bc they “don’t know why i’m wheezy all the time and it feels like i can’t breathe.” Nasal sprays, antihistamines, allergy pills, 3-4 different nebs…all while denying they vape. It’s gross.
Image credits: nosyNurse
#8
Not drinking water. So many people feel like s**t but only drink coffee, Coke, and Corona. People like this live live on a onife edge of minor dehydration where the tiniest bit of exertion feels impossible. If you actually drink the water your body needs, it fixes all sorts of minor issues.
Image credits: Crayshack
#9
Psych nurse here. Don’t stop your meds because you’re “feeling better”. Why do you think you feel better.
Image credits: mewmewnmomo
R/chickencaesar8's thread did reveal some things some of us do that may cost us our health in the long run. For the Redditor, the answer about men not wiping was the one that stood out the most.
This may surprise you, but even a quite recent YouGov poll showed that not all people wipe with toilet paper after a bowel movement. 86% of the respondents said they always use toilet paper. 14% claimed they go for wet wipes. Let's just hope everyone uses one or the other every time!
#10
1. Drinking. Cirrhosis is very very mean.
2. Wash. Your. Hands. I don’t mean a little squirt of soap and then immediately rinse it off, I mean the whole 20 seconds. Noro/sapovirus, C. Diff, trust me, you don’t want it.
Image credits: Chilly-Dawgs
#11
Do NOT let your dog lick an open wound! Their mouth is full of bacteria, they don't have "clean mouths" like we were told when we were kids. Also, please take your meds before coming to the hospital. Just let us know what you took. No reason to skip your BP meds... Bathroom injuries yall... I cannot tell you how many people come to the ER because they vasovagaled
on the toilet pushing too hard. ALSO make sure your toys have flared bases :D.
Image credits: Steambunny
#12
If you have sudden unexplained weight loss PLEASE go get checked out. I can not begin to count how many people (especially middle aged and older) I've triaged for some other symptoms drop a random 'oh yeah and I've lost xx amount of lbs in a month' and more often than not it turns out to be CANCER. You're not turning into a skinny legend, it's cachexia 😭.
Image credits: Elphababa
So, Pandas, let's all wash our hands, brush our teeth, floss, finish our meds, and wipe after going to the toilet! That way, we can live healthier and, hopefully, longer lives.
If we have any medical professionals here among our fellow Pandas, be sure to share any mundane things that make people sick in the comments, too!
#13
Not following a doctor's advice to cut something from your diet. For example, people who say, 'Doc told me to stop eating gluten and dairy. So I had pizza for dinner, but it’s ok because i took a lactaid.' Just..no. That’s not how that works. That’s not how any of that works.
Image credits: fumblingvista
#14
Ok so this is not related to sickness but injury - after a certain age (different for everyone) you should get rid of every slippery pair of socks, uneven area rug, or any other tripping hazard in your house. It's very easy to trip and fall in the dark trying to get to the bathroom and a lot of people have major complications trying to recover from a broken hip or other leg injury. Small trip hazards in your house may not seem like a big deal, but they could lead to an injury that you never recover from and it's a very common problem.
Image credits: Reprobate726
#15
People with Congestive Heart Failure not checking labels for sodium content, and here in Louisiana, going to multiple crawfish boils.
Image credits: lonesomejohnnie
#16
Swimming with contacts in. Every time I dispense fortified vancomycin and gentamicin (compounded by our IV room, strong antibiotic) eyedrops, in the chart it turns out that the patient was swimming with contacts in. They get super nasty infections.
Image credits: Caibee612
#17
Poor social support and relationships. D**g misuse and abuse not thinking they’re abusing. Never opening their blinds or sitting in the sun.
#18
Pay attention when something changes or something new happens. Even minor issues that don’t go away or continue to get worse should always warrant a trip to the doctor.
I’m a medical student and I put off going to the doctor for embarrassing urinary symptoms for 6 months. I finally saw someone a couple weeks ago and they think I may have MS. I’m so mad at myself that, if I do have MS, I could’ve started treatment months ago and prevented ongoing nervous system damage.
Image credits: BumblebeeOfCarnage
#19
Listening to influencers who are not medically trained.
I’ve watched ads on TikTok where an influencer will pour two packs of liquid iv into a cup to make a new flavor. Or whatever the hell the raw milk and unpasteurized nonsense is. You can’t lemon and cayenne water your way out of hyperlipidemia, but you can erode your gastric lining.
Image credits: thesevenleafclover
#20
Not necessarily sick but long car rides without breaks can absolutely cause blood clots, which can possibly lead to a pulmonary embolism if left untreated.
#21
Don’t put off seeing a Dr for a new concern. Had a pt utilize their health insurance really well - managed to dodge SEVERAL cancers from going berserk and only traded it for a few scars on their skin. Pretty amazing when you can catch stuff early and only need a surgery with no chemo.
Had many others put off stuff that killed them or will be their demise soon. Probably could’ve had a good +10 yrs before leaving spaceship earth but alas. Anxiety/fear can get the better of us.
Image credits: lazylilack
#22
Pharmacy technician here. Don't stop taking your blood pressure meds. If your blood pressure is good, now is not the time to stop your meds. They are working.
Image credits: ContextSensitiveGeek
#23
Not being especially cautious as you get older. About 15 years ago, when I became a nurse's assistant, the nurse teaching the course told us that for many elderly people, a fall was the beginning of the end. Small falls that younger people deal with constantly can break a bone in an older person, and their body has to fight harder to heal when they're older, which overdrives the immune system and makes it easier to get sick in other ways.
Image credits: Cautious_Parsley_898
#24
I’ve had so many male patients with rectal problems because they will not wipe after using the bathroom. One guy told me it’s gay to touch your butt. Another said he just don’t do that wipe thing. Another said he didn’t care. Totally preventable disease state.
Image credits: NextAdhesiveness3652
#25
Untreated sleep apnea is absolutely terrible for you. Over time it can lead to heart problems, diabetes, stroke, and even shorten your lifespan, to say nothing of what chronic lack of quality sleep can do for your immediate mental and psychological health. Snoring all night every night is not normal. Get over yourself and use the CPAP.
Image credits: stephanonymous
#26
I work at a dentist, people improperly taking or prematurely stopping antibiotics. When people start but don't finish antibiotics (usually because they feel better), the surviving infection grows resistant to those antibiotics, so future courses become inefficient or don't work at all.
#TAKE THE WHOLE COURSE.
Infections in your teeth and jaw have a short path to your brain, and leaving that infection untreated (especially if it's asymptomatic or not causing pain) can cause bone loss, which can very much detrimentally impact things like implants and even your jaw strength.
#27
Not a doctor.
My mother kept getting itchy eyes, scratchy throat.
Mom, your drinking stevia. You have a ragweed allergy. Stop drinking that..
She stopped and it was that.
It keeps happening periodically.
Mom, f*****g echinacia. Stop taking that. You're making yourself sick.
Mom, did you look at the label, this has stevia.
Maaaaam whyyyy.
#28
Not. Enough. Fiber.
#29
NOT a medical professional but so far there's been three entirely unrelated people in my life who have casually gone Pants On Head Crazy and then found out they had black mold in their homes.
For the love of god, if you start noticing somebody's lost the plot, lovingly convince them to do black mold testing. If it's not that, their thyroid may have gathered its little coat and hat and suitcase and headed out the door.
#30
Consistently getting less than 7 hours of sleep, even if it's 6.5 hours, is enough to suppress your immune system. This is because deep sleep is extremely important for T-cell function, the cells that seek out and destroy infected cells and cancer. Chronic short sleep leads to more frequent infections and it also takes longer to recover.
#31
Physician:
1. Alcohol
2. Obesity
3. Indiscriminate over the counter supplement use
4. Motorcycles
5. Not wearing a helmet
6. Not treating your high blood pressure because “you feel fine.”
7. Not taking care of your teeth
8. Poverty.
#32
Just because the health condition is common in your family, doesn’t make it “normal” to have that condition.
eg young woman from a family all living with type 2 diabetes, gets diagnosed with gestational diabetes and pretty much ignores it because it’s “normal” in her family.
She’s told over and over to monitor her BGLs and keep them under x level with the insulin etc she’s been prescribed, as high sugars are not only harmful to her but also to her fetus. Lots of education given on all of this and specifically told that her baby could die if she’s not vigilant.
Still does her own thing and to no one’s surprise: stillbirth.
So senseless and avoidable.
#33
Not paying attention to your salt intake, in particular, people with congestive heart failure who don't check labels for sodium content. Here in Louisiana, I see people with CHF going to multiple crawfish boils.
Image credits: lonesomejohnnie
#34
Not following advice like reduce or cut out something in your diet or not exercising. Also, not keeping basic hygiene practices like washing your hands.
#35
High humidity in a house causes mold. Not changing the air filter on your HVAC regularly causes mold/high energy bills.
#36
Stop touching your eyeballs.
#37
I had a Type 1 diabetic patient in medical school who stopped taking her insulin because it would help her lose weight quickly.
Her chronic high blood sugars instead shut her kidneys down and blinded her in one eye. .
#38
Please stop drinking energy drinks.. they are terrible for you!
#39
Hand hygiene
Sleep hygiene
And don’t share clothing/ textiles, materials with people you don’t know.
I work in a jail and once had an entire unit get pinkeye.
When I asked if they shared anything someone said when they work out they all shared one towel to wipe away their sweat.
He was horrified and grossed when I explained how pink eye get transmitted - through poop.
#40
Long-term, low-grade stress.
Everyone focuses on large stressors/traumas/etc, and while yes, those are bad, being consistently stressed over a long period of time is worse. The epigenetic changes alone can be horrific, not even including the direct health concerns.
(Registered social worker, as well as forensic psych/neuroscience student).
#41
I could go to a doctor with an axe in my head and the first things he would tell me are: Don't smoke, exercise more, eat healthier.
Whats often overlooked is I think is: Sleep more, work less.
#42
FOOD. Society does not understand food and what absolute s**t we are sold to put in our bodies. Instead of being educated about it, we just accept chronic illness and pharmaceuticals as the norm.
#43
Taking too much over-the-counter medication.
Taking more ibuprofen doesn't make the pain go away quicker, it kinda just destroys your kidneys over time. Dialysis is a life changing, expensive b***h of a treatment. You don't want it. If you find that you need to take ibuprofen consistently for 2 weeks, you need to see a doctor because ibuprofen isn't helping anymore and something could be wrong.
As for Tylenol, it's the most commonly overdosed medication. Tylenol breaks down into a byproduct that is toxic to your liver. This byproduct builds up when you take more than the prescribed dose. And this byproduct takes a LONG time to go away after it forms. Meaning more liver damage.
But wait, there's more. Unless you've been prescribed to do so by a doctor, you shouldn't need nexium/prilosec/omeprazole for more than a 2 week course. If your symptoms are still there after that, your doc should at least check you out and determine what is causing your heartburn symptoms.
#44
Chronic reflux can cause cancer. Chronic throat clearing isn’t normal. Esp after eating
Snoring doesn’t =sleep apnea. It means you may stop breathing for periods when you sleep, which can cause heart enlargement, high blood pressure, clotting, stroke…..the list goes on. Wear the d**n CPAP
If your blood pressure is normal it doesn’t mean stop taking the BP meds. It means they are working.
A super high blood pressure isn’t just bc you are stressed/ anxious in the moment. That’s probably happening all the time off the monitor and it isn’t good.
A single EKG or a week long holter monitor that doesn’t show atrial fibrillation doesn’t mean you don’t have it- maybe it just didn’t catch it during that period.
These are just a few off the top.
#45
Brush your teeth.
If you have a stomach bug or anything else that causes vomiting and diarrhea, try to keep up with fluids. Crackers or plain toast if you can, but especially water. You lose a lot more water through vomiting or diarrhea than you'd think. Broth, soup and tea are great ways to rehydrate your body. This goes doubly for children, people with illbesses and the elderly.
Check your b***s/testicles regularly for knots and lumps. If you are concerned check with your gp. Anybody can get breast cancer.
Same goes for moles. Any change in size/shape or sudden discharge? Get that checked out. And not just white folks. Anybody can get skin cancer, no matter the amount of melanin in your skin.
Animal bites and scratches should at least (!) rinsed under clean water, better yet apply disinfectant. If the area around it becomes red/warm/swollen go to urgent care. You don't want to lose a hand to a cat scratch.
Try to have some sort of sleep schedule and get around 7 to 8 hours of continuous sleep. Your future self will thank you.
#46
Move.
#47
Check your basement for radon .
#48
Not washing hands before touching and eating food. Wanna grab those chips, wash your hands with soap and water or use a sanitizer.
#49
YOU are the important piece of your healthcare team, they cannot do it without you. Please be an active participant, it improves your overall health.
Take the entire antibiotic prescription.
Do the PT. Do the homework PT gives you.
Wash your hands. WASH YOUR HANDS. Don’t touch your face or open wounds without washing your hands.
It’s okay to use assistive devices. Making a basic life task easier for yourself is not a moral failing or a lack of toughness. There are also really neat libraries of these types of devices.
- medical masks — humans are gross and many don’t have paid leave to be sick. Or they might be sick. Or getting a little allergy relief.
Bonus: Bring a second person to take notes or ask assigned questions if you feel overwhelmed or like it made sense at the time but no longer does when you get to the car — bring a reliable note taker! And bring reminders that you will understand when stressed.
#50
Physician.
Diabetes man. It's such a difficult disease to manage for anyone but particularly when it afflicts lower socioeconomic status. Asking anyone to check their blood sugars 5x a day, manage multiple medications, take insulin, follow up with their physician every 3 months is difficult. Way worse when you don't have access to your medications, can't afford your medications, don't know what your medications do. On top of that.... most people don't feel their high blood sugars so surely "diabetes isn't causing it."
Leads to severe renal disease, blindness, diabetic foot ulcers (many people I see need amputations), severe neuropathy. But it's hard! and when life is hard on you, it makes diabetes even harder on you.
I wish I could say obesity because in my area of the United States, it affects dang near everyone. And it leads to so many untreated issues including obstructive sleep apnea leading to heart failure, obesity hypoventilation syndrome, pulmonary hypertension, metabolic syndromes, and even worse... inability to take care of yourself because you're so obese (think wounds that you are never able to clean). But no one wants to take accountability for their weight even when it does cause problems.
#51
Stop changing your medications on your own. Please no.
The vast majority of the time, you’re just screwing yourself over. A small minority of the time, you’re putting yourself at serious risk of a devastating medical event.
Just don’t. For your own sake.
#52
Ringing in your ears. Not always an elderly thing and not always from lack of ear protection. Intracranial hypertension could be at play. But also, wear that ear protection!
#53
Not sleeping enough!! Sleep is so important. And as a nurse as well as a patient with sleep issues, sleep deprivation can really screw with you in many different ways.
#54
Not a professional, but a med. pleb. Diet plays a huge factor in overall health both short and long term. Especially for those that are lactose intolerant and choose to ignore our body’s signs of displeasure.
