We recently asked the medical professionals of the BuzzFeed Community to tell us the “small” health issues people ignore that are actually serious. Here are the eye-opening results:
1.“Snoring. Sleep apnea makes just about every other health condition worse because you aren’t sleeping, and your body can’t heal and recover overnight. It’s not normal to snore; get it checked out and start using CPAP.”
“Ditto: if you’re tired all the time and fall asleep every time you sit down.”
—Anonymous, 40, Canada
“Sleep apnea. I’ve seen patients come in with pretty bad heart failure after never using their CPAP machine at night. People have no idea how much strain being unable to breathe at night affects their hearts. Use your CPAP machine! It may be ugly, but it will keep your heart strong so you can live out the many years you have left.”
—Anonymous, 34, Ohio
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2.“Nurse here. Infected hair follicles or bug bites. Cellulitis is no joke. I’ve seen people lose limbs by ignoring the infection, or worse, become septic and end up in the ICU. Never ignore an infection, no matter how small it seems.”
—Anonymous, 40, Pennsylvania
3.“High blood pressure! Even if it’s only a little high, it still causes big problems over the long term. You have to know that extra pressure in your blood vessels just wrecks them. And where do you have blood vessels? Freaking everywhere!!! Heart, kidneys, GI tract, your BRAIN! That’s why it puts you at risk for heart attacks, strokes, etc.”
“Lifestyle changes, like diet and exercise, are so important, but I understand it’s tough to stick with them sometimes. But taking a pill or two is easy, and most of these drugs are very cheap. Just take your meds!!!!!!”
—Anonymous, 44, Chicago
4.“Hiccups that last more than 48 hours are never good. It means that something is irritating either your diaphragm or the nerves that control it. This could be a tumor, an abscess, or even a heart attack or stroke. I’ve seen it a few times, and it’s almost always a sign of something bad.”
—Anonymous, 40, Canada
5.“I’m an ICU Nurse. If the patient or family member can answer, one of the questions we ask at admission is ‘When was your last bowel movement?’ Because you should be having a minimum of three per week, preferably one good ‘number two’ a day. I had a patient who came in for a distended abdomen, nausea, couldn’t keep food down, and wayward blood pressure with altered mental status. On his way up from the ER, he started vomiting fecal matter out of his mouth.”
“I was tasked with starting a tube into his stomach to suction off the fecal matter, but he was just vomiting so much we were worried he might aspirate poo into his lungs — which is exactly what happened when he was taken to the Operating Room to work on his bowel obstruction. At some point in the OR, during or after the intubation, liquid poop that had festered in his GI system entered his lungs. They brought him back mid-code, and he died soon after. He hadn’t had a true bowel movement in over two weeks. He knew, family knew. But he tried to tough it out and kept eating full meals without pooing. He was 45 years old, now departed. “
—Anonymous, 44, Kentucky
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6.“Don’t ignore a persistent runny nose or nasal drip down your throat after hitting your head! What you might think is just sinus drainage could actually be cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leaking from a fracture in the cribiform plate of your skull. Unlike mucus, CSF often tastes salty or metallic, and it won’t stiffen a handkerchief when it dries.”
“Other symptoms you might have with a CSF leak are a headache that worsens when you stand up, nausea, vomiting, or neck stiffness. If you have these symptoms, go to the doctor as soon as possible because your brain will be vulnerable to infection.”
—Anonymous, 26, Kansas
7.“Acid reflux! So many patients overlook this because their symptoms can be controlled with over-the-counter medications. Reflux places patients at high risk for gastrointestinal cancers, and there may be underlying causes, like bacterial infection or an ulcer, that are driving the difficult-to-control reflux.”
“If it isn’t getting better or you need an over-the-counter medication frequently to control reflux, it is worth seeing your doctor!”
—Anonymous, 30, Washington
8.“Abnormal pap smears. Women are afraid or may have barriers to care (immigration status) and deferring treatment of abnormal paps. Additionally, we are seeing more and more young women who have not received the HPV vaccine. Thus, after deferring treatment, they are subsequently diagnosed with cervical cancer. Routine screening and follow-up are important!”
—Anonymous, 32, Texas
9.“Suddenly having easy and frequent bruising. I work in a lab, specifically in hematology (blood), coagulation (blood clotting), and flow cytometry (finding abnormal blood cells). It seems like almost every week, we’re diagnosing someone with an acute leukemia (basically, a sudden onset of cancerous white blood cells). This can happen to anyone of any age, regardless of lifestyle. The main symptom that people have is suddenly noticing that they have bruises everywhere; it’s often accompanied by flulike symptoms and edema (localized swelling).”
“There are many, many different kinds of acute leukemias, some of which can be more mild and ‘easily’ treatable, but there are some that are incredibly progressive, and the time from initial diagnosis to death is a matter of days; not to get into it scientifically, but the degree of severity has to do with what kind of blood cell is the cancerous one. It’s always better to be safe than sorry, especially since just one simple and routine lab test can determine whether or not this is an avenue the pathologists need to go down for a diagnosis.”
—Anonymous, 29, Ohio
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10.“Lingering coughs. If you had a respiratory infection and are still coughing months later, please see your doctor!”
—Anonymous, 37, New York
11.“That one mole on your head/back/neck wherever that’s gotten bigger over the years or is sometimes scabby — it’s probably skin cancer.”
—Anonymous, 40, Canada
12.“Glaucoma has no symptoms until late stage. Yearly dilated eye exams can monitor for it, but I’ve seen patients diagnosed early and then they never follow up and return years later with significant peripheral vision loss.”
“People think because it’s mild and they have no symptoms that it’s not a big deal. Damage is irreversible, so it’s important to catch and treat it early.”
—Anonymous, 24, Ohio
13.“Sudden change in vision. Never skip regular eye exams.”
—fabprincess48
“Your eye doctor can catch all kinds of conditions, and your vision changes over your lifetime, anyway.
—kittylane276
Diego Giraldo / Getty Images
14.“Colorectal surgeon here. A change in your bowel habit, such as diarrhoea or constipation, that lasts longer than six weeks, without any obvious cause (e.g., change in diet, change in medication, sudden life event, etc.) should be checked out. It’s very likely to be nothing, but it can be subtle early signs of a polyp or cancer in the bowel or abdomen.”
—Anonymous, 40, UK
15.“Blood in your stools or urine doesn’t belong there; get thee to a doctor ASAP.”
—Anonymous, 40, Canada
16.“If a man is admitted into my unit, and he has baby-smooth legs (and clearly doesn’t shave), that points to peripheral artery disease. In other words, the blood flow in your arteries is compromised to the point that blood and nutrients aren’t supplying your body with what it needs to keep your leg hair.”
“And it also means you are at a higher risk for stroke, non-healing wounds, infections, etc.”
—Anonymous, 46, North Carolina
17.“Middle-aged to older women with symptoms of jaw pain with or without nausea. Sometimes (not all the time), these could be symptoms of a heart attack. Heart attacks are called the silent killer of women for a reason; most often, women experience nonspecific symptoms that are easily attributed to something else minor. BUT one symptom that anyone should NEVER ignore is a feeling of an impending sense of doom.”
“Go to the ER right away if you feel this because it usually does mean something very bad will happen if you don’t.“
—Anonymous, 33, California
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18.“Take care of your teeth! Look out for tooth pain or tooth decay. Bacteria from oral infections can enter the bloodstream and cause inflammation in the heart. That inflammation can escalate to heart attacks, strokes, and valve disease!”
—Anonymous, 31, Colorado
19.“Not necessarily small, but important. I’m a physical therapist who specializes in post-concussion treatment. A lot of people hit their head and then have symptoms (headache, neck pain, dizziness, imbalance, visual changes, cognitive changes, etc.) and don’t realize this is a concussion. They wait longer to see a professional because they think the symptoms will go away (sometimes they do; sometimes they don’t).”
“By then, the symptoms could have been worse and prevented from becoming exacerbated. So, if you hit your head and have symptoms, get checked out for a concussion.“
—Anonymous, 30, Pennsylvania
20.“I’m a medical student, and I’d be concerned about swelling of the lymph node above the left collarbone. This lymph node is named Virchow’s Node and is known for its association with cancer. Though there are instances where the swelling can be due to something harmless, it’s certainly worth getting checked out due to the severity of implications.”
—Anonymous, 29, Vermont
And finally…
21.“General surgery NP here. Unexplained weight loss is a small symptom that can be a huge red flag. I’m not talking about just a couple of pounds — more like over 10 pounds with no dietary/medication changes or other contributing factors. I see a lot of colorectal and pancreatic cancers in my practice, and unexplained weight loss has been a presenting symptom in so many cases, even before the other more common symptoms (such as blood in the stool, jaundice, changes in bowel habits, etc.).”
“If you are losing weight and can’t figure out why, please see your doctor and get some testing done. It could save your life.“
—Anonymous, 37, West Virginia
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Fellow medical professionals, what other “small” health signs should people never ignore and why? Tell us in the comments, or use this anonymous form below.
