Posters asking for / offering medical advice

[Lockheart]

I know that lots of people want to air their worries and discuss with those experiencing similar problems, but I feel like recently there have been quite a number of posts directly asking for medical (or dental) advice. It's always been around but obviously increasing in the current circumstances.

What is MNHQs policy on allowing these threads and posts to stand? Ultimately however well meaning someone may seem and however well qualified they say they are, there's really no way to verify that.

And quite often, some of the advice I've seen offered is dangerous, and based off urban myths. If someone followed some of the tips I've seen then they could really end up harming themselves.

Would you consider putting a warning on these sorts of threads, urging people to take real life, official medical advice? Similar to the way other warnings are posted on some threads about not giving money.

There usually is a caveat at the top of the thread saying that MN has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting, and advising OPs to consult their own doc etc.

There is in the health sections @Babdoc but not in AIBU or Chat, for example, which is where a lot of people post for traffic.

There's a caveat when I log onto the app

Hi OP

Of course!

If you see lots of advice being offered that doesn't seem quite right, just report the thread to us. We're always happy to hop on and remind everyone that it is the internet - and real life medical advice is far more beneficial.

To some extent it is also self policing, OP, in that when I (or any of the many other doctors on MN) spot wrong or dangerous advice we always correct it, or post appropriate warnings.
If people are posting on general chat rather than the health boards, I think it’s rather equivalent to asking friends in the pub for advice - they’re not necessarily expecting a professional medical consultation, just a chance to air worries, see if anyone else has suffered similar, or to seek encouragement to contact their doctor. Many women fear wasting their GP’s time with trivia, and need reassured that their concern is genuine and needs investigated.