I cannot be getting sick right now. This is the last thing I need. When I feel the slight pressure that signals the beginning of a headache, the sniffles that can only become a runny nose, or the scratchy, dry throat that will soon be on fire, I can only worry.  For a few hours, I will try to ignore it. Then, when it becomes more persistent, I will often head to WebMD to see what I can do to fix the problem.

WebMD and I are old friends.  We go all the way back to my first year of college, when good old Student Health told me it was just a sore throat that would go away with time; it didn’t go away. Instead, it got worse, and I turned to WebMD’s symptom checker.

Click on the part of the body where it hurts, and the website will spit out suggestions for what could be wrong with you. I scanned the list of illnesses and began to worry. Could I have mumps? Scarlet fever? Bird flu? Suddenly, I wished it was just the sore throat.

A multitude of options for health information is available online. Many websites, like WebMD or MayoClinic.com, are reputable resources for information. Backed by doctors and other health professionals, these websites offer everything from articles on how to get better sleep and background and treatment information for many illnesses to an explanation of frequent sports-related injuries. Many of these websites also include Symptom Checkers, where a visitor can input his or her symptoms and receive a list of possible illnesses.

Anyone curious can learn a great deal from these websites. Just by perusing the articles listed on the front page, one can learn about how to lead a long, healthy life. Information can be found about the importance of exercise and nutrition, guides to children’s health, or when to get screenings for age-related illnesses.

For those who want to keep up to date on the medical world, one can also find articles about the latest medical findings. As a tool used for maintaining a healthy, happy lifestyle, these medical websites are an excellent find.

However, while these health-related resources can be extremely beneficial, it is easy for them to be used the wrong way. My sore throat story is an example of one such way. I knew that, realistically, I did not have scarlet fever, but once the idea was planted firmly in my head, I could not seem to let it go. And I am not the only one; I know a lot of people who have reacted the same way. They go to WebMD to calm themselves down over a simple stomach ache, and come out wondering if they have Salmonella.

“The problem is that some symptoms can have so many causes,” said a friend. “A headache can be from dehydration or from a brain tumor, and there aren’t that many ways for a website to tell the difference between the two.”

This can lead to wide-spread hypochondria, when those who would normally push an ache or pain to the back of their minds suddenly think it might be the symptom of a life-threatening illness. WebMD addresses this in their disclaimer, pointing out that the information on their website is “for informational purposes only,” and that “reliance on any information provided by WebMD, WebMD employees, others appearing on the Site at the invitation of WebMD, or other visitors to the Site is solely at your own risk.”

Some websites are not as reputable as WebMD and can give false information. With the invention of the Internet, anyone can create a website, and become a so-called “medical expert.” A Google search of any medical condition or question will return thousands upon thousands of results, half of which are inaccurate. Just because someone puts the “M.D.” behind his or her name does not mean that he or she is actually a doctor, so one has to be wary of what sites to trust.

If you are going to look up health information online, be sure you do it on a reputable website, such as WebMD or MayoClinic.com. However, even when looking on these sites, take whatever you learn with a grain of salt.

Just as an IM conversation cannot replace seeing a friend in person, diagnosing yourself on a website should not replace actually going to see a doctor. It’s probably best to use these websites as a way to supplement the information you get in a physician’s office, not to replace it, because chances are, when you bring up scarlet fever, your doctor will laugh. Mine did. And then he put me on antibiotics for strep throat.