- 1). Write down any new aches, pains or other unusual feelings or reactions in your body for a day or two. This could be an upset stomach, a persistent headache, abnormal bowel movements, burning upon urination, pain in one of your joints, heart palpitations, sore throat, ongoing cough, a rash, irregular period or anything else that is unusual for you.
- 2). Rule out certain obvious causes, such as an upset stomach upon drinking expired milk or a bruise on your shin after colliding with the coffee table.
- 3). Go to the symptoms page of an online health site, like mayoclinic.com or medicinenet.com, or a book (see Resources) to check your symptoms. There will be general categories you can start with, such as skin, eyes/ears and abdomen. Medicinenet even has a sketch of the human body so you can point to an area in case you are unsure of some terminology. As you select the symptoms that you are experiencing, the questions and indications will get more specific (earache, ringing in the ears, loss of hearing). Once you've identified your health issue, you can read about the causes, treatment and future preventive measures.
- 4). See your doctor if the treatment for your health problem is not a simple home remedy or if you have any uncertainty about the diagnosis.
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