Why do people ask medical questions reguarding to thier children on Answers?
472219
I often ask the same thing.  No one can diagnose without seeing the child.  And, why ask kids, teens and people with no medical background at all for help?  \n\nI am a nurse and I am often shocked at the advice I see others give on here.  Some of it, if followed would do far more harm than good.  People should not answer questions that they are not qualified to answer, in my opinion.
1001319
People ask in forums like this for 2 reasons \n1. Because they are unsure of there own beliefs and want someone else to clear up there doubts\n2. Because they don't want to be looked down upon for asking and then confirming there doubts when they know they should have no doubts to begin with
782410
*laugh* Because some of us like exposing our problems to the world? Personally, I hate doctors and in the time zone here, I'd be lucky to get anyone on the phone, so I ask here for immediate advice. If the resounding answer is "go to the doctor", then I will go in the morning. But sometimes (and especially for pregnancy questions), the answer isn't that simple and people are looking for answers and other questions to ask. At the very least, there is a support system here that isn't at the doctor's.\n\n~~Naomi
791721
What one person finds embarrassing another person might not, so those questions that you consider not to be embarrassing   may be very embarrassing for the asker.  So they post a question here rather than visit their GP.\n\nSometimes being friendly with your GP is a stumbling block when it comes to asking personal questions and some people would prefer to speak to a locum doctor whom they have never met before.\n\n\nEDIT I think I have completely the wrong end of the stick here. Thinking about my reply. I think that some of the medical questions asked on here are deliberately gross so as to shock us and not even worthy of a reply. \n\nAnd as for your comments about your favourite questions about pregnancy and women who have just given birth. You have no idea my friend no idea what you are going on about....and it's just sheer ignorance for you to make comment.\n\n\nHi there again if you don't mind me saying, if you expect the right type of answers would it be fair to say that you need to tell us the whole story before you post your question? That way you will get answers that are worth the paper they are typed on.\n\nGood news about the wee one though. Congratulations.\n\nNo 10 points for me then!
35488
Yes. I think they do it to keep people from asking idle questions.  If you know it'll cost you a point, most people will refrain from asking things like, "Would you kiss my pet gerbil?" or some other nonsense.
1121201
An excellent point! I am a psychologist and I am bit alarmed at some of the answers given to quite technical, medical questions. While a small % of the questions I have seen are obviously from 'cranks' most of them seem genuine and the people concerned are obviously anxious about their condition.\n\nI agree with your point, re drugs, and people who are not medically trained should NOT be giving advice on drugs at all - even if they have just read up on then in Wikipedia (not always a reliable source!!!!).\n\nI think this type is site is fun - but this medical section is becoming a genuine concern for me.
348787
Usually for two reasons: they don't want to share the answer, or they don't know the answer.\n\nThe first reason is because they either want to keep the advantage of knowing the answer, or they want to preserve their privacy if it is a personal question.\n\nThe second reason is because they believe that they should know the answer.  They feel that not knowing means they are stupid, when in fact it is simply something they just didn't know yet.\n\nThere is a third reason.  They have been answering questions all day, and now they want a break.
40632
There could be several reasons. For example, they could have nothing better to do with their lives than take a perfectly innocent question and cry "Foul!" because they don't agree with how it's worded or spelled.  Another might be because they have been so used to questions about more disgusting topics that when a cleaner one comes up they don't know how to handle it.
383542
Emma, I agree with you 100%.  I too don't understand why they do it.  I always reply with "ask you doctor this question" when I see stuff like this floating around.\n\nEspecially, pregnant women with questions which should only be asked to their doctors.\n\nI will sit back and read the other replies.
617485
There are, of course, many humourous and also silly questions. But the interesting part of "Answers" is to ask something you really want to know, be it a clear answer or just opinions, and thus get inputs which are interesting or of help to you.\n\nTalking about my experience, I have asked several questions about something I wanted to know precisely, and got  the right answer, which was really helpful and I appreciated.\n\nAs far as the answer one gives to other's questions is concerned, for me its the same procedure. To me it makes no sense at all to want to impose one's opinion to others. For such purpose you would need a chat procedure having a dialogue, and not just your answer to the question.
1021174
one who is asking  featured questions abt parental...huh
577507
As a moderator for several years of a health-related group, I found that a lot of people complained that their doctors were too rushed to answer their questions thoroughly, or worse yet just kind of pass them off. Many people have many more questions than they feel they can comfortably ask at a single doctor visit, and for many subsequent visits only bring up more questions. With the medical system the way it is today, doctors are rushed, and patients know it. Many times people feel guilty or uncomfortable trying to push for an answer. And there are a lot of doctors out there, whether they mean to be or not, who come across to some of their patients as unapproachable when it comes to asking questions.\n\nIn regards to dosing issues, many times drugs are used "off label" - prescribed for something other than it is approved for (for example, currently autoimmune chronic hives are being treated by some doctors with cyclosporine, an anti-rejection med used in transplant patients), or they are prescribed at higher doses (again, with chronic hives most hivers are prescribed double the usual daily dose of antihistamines, if not more). When people are given a prescription like this, it's natural to seek reassurance that this is the norm and ok, even though it was ordered by their doctors. \n\nI hope that most people who are asking health related questions are taking the information they gain from this site and use that information for further research on the internet, to confirm the information, or to give them ideas of what else to possibly look for....  And also they are hopefully using any info they get here to construct questions to ask their doctors, or to make sensible decisions with their doctors....\n\n(added May 29th) Forgot mention - Another thing I've seen a lot of as a moderator is that there are surprisingly quite a few doctors out there, even specialists, who don't know as much as one would expect. For example, with the chronic hives, there are still doctors out there who insist on doing allergy testing, even though there is plenty of documentation in the medical literature that such testing is not only a waste of time/money (very high incidence of false positive results in chronic hivers), but can be dangerous for quite a few hivers, resulting in anaphylaxis. And we also constantly see people whose doctors only have them on minimal medication, when again there is more than ample documentation that chronic hives usually requires a cocktail of meds often at higher-than-label dosing. So I can definitely understand why people are turning to fellow patients for more information.
531212
the question should be why do so many sickos write questions on here wen they no will kids see them
1020307
Yes, at any age! When a child begins to ask questions, you should give age appropriate answers. Not too much information for the age, but enough to satisfy their curiosity. If you don't educate your children in an appropriate manner they will learn things from other children. This "knowledge"is not always correct and is usually not age appropriate! Some children are exposed to some pretty horrible things(sexual abuse,etc.) that to them may seem normal. I don't want my children to learn about those things in that manner!! Don't know about you but I prefer to teach my own children, however, I don't mind educational material taught in a professional way in the classroom. This helps the children who are not taught by their parents, and hopefully, will help those children make intelligent decisions concerning the results of having sex at a young age.
830162
Because they liked other answers better.  But, don't get upset over it. Depending on the subject, you will get the best answer, it may take a bit of time, but it will happen.
74427
In theory, you are hopefully getting answers from real people with real experience.  Sometimes it doesn't always work the way.\n\nI recently responded to a question about whether you could sue a minor child.  4 others responded besides me and I was the only attorney responded.  The other people were just plain wrong in their answers, so it helps to know the basis or sources for the answer.
416214
Because you can easily answer a question like this with a simple sentance, or even one or two words. But if I ask you something serious you might have to write a paragraph or do some other research. Plus, anyone can give advice or answer a serious joke, if you asking questions about how to set up your TV or a question about history, maybe only a few people actually know the answer. \n\nAnother thing is, after looking at most of the questions on here, I have to assume that 95% of the users on here are pre-teen girls looking for dating advice.