Getting health advice off the Internet

Look there is a ton of great information to be gained in this area of health. WebMD and sites like that are incredibly solid sources. Message boards for specific problems are spectacular for people dealing with those problems.

On the other hand looking for help on the Internet before doing something whether before doing something or dealing with a problem is very risky. In particular I know of several message boards on BDSM that have health and safety sections. I also know that very few people who post in those sections are in the direct medical fields and many like me avoid those sections like the plague.

The reasons are very simple. Medical problems are not simple. There are extremely few things that have simple this is what it is and can be treated simply by doing this. Everyone is different and it is somewhat crazy to take advice from a complete stranger who you do not know. When I click on these types of posts often it is people looking for the answer they want to hear and not open to any other. This is bad.

The reason people like me do not touch these topics is because we know better. When someone goes this happen to me or can I do this I cannot even venture a guess because I have no idea. No one really knows the overall health of the person, their medical history, medications they are already on, what type of information they might be withholding or are not aware enough to disclose and other reasons. Health and safety is relative and not a fixed position.

So please avoid using the Internet to try to avoid seeing a doctor or to save some money. It is a great tool to gather information before going to the doctor to help ask and answer questions and great for after if you want to research what the doctor told you. It is though a dangerous game if you try to replace a doctor with words read.

Doctors and BDSM

I see and get asked a lot about this. Are there doctors BDSM friendly. Yes, the answer is all doctors are BDSM friendly. Now of course I am not really answering that question as people are asking that are wanting to see a doctor and not be scared or freak out the doctor with presenting information or innocent bruises or something directly needs to be treated.

Understand something, doctors and nurses are just like you and treat our jobs the same way. Just like you on your job have probably seen it all in the specific things that are a part of your job we are the same. I work in an ER and judging goes out the window roughly the first day I started working. BDSM injuries or questions are just not all that interesting and at worse are going to be turned into some faceless anecdote. The bigger problem is caused when people lie about things as it hurts the possible treatment if we do not know what to ask or look for. Trust me even a smile and some small talk amongst ourselves is your biggest worry and that is for a few seconds that is out of our heads as soon as it hits our ears.

In terms of being afraid of them calling the police in terms of abuse most doctors and nurses have seen it all and can spot BDSM marks from abuse. Even when that does not happen we are trained and also all social workers and police are trained to look for mental symptoms and clues if it is abuse or accident. Being nervous and lying is not good. Being calm and matter of fact is. The big picture is you are just another patient in an endless stream.

Now for your regular doctor if you live in a small populated area and/or socialize in the same circle as your doctor then find another doctor if this makes you nervous. Just do not worry about going to see the doctor of your choice. If they are rude or judgmental of your choices just find another. They probably are rude and judgmental to many other patients anyway.