How to Use MedHelp
Introduction
Welcome to MedHelp! MedHelp is an organization who's focus is to provide medical information in non-technical terminology, in order to assist you in understanding your disease/condition and to help you make informed choices if necessary. We are an independent organization, not affiliated with anyone, and strive to provide you with only the Best of the Best information from leading (and highly reputable) sources. This page will give you some recommendations and should answer some of the more frequently asked questions.
Finding Information
In general, it is unwise to try to diagnose yourself. If you have a medical problem we strongly recommend that you seek a qualified medical opinion from someone that can see you, conduct tests if necessary, and diagnose you properly. It is also equally unwise to try to get a diagnosis sight-unseen via the Internet.
Once you have a diagnosis you can search our site for information. We have on-line over 60,000 entries in our Search Engine, almost all information on our site is non-technical. After you go to our Search page, enter the name of the disease or condition you are looking for information on. Keep it simple, one or two terms (e.g. colon cancer, lupus, chickenpox). Our Search Engine will provide you with many articles you can read where you can get started in your road to knowledge. It will be both easier and faster if you start your journey by reading the information that is already on-line. It is also a good idea to print out articles that you find useful, so they can be re-read many times. You will find that some of the more technical articles take a while to be fully understood.
Posting a Question
MedHelp is currently hosting several medical specialty forums. In these forums you can post a question to a medical professional (doctor or nurse). Questions are usually answered within a few days, and your answer will be posted back in the Forum. Answers will stay on-line for a week or two, after which they will be kept in the Forum's Archive. You can go into a Forum from our Home Page or from our Forum Page.
In order to post a question:
* One last note, all doctor answers get swept into the Forum's Archive, if you don't return for a few weeks you can search for your message and answer there. Enter the Forum and click on the button called Archive, you can then either browse by topic, search the MedHelp site, or look for a posting based on author's name (You!).
Regards,
Cindy & Phil
Founders
Welcome to MedHelp! MedHelp is an organization who's focus is to provide medical information in non-technical terminology, in order to assist you in understanding your disease/condition and to help you make informed choices if necessary. We are an independent organization, not affiliated with anyone, and strive to provide you with only the Best of the Best information from leading (and highly reputable) sources. This page will give you some recommendations and should answer some of the more frequently asked questions.
Finding Information
In general, it is unwise to try to diagnose yourself. If you have a medical problem we strongly recommend that you seek a qualified medical opinion from someone that can see you, conduct tests if necessary, and diagnose you properly. It is also equally unwise to try to get a diagnosis sight-unseen via the Internet.
Once you have a diagnosis you can search our site for information. We have on-line over 60,000 entries in our Search Engine, almost all information on our site is non-technical. After you go to our Search page, enter the name of the disease or condition you are looking for information on. Keep it simple, one or two terms (e.g. colon cancer, lupus, chickenpox). Our Search Engine will provide you with many articles you can read where you can get started in your road to knowledge. It will be both easier and faster if you start your journey by reading the information that is already on-line. It is also a good idea to print out articles that you find useful, so they can be re-read many times. You will find that some of the more technical articles take a while to be fully understood.
Posting a Question
MedHelp is currently hosting several medical specialty forums. In these forums you can post a question to a medical professional (doctor or nurse). Questions are usually answered within a few days, and your answer will be posted back in the Forum. Answers will stay on-line for a week or two, after which they will be kept in the Forum's Archive. You can go into a Forum from our Home Page or from our Forum Page.
In order to post a question:
- Select one of the forums that is most appropriate for your question (Heart, Gastroenterology, Neurology, etc.).
- All of the Forums have an initial opening page which allows you to sign up for a newsletter if you'd like, and the disclaimer statement and rules.
- Once you click on the AGREE button you will be in the Forum.
- The Forums are structured as Question-Answer-Answer, etc. The purpose of these forums is to help you better understand your condition, NOT to get a diagnosis. You can see that the messages are in "threads" based on topic.
- Click on the Post A Question button.
- We then require you to enter your name and address in order to register with us. (This information is kept confidential and we use it for demographics and for patient satisfaction questionnaires).
- You will then be presented with a page which you can fill out in order to post your question.
- Done!
- Please be patient, some of the more difficult questions may take a bit longer to answer and please also note that the staff that are answering these questions are doing this as their time allows, they are also seeing patients. If your question is urgent or an emergency please call your health care provider or 911. The purpose of these forums are to help you better understand your disease/condition, NOT to provide emergency care. Please also note that not all forums are staffed with doctors but some are patient-to-patient forums.
* One last note, all doctor answers get swept into the Forum's Archive, if you don't return for a few weeks you can search for your message and answer there. Enter the Forum and click on the button called Archive, you can then either browse by topic, search the MedHelp site, or look for a posting based on author's name (You!).
Regards,
Cindy & Phil
Founders