this post was submitted on 02 Nov 2025
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Chapotraphouse

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This image sums up quite well my experience trying to use google in 2025 to inquire about serious health issues for the past week (hexbear.net)
submitted 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) by Comrade_Mushroom@hexbear.net to c/chapotraphouse@hexbear.net
18 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Got cellulitis, trying to understand how, everything I search for is either completely irrelevant or some shit like this where the results contradict each other, even under the tab of the exact same question

Of course this is just how trying to search almost fucking anything works now but it's been especially daunting when dealing with a health concern - same issue with a pet being sick, same issue with trying to look up stuff related to legal concerns, same issue with fucking everything that is more complicated than trying to find the address of a nearby location

Genuinely feels like we have regressed back to the point that there's no value in trying to use a search engine to find an answer, I can only get reliable results by calling a fucking hotline to talk to a professional

vegeta-pain

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[–] SoyViking@hexbear.net 17 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I was dealing with some muscle pain issues a while back and googled for advice on how to deal with it. All the top results were privately practicing physiotherapists singing the praises of bandages (that they also happened to sell). But then I went to a government-run health website with content written by healthcare professionals. That site said that there was no evidence that the bandages worked.

I hate the profit motive.

[–] hellinkilla@hexbear.net 8 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I don't understand why people who have any choice at all would choose go for-profit when public healthcare exists. In for-profit healthcare you are treated as a customer which the salesperson wishes to extract resources from.

People talk about how it's good if you can afford it but they don't consider how bad and self-serving the providers are incentived to be. In all kinds of ways.

[–] SoyViking@hexbear.net 2 points 3 months ago

I suspect that many people actually find for-profit solutions attractive due to their exclusionary nature. I'm not only paying to get my teeth fixed or my pain sorted out, I'm paying to feel better than the riffraff who can't afford these services.

The way things are set up, private healthcare also feels like it's better than public. And in some senses it is, like having much shorter waiting lists or being free from the fiscal and bureaucratic straitjackets imposed by neoliberalism. But I also think the priceyness of private healthcare in itself does a lot to increase perceived quality. You paid more for the premium version, so of course it's going to be better than the free version.

[–] hellinkilla@hexbear.net 8 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

As to the specific issue of cellulitis, good news. If there is nothing immediately obvious about why you got it, then there's probably nothing to know. It's just a thing that happens sometimes. It's caused by existing as an alive organism in a world full of other alive organisms.

I can only get reliable results by calling a fucking hotline to talk to a professional

You should use those services, it shows there's demand for them. Also if you don't have a good one near you and your question isn't regional, you can always contact one in a another place. And there is always the library. They have people paid to help you find any information your heart desires.

One trick I use is to try to find relevant professional organizations and see if there are any publications. Sometimes you can find general-readership explainers. For more indepth stuff, documents written towards professional themselves are great. When my cats had health issues I looked up vet associations. I found a practice guidelines that briefly outlined how the issues are differentiated, diagnosed, treated, followed etc. It was good because the vet was a bit of a dope. Not research articles though, they can be misleading. For law, you look for similar thing: lawyers associations or legal clinics/non-profits or advocacy organizations that practice in relevant jurisdiction. Do not believe anything from a lawyer/lawfirm website if it is tending to convince you that you "have a case". They are parasites. And don't read case law, there is no way you can correctly understand the application.

Here is a search I did for your question: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=american+dermatology+cellulitis #1 hit: Cellulitis: Diagnosis and treatment (American Academy of Dermatology) use the navigation on the left, there are a few other related pages. If you want to know more for some reason, look up their citations in sci hub.

[–] Comrade_Mushroom@hexbear.net 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

As to the specific issue of cellulitis, good news. If there is nothing immediately obvious about why you got it, then there's probably nothing to know. It's just a thing that happens sometimes. It's caused by existing as an alive organism in a world full of other alive organisms.

Well, I do have chronic edema, particularly in the foot where the infection started, and supposedly that lack of blood flow can allow cellulitis to take root. So I'm trying to understand better all the ways I can ease the swelling in that foot - especially since the idea of being on rigid timers that force me to get up and move around and/or put the leg up on a strict schedule for the rest of my life is not particularly appealing to me as a way to live. I already move around, exercise, eat way better, drink way more water than when I developed the swelling years ago.

It could also just be bad luck, of course I hope that is the case!

[–] Fossifoo@hexbear.net 7 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Add "before:2022" to your search query. Tada, actual information. As long as it's not very current events.

[–] Comrade_Mushroom@hexbear.net 2 points 3 months ago

Interesting, gonna try this.

[–] movie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 3 months ago

https://www.msdmanuals.com/home/ Use search feature to find what you are interested in. Its a legit source.

[–] Maeve@kbin.earth 2 points 3 months ago (2 children)

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/15071-cellulitis

[–] CrawlMarks@hexbear.net 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

o7

Beat me, I was gonna post some screenshot from a pirated text book but this is a better idea.

[–] Angelevo@feddit.nl 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Ecosia is the correct search engine. Finds less than google initially; better for nature always, more effective than AI when used correctly.

Cellulitis can be treated in several ways. First thing I would recommend is proper massage.