Medical Professionals Are Revealing The “Small” Health Signs You Should Never, Ever Ignore

We recently wrote a post where medical professionals revealed the “small” health signs you shouldn’t ignore. In the comments, doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals shared the warning signs that people often ignore, which could signal a serious health issue. Here’s what they had to say:

Note: Some responses were pulled from these two Reddit threads.

1. “Little lumps on your gum. Now, it could be a fibroma or a bony growth, but especially in decaying teeth, it could be a dental abscess (where the pulp is infected) and could lead to more serious health conditions, IV drips, and even death if not treated.”

—Anonymous

2. “I specialize in obesity and nutrition: If you lost more than 30% of your weight on a GLP-1 like Ozempic or Wegovy, you likely need other stuff checked out. I’ve seen multiple instances of cancers missed because we were blaming the Wegovy, and they had colon cancer.“

—Anonymous, 31, Pennsylvania

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3. “Don’t ignore sudden severe itching in pregnancy; this can be a sign of liver disease and may need early delivery of the baby and possible liver transplant eval.”

—Anonymous, 31, Pennsylvania

4. “When someone says, ‘You know, I lost vision in that eye a couple of weeks ago. But I had another appointment that day, so I waited two weeks to come in.’ Or some variation. Happens all the time. If you suddenly lose vision in one eye, get to an eye doctor immediately. Don’t wait. It’s always less fixable with time.”

—u/eyezontheprize30

5. “Stomach cramps/abdominal pain that can lead to a burst appendix. Usually, it feels like really bad acid reflux.”

—u/Arena89

6. “MD, Interventional Cardiology. STEMIs, for me. People have had chest pain for six days, but only come in because it still hasn’t gone away. Whoops, your entire anterior wall is dead because you came in too late for revascularization. I hope you don’t mind wearing an external defibrillator for the next three months.”

—u/Onion01

7. “I’m in podiatry. Ingrown nails are always a warning sign. I’ve seen my share of home bathtub nail procedures go south and risk the limb.”

—u/SadFortuneCookie

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8. “The amount of diabetic feet I see is staggering. Literally 90% (the rest is planned follow-ups for operations) of my wound clinic is people who tried to treat their charcot feet and diabetic ulcers themselves, usually right to the point where the chances of getting away without amputation are slim to none.”

—u/D15c0untMD

9. “Like, I’ve seen patients with vague, intermittent ‘dizziness,’ that actually has been happening for months. It’s always: ‘OMG. What’s wrong with me? This is so strange; better go to the ER.’ But on the other hand, some people wake up and their arm doesn’t work, and they’re like, ‘Hmm, maybe I can ride this one out.'”

—u/noteasybeincheesy

“I’m always impressed at the people who think they’re having a stroke, are in fact having a stroke, and still wait to see if they feel better the next day before going to the hospital.”

—[redacted]

10. “‘I’ve been sweating excessively in the middle of the night.’ ‘You have been coughing?’ Answer = Yes. Time to look for tuberculosis. ‘You have been coughing?’ Answer = No. Time to look for cancer.”

—u/HermanRV

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11. “An example with pregnant patients: ‘My baby was moving a lot last week, but he hasn’t moved or kicked all this week. I’m a bit concerned.’ Me: ‘OK, let’s take a look.’ (In my head: WHY DIDN’T YOU COME EARLIER!?).”

—u/HermanRV

12. “People with minor bite wounds at home sometimes try to glue the laceration shut. This is bad. It turns an ED visit with a few sutures and an augmentin prescription into an inpatient stay.”

—u/thetreece

13. “Don’t ignore pooping yourself while having back pain. Or, being unable to poop or pee properly. I had three patients in the last week with this who wouldn’t go to the ER because they didn’t want to wait. One osteoporosis-based sacral fracture and two severe cervical stenosis with myelopathy/radiculopathy.”

—u/Olyfishmouth

14. “I’m honestly shocked at how many new-onset diabetes cases with DKA (Diabetic Ketoacidosis) I see, and the parents didn’t think it was abnormal that their kid had lost 20 pounds in two months. Unintentional weight loss is never normal. It’s almost always associated with something serious, whether it be AIDS, new diabetes, or a malignancy. I feel like this should just be common sense, but it’s apparently not.”

—u/halp-im-lost

15. “Never ignore oral health issues. Visit any cardiology ward, and several patients will have had or are waiting for tooth extractions. Poor oral health can kill you.”

—bubblyelephant984

16. “I wish patients would recognize that it’s not normal to be coughing all the time and short of breath with minimal exertion…I hate cigarettes.”

—u/fixture94

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And finally…

17. “SOOOOOO much hypertension, arrhythmias, and hyperglycemia. You’ll probably get a lot of different answers based on the typical patient population in the area, but the most common things I’ve seen are hypertensive and hyperglycemic events for patients who are noncompliant with their medications. Their complaints are usually quite vague (headache, dizziness, weakness, abdominal pain), and the physical examination is unremarkable. Vitals, BMP, UA, and past medical history make it pretty obvious pretty quickly, especially when the patient’s previous encounters are already in your system.”

“When asked why they haven’t refilled their Metformin or Norvasc since January, many patients will shrug their shoulders. They either changed insurance, lost their insurance, or say they just felt fine and thought they could go without it for a while.”

—u/handsmantis

Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.

Doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals, what are some other “small” health signs people should never ignore? Tell us in the comments, or if you prefer to remain anonymous, you can use the form below.

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