IT'S remarkable how humans will refuse to use services specifically designed for the problems they have, but research by the United Kingdom's largest online pharmacy, Pharmacy2U, has found internet searches such as "how to know chest pains are serious", rose by almost 9,000% between 2015 and 2018.
The extent to which Brits will suffer in silence to avoid seeking professional medical advice is alarming, with words such as "acne" and "IBS", alongside "treatment", searched for on average more than 100,000 times every year.
Research found 39% of respondents had lived with a condition for a significant period to avoid the embarrassment of talking about it, and 12% of people are currently suffering from something they are reluctant to seek medical help for.
Speaking of embarrassment, 16% of millennials suffering from an "embarrassing" condition, such as thrush or constipation, won't collect medication from a pharmacy because they are too embarrassed to ask someone for it.
Call us crazy, but we'd say it's less embarrassing asking for medication from a trained professional than explaining to your friends that you're in hospital because your embarrassing problem got a whole lot worse.
In fact, it's surprising a Brit would need an excuse to whinge.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 19 Aug 19
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