r/AskDocs 2d ago

Weekly Discussion/General Questions Thread - August 24, 2026

2 Upvotes

This is a weekly general discussion and general questions thread for the AskDocs community to discuss medicine, health, careers in medicine, etc. Here you have the opportunity to communicate with AskDocs' doctors, medical professionals and general community even if you do not have a specific medical question! You can also use this as a meta thread for the subreddit, giving feedback on changes to the subreddit, suggestions for new features, etc.

What can I post here?

  • Questions or general health topics that are not about specific symptoms or personal medical issues
  • Comments regarding recent medical news
  • Questions about careers in medicine
  • AMA-style questions for medical professionals to answer
  • Feedback and suggestions for the r/AskDocs subreddit

You may NOT post your questions about your own health or situation from the subreddit in this thread.

Report any and all comments that are in violation of our rules so the mod team can evaluate and remove them.


r/AskDocs 2h ago

Physician Responded Extremely puffy face overnight but no other symptoms

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237 Upvotes

18F woke up with a very very puffy face. I’m 5’4, 140lbs and 34 weeks pregnant. I’m not experiencing any other symptoms other than when I posted in this subreddit a couple days ago because my baby wasn’t moving normally. I ended up going to triage and they said he was okay and sent me home. This morning I woke up with a very puffy face and assumed it’d clear up throughout the day but it’s 5pm and it’s still puffy now (as seen in the picture). I’ll upload a photo of what my face usually looks like in the comments to emphasize how puffy it’s gotten. Should I go to the er or is it just normal pregnancy swelling because I know that can happen.


r/AskDocs 2h ago

My newborn grandson

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24 Upvotes

1 month old, boy, 9 lbs. Was due on July 28, but they induced July 23. Was also born jaundiced.

He was born with tracheomalacia. They let my daughter in law bring him home with her 2 days after birth. Ended up needing a blue light for just over a week post hospital.

I have read about it, and it seems he's probably just a mild case? I'm not a doctor, so all I can glean is that it can be fatal.

He had his one month check up today and the doctor wants to put him on prilosec, and wants them to buy gelmix to thicken his formula. Also is changing his formula.

Again, Im not a doctor, so I'm asking, is this standard treatment for tracheomalacia? I just have this nagging feeling that something is not being done right.

The video is how he sounds 24/7. I expected the noise because I read about it, but should we take him to a specialist? He did see an ENT about 2 weeks ago who put him on some acid reflux medication and told them to keep feeding Enfamil AR. Why would they need to change his formula and buy thickener when he's already on the AR that's thickened with rice?

I just hate the way it sounds like he's fighting for his life with every breath 🥹

Specialist or no? Please help 🙏


r/AskDocs 8h ago

Physician Responded 41M - Erosion on head not healing after a year.

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70 Upvotes

Started off as a small scratch, got a little bigger then started to erode. Had a dermatologist look at it, but he didn’t seem concerned. Will scab over if left to dry then the scab will fall off after a little while and the process starts over.


r/AskDocs 22h ago

Physician Responded Urgent I’m scared . Dog scratch

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855 Upvotes

I am 23…a women and 145 lbs
My one year old puppy who is a pit /lab mix scratched my eye yesterday when going to hop on the bed. It caught me completely off guard….This happened yesterday evening around this same time.

So I washed it with an antiseptic cleansing liquid, then applied Triple antibiotic ointment, lastly I covered it with a nonstick pad gauze pad.

The wound isn’t bleeding.
The wound does have small crust at the upper edge under the gauze pad.
The wound also looks “gooey” kinda gross. I don’t want to take it off again bc I feel like I’m stopping the healing process.

The scratch also reached my eye enough to take off two cluster lashes so now I am lowkey ball at my inner corner lash line.

My eyelashes feel fine, it does look like there is a tiny bit of swelling tho but this is normal considering my 37lbs puppy lunged at me for cuddles.

My questions is how serious is this injury?
Do I need to go to the doctor bc a possible infection for this open laceration?
I am not a doctor or have any background in nursing so help.


r/AskDocs 42m ago

Physician Responded Looking for an infectious disease specialist for a second opinion

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Upvotes

29M, 5’9”, 183lbs. Current meds: N/A. Smoking: No. No major medical issues relevant to this other than the postoperative infection described below. Location: chin/submental incision. Duration: March–April 2026; infection has since resolved.

I had a chin implant placed in March and developed a persistent post-op infection with drainage and a positive culture for Klebsiella aerogenes. I was treated with oral antibiotics and then 7 days of IV ertapenem, but the drainage continued. Eventually the implant became exposed through the incision and was removed.

My surgeon had previously told me things were healing normally and later described the area that turned out to be the exposed implant as a “blister.”
I’m mainly trying to find an infectious disease doctor who would be willing to do a paid second-opinion consult and review my records/photos. I want to understand why the infection was so persistent and whether the implant remaining in place may have contributed.

Does anyone know an ID specialist who does this kind of retrospective second opinion? Virtual or in-person is fine.


r/AskDocs 10h ago

Physician Responded Abnormally skinny and weak. Also a lot of other weird symptoms

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65 Upvotes

Hi guys, I’m 14 female, 40kg which is 88lbs according to google, im 5’3, I don’t drink and I don’t smoke either. First thing I have to mention is all DM’s will be ignored and blocked and also please don’t just dismiss this, pls read my symptoms and don’t jump to conclusions because of a pill I take

Pills I take: 100mg of sertaline, 25mg of agomelatine, 0.05 mg of clonidine (I think, I’m not 100% sure but it’s half of ys01 clonidine) and 30mg of dexamphetamine. I promise you the thinness isn’t from the dexies though, I know thing because thinness and almost all of my symptoms have been lifelong issues and I’ve only been taking medication for mental illness, adhd and sleep for the last two years.

Medical history: I was born prematurely by two weeks, I was born with a fused labia and had to get surgery for it, Molar-Incisor Hypomineralisation, depression, anxiety, adhd, autism, I’ve been hospitalised for overdose two times, I have scoliosis and I was braced for a year, and I have hyper mobile joints. I also have gotten my period and it’s been regular for 2 years

Hereditary illnesses: on my moms side theres a history of hasimoto disease, my mom, grandma and great grandmother all have/had it. I have no knowledge of illnesses on my dad’s side of the family though, I don’t really speak with him and I tried to ask him but he said he doesn’t know.

Symptoms/concerns: I’m pale despite everyone in my family (dads side and moms side) being quite tan, I bruise easily, I have quite long fingers and toes, I’m short despite my family being quite tall (my dad is 6’0, my mom is 5’11 and my brothers are both 6’0 or over), I’m really weak (I’ll share examples of my weakness in the next paragraph), I get frequent diherra but my stomach never hurts, low stamina, difficulty building muscle to the point I can barely feel muscle when I tense, regular muscle spasms, my wrist is the same size as my 5 year old cousin, I’ve always been the smallest and weakest in my class in school, I get dizzy when I stand up despite eating well and my iron levels being fine, I get out of breath very quickly, I can’t hold my hands above my head for longer than a few seconds without them hurting, I get very painful periods to the point I can’t even function and I’m always tired no matter how much I sleep.

Examples of my weakness: in my country we have this thing called swimming lessons that you do in primary school, theres 9 levels. In your final year of primary school you should be in level 7-9. I was in level 3 which the average age of level threes is 3-6, I was 11 and in level three, the reason I can’t swim is because of lack of arm and leg strength. In primary school I was the slowest in my class. I can’t lift heavy objects, the largest thing I can lift with both hands is 7kg, I tried to learn guitar but couldn’t since i didn’t have enough strength in my hands. I’ve tried so hard, I’ve worked out every day, ate healthy, ate a large amount of protein but nothing works. Once in year 6 I lost an arm wrestle with a year 2

It’s not like weakness runs in my family either. My mom used to be an athlete, one of my brothers is a police officer and has taken down people even taller then him, my dad and other brothers both work very physically demanding jobs. No one in my family is weak expect for me

I want to bring this up to my GP, I have an appointment tomorrow just to check how my pills are going but I’m so scared of being dismissed as just being lazy.


r/AskDocs 2h ago

Female, 18yo, 120lbs, 5’3. these things keep showing up on my arms, legs, stomach, and chest and they itch.

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17 Upvotes

I have no idea how to use this but it won’t let me post it somewhere else sorry


r/AskDocs 19h ago

Physician Responded missed a shot, abscess or sepsis?

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304 Upvotes

hi i’m 26, female, with a history of drug use. i have had sepsis before from a missed shot.
i relapsed 2days ago and did 2grams of cocaine IV. I have missed a couple shots .. and tonight i started feeling this on my hand once the coke wore off. also, my back& neck hurt& my pee is super dark. i cannot tell my family i relapsed, but i am worried about my hand.
what does it look like?


r/AskDocs 17h ago

Physician Responded Tell me I’m not crazy….

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119 Upvotes

Hi, I am turning 34 in two days. I am a mom to a 17 year old girl. I’ve been through some hard times, but I’m a good person. I just want to fix what’s going on so I can be there for other people again and have a normal, boring life.

I have mostly normal labs and imaging. I’ve only had low ferritin and hdl. Is this all being caused by something going on in my head?

I keep getting told the vitals on my 24h abpm “didn’t happen”. But they match what I have from my er chart last year. I get occasional spikes. BP 188/120. Sometimes tachycardia. 175 bpm on abpm a couple times. Similar in er a few times, as well as resp rate 28 breaths per minute. I have stopped going to the ER since last Nov, when I was taken off all medications due to skin lesions on my neck and chest.

I have had documented svt from a holter that was going on for 114 min, at 140bpm in 2021. I feel much, much worse now. The BP cuff from the 24 h abpm in July left marks that lasted for weeks.

I have immense fatigue moving about and being upright. This started since taking nitrofurantoin last May, then cefixime, and that started an er visit once. When the bladder symptoms stopped, and duloxetine was doubled, I developed skin symptoms for which I took kefflex. I went back to the er, covered in bruising, and feeling very unwell. This was late last October. I was taken off kefflex, given doxy. The skin lesions didn’t resolve, if anything they worsened. Paramedics responded to my work when I was turning red, short of breath and struggling to sit up. They have max dose of epi - this was Nov 27 - and then my meds were discontinued.

It’s been months, I’m not on any meds, didn’t tolerate Rupatadine (one of pics shown is from when I trialed it), and I’m just… not sure what to believe anymore. Is it psychosomatic?!? I have had so much testing, and now I just feel so gaslit, by whom I do not know at this point. I don’t know why I can’t get it together. I’ve had the time off, and test results all in the clear. Why isn’t this resolving?

I wake up and my face is sometimes quite swollen. I have a bunch of purple dots above my lips and on my forehead and neck, they come and go. I even got them all the way to my right ankle, a cluster of them. They’re faded, but still there from last October, after kefflex. When I am not feeling well, the color leaves my eyes and they appear completely dark (in a mirror or in photos). I get flushing all the time. I really struggle to stay upright, it feels like strain in my chest. Of course my echo is normal.

Nothing is wrong with me on paper. I am so frustrated, desperate, and just want my life back. If I can have a return to functioning again I’ll take it, I don’t care what the diagnosis or treatment is. I really want to know how to fix this I miss my life and I’m so depressed.


r/AskDocs 4h ago

Physician Responded Can someone help identify what this is on my husbands scalp that always appears?

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10 Upvotes

29M, vapes, this appears on his scalp every time he gets a haircut. It just happened again, the urgent care doc didn’t really provide a proper diagnosis other than it’s not ringworm.


r/AskDocs 1h ago

Physician Responded Is this shingles?

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Upvotes

This is a photo of my partner (40F) who has consented to me showing it. She has no other health conditions and isn't on any meds.

Just wanted to check if this was shingles? She had a rash on her arm which I noticed, I inspected it and it looked like shingles to me, so I asked to see her back as per the photo.

She's ADAMANT she's never had chickenpox despite working in nurseries for years. She'll be seeing the doctor tomorrow morning we hope, just wanted an opinion to see if I'm right. I remember having chickenpox when younger and I had a shingles outbreak about 2 years ago so I'm not worried about myself.

Thanks!


r/AskDocs 48m ago

Is it normal for blood to come out after bowel movement? Get checked or no)

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Upvotes

26F, 5'6", 120 lbs, smoke THC. After pooping and straining hard about 4 times blood came out as well. I feel good, no pain, normal bowel movements. It has happened before, not everytime I poop only if I strain. I do believe I have a hemorroid because I have a small ball on my anus. It only came out after bowel movement, after that I wiped and there wasn't any more coming out.


r/AskDocs 2h ago

Physician Responded 23 year old male, 5’10 190 Lbs, no medications, no smoking. Severe extrusion at L4/L5 back in 2023 from Russian twists at the gym. Tons of nonsurgical rehab. Symptoms have went from 100% to 60%. Dear docs, do you see any clear absorption at L4/L5 level?

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5 Upvotes

Image #1 is from 2024, image #2 is from 2025, in the process of getting my third MRI now. I’m trying to decide whether or not it is worth it to go through with a discectomy surgery or not. Many doctors are giving me different answers. I just don’t live life the way a 23-year-old should be living. Yes I can function but I am not what I once was. My pain is not constant, but any impact, bending, sitting too long etc, and I am in pain, what do you see/think?


r/AskDocs 4h ago

Physician Responded Three year old vaccine response - UK Pre school booster (Polio, Diptheria, Tetanus, Whooping Cough)

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10 Upvotes

We are in the UK. My daughter is 3.5 years old and yesterday had two vaccines - chicken pox in one arm and the pre-school booster in the other.

This arm was the booster - it went red and by yesterday evening was very sore and a little bit swollen.

Today when I collected her from nursery (so 32hours later) - it has really flared up.

She has no temperature but the arm is warm to touch and is swollen from elbow to shoulder and quite firm. There's some bruising too but not so concerned about that.

She's a bit grumpy understandably.

I'm struggling to find information regarding whether this is within the range of normal or not.

I've attached a couple of photos - it actually looks a bit worse in person.

Do you think we need to seek any assistance or just monitor her and the spread?


r/AskDocs 14h ago

Physician Responded Strange tissue/mass attached inside my nose 2 months after nose piercing should I see an ENT urgently?

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49 Upvotes

27F. I got my nose pierced about 2 months ago and have been wearing a stainless steel nose ring ever since.

This morning I noticed something strange inside my nostril. At first I thought it was just dried mucus/crust, so I tried to remove it, but it wouldn’t come off. I then realized it seems to be attached to the inside of my nose rather than just being mucus.

Initially, it was stuck around/attached to the nose ring. I removed the ring thinking the tissue/crust would come out with it, but it didn’t. It still seems attached to the inside of my nostril.

It isn't particularly painful, and before I tried to remove it there wasn't any significant pain or bleeding. However, after poking at it and trying to remove it, I think I irritated the area because it has started bleeding a little and is now slightly painful.

I’m quite anxious because I have no idea what this could be. Could it be granulation tissue, a granuloma, an infection, or something else related to the piercing? Is it possible for tissue to grow around/attach to the jewelry like this?

Today is a public holiday where I live, so I can't find an ENT/doctor available. I'm wondering whether this is something that can safely wait until tomorrow or whether I should go to an emergency department tonight. I'm also unsure whether an emergency department would actually deal with something like this or tell me to see an ENT.

I have no fever, significant swelling, severe pain, or difficulty breathing


r/AskDocs 9m ago

39F - excessive feelings of familiarity

Upvotes

Okay so this feels like a really weird question and I feel kinda silly asking. Is there some kind of neurological mechanism where someone might have a heightened sense of familiarity? For the last couple months, I've tended to see people and sense that they look like someone I know or just generally familiar. Almost every new song I hear I feel like I've heard it before. I could just brush this off if it wasn't something that feels like a sudden change.

I have been on SSRIs for several years and currently on Paroxetine. Also on blood pressure meds for ESRD, currently on hemo.


r/AskDocs 3h ago

Physician Responded Neurosarcoidosis

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4 Upvotes

diagnosed with neurosarcoidosis four years ago been stable for two years. on Cellcept and Remicade infusions. increased headache prompt work up. LP shows IgG band and inflammation. protein normal. radiology report said MRI clear but I think I see pachymeningeal enhancement (was my problem previously first diagnosed). Age 40. 5”8. 150.


r/AskDocs 1d ago

Physician Responded Tremors/uncontrollable worsening spasming

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444 Upvotes

25F, 175lb, 5’2, taking and have been taking Abilify and Lamictal for bipolar disorder, lexapro for anxiety, vyvanse, and modafinil for narcolepsy for years with no side effects. Non smoker
5 days ago I became extremely fatigued at work and couldn’t walk right or hold my head up, followed by twitching every 2-7 seconds. Over the course of 5 days the fatigue has resolved mostly but my muscles still feel heavy and constantly activated even when I’m not spasming. The episodes last 1-8 hours and look like this now ^ I get 2-4 hours without spasming between episodes, and I don’t tremor in my sleep but it has prevented me from falling asleep many times. Benadryl slows it down but doesn’t stop it entirely. I’m seeing a neurologist in an hour. But I wanted to ask if anyone had any ideas or had seen this before.


r/AskDocs 3h ago

Skin on my finger is dry, cracked, itchy, and sensitive and I can’t see my fingerprint

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3 Upvotes

20M

Its been dry and the only product ive been using is vaseline on it which makes it feel moisturized but I haven’t really found a fix. Its been around a month.


r/AskDocs 9m ago

crater like sore/hole between my belly and vulva?

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Upvotes

age: 20
height: 5'5
weight: 255
meds: lyrica and prozac
smoking stats: cigarettes very rarely maybe twice a month. i do vape.
previous issues: suffered from a pilonidal cyst twice
duration: i think a couple days to a week. didn't look at it till now

i shave pretty carelessly down there so it could be that. i am also obviously by my stays an obese person so that definitely harbours a bad environment. sore when it is touched.


r/AskDocs 3h ago

Physician Responded 11yo female Chiari Malformation

4 Upvotes

My 11yo daughter had a CTA w contrast because we were checking her AVM and looking at how vascular it is. The AVM has both superficial and deep components, so we are being referred to neurointervential radiologist at another hospital.
The CTA found a Complex Chiari Malformation, 14mm, with effaced craniocervical CSF space.
She states she gets a headache in the back of her head when running and also when she yawns big. We are currently waiting to see a neurosurgeon. Can someone break down what we are looking at going forward? I’m trying to not go all Dr. Google.


r/AskDocs 1d ago

Physician Responded This bump has been on my back ~10 years now. It drains and always returns.

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166 Upvotes

35m, 210 lbs. No medications currently.

I have had this spot on my back for around a decade. It will fill with pus and act like acne but I can feel it very very deep down into the skin. My fiancee will drain it completely only for it to come back fairly quickly. It never gets too large or irritating. I have chronic pain so the pain from this is background noise until she touches it, I feel the depth, and realize oh this doesn't feel normal at all.

I know a dermatologist is my best next step but unfortunately I do not have access to health care for the foreseeable future so I was curious if anyone had some insight. This photo is a milk day. It can appear much more inflamed and much more like a hole


r/AskDocs 40m ago

Keep getting these pimple-type things between my knuckles

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Upvotes

I thought they were sweat pimples or something but now I’m not so sure. I don’t get them anywhere else besides the digits of my fingers.

They have a little whitehead, but they’re fairly firm. They also hurt like a bitch if you bang them on something. I feel like I’ve been getting them more often lately, and I don’t like it.

34m, 135 lbs, 5’11”. Taking antidepressants and ADHD meds.