Are your symptoms a serious concern?

Symptoms are pieces of evidence of the presence of diseases in your body. Every now and then an odd pain or an intense headache shows up and even though it may seem harmless to you, it can be an indicator of a serious condition. So it can either be caused due to a simple bacterial or viral infection or due to serious medical conditions like cancer or similar kind of life-threatening diseases. Thus, a symptom can be defined as a general phenomenon, which is experienced by you when you’re affected by a disease.

What are the symptoms that you should not ignore?

Symptoms are often confused with signs. Signs are the phenomenon that can be detected by others rather than you who are suffering from the disease, while a symptom is a phenomenon, which is experienced by you personally and cannot be identified by those around you. Here’s a list of symptoms you should not ignore.

Symptoms that indicate eye problems

Sometimes, you can feel symptoms like nausea or vomiting, which can be due to a variety of reasons ranging from gastrointestinal disorders to cancer. If the nausea is accompanied by other symptoms like a sudden loss of vision, it might point towards glaucoma (which is a group of eye disorders that can cause you to become blind). Glaucoma symptoms are generally characterized by hazy or blurred vision, the appearance of rainbow-coloured circles around bright lights or a severe pain in your eyes and head. If you are facing any such glaucoma symptoms, it is very much important to seek an expert’s advice. This is because glaucoma can lead to permanent blindness if not treated at the right time. You may have to undergo a Lasik surgery if the condition worsens.

Another disease which can result in permanent blindness is the cataract. Cataract is the primary cause of eyesight loss for around 20% of the world’s population who are above the age of 40. Cataract is basically characterized by a hazy vision, light glaring from the sun or headlights of opposing cars or a visual paleness while seeing different colours. Normally, you would have to undergo a cataract operation if you are facing such difficulties, or a Lasik surgery (a laser surgical procedure to correct vision problems).

Symptoms that point to problems of the joints

Sometimes you might feel a sharp tingling pain in your muscles or at the joints. This points to joint or muscle problems you might be facing. Inflammation or an increase in redness of your skin in or around your joints may be signs of arthritis or similar joint problems. Joint problems are also characterized by stiffness or swelling near your joints or decreased flexibility in moving your hands or legs. If you are suffering from severe arthritis or pain in the joints, a knee replacement surgery or total knee replacement might be the only option left, depending on the severity of your condition.

Symptoms concerning the health of your heart

Feeling pain or a squeezing sensation in your chest or a sense of discomfort in the upper portion of your body may be signs of a heart attack. Symptoms like shortness of breath, lightheadedness or cold sweat, all point towards a heart attack, and you should never ever take them lightly.

If you’re a woman and experience bleeding in between monthly cycles, and itching or burning around your genitals, these could be signs of diseases related to your reproductive organs, for which you should consult your doctor immediately. Other symptoms that may require medical attention include nausea or vomiting and lesions around your genitals, to name a few.

Symptoms are methods through which your body tries to convey that something is wrong with it. Therefore, you should have symptoms like a sharp pain in the chest or an intense headache; sudden loss of appetite and similar other symptoms looked at by an expert. This is because you might never know the actual cause of them and knowing can the cause can help you save your life.