15 More Symptoms to Get Checked

MUSCLE PAIN

Muscle soreness is likely normal if you can pinpoint the reason and it dissipates over time. If it doesn’t, ask your doctor whether it could be arthritis, influenza, Lyme disease, lupus, fibromyalgia, polymyalgia rheumatica, or rhabdomyolysis. Some medications can also cause muscle pain.

BREATHING PROBLEMS

When you just can’t get enough air, the reason could be a bacterial infection, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), lung cancer, or COVID-19. Call your doctor if your breathing troubles come on suddenly or worsen after 30 minutes of rest.

BRAIN FOG

Dementia, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, menopause, or an underactive thyroid can all cause changes in concentration and memory. Some medications, such as beta-blockers and statins, can also be the culprit.

BACK PAIN

Dehydration, stress, inactivity, a poor diet, or the wrong wardrobe (high heels or too-tight outfits) could be to blame for backaches. If your back hurts when you first get out of bed in the morning, the pain may be from osteoarthritis. Pain in the lower and upper back, on your side, or in your groin can be a sign of a urinary tract infection

that has spread to the kidneys. A herniated disk can hit the nerves in your spinal cord, causing pain.

CHEST PAIN

Chest pain can be a scary red flag for a heart attack—and you should call 911 if you think you’re in cardiac arrest or if you also experience shortness of breath, cold sweats, nausea, lightheadedness, overwhelming fatigue, and/or a feeling of doom. But those pangs in your chest could also be a sign of anemia, shingles, pancreatitis, a stomach ulcer, a panic attack, or lung cancer. If the pain gets worse when you take a deep breath, you may have costochondritis.

FATIGUE

You might blame your exhaustion on an insanely busy schedule or just feeling lazier than usual. But anemia, depression, diabetes, heart disease, and sleep apnea are other possible causes.

FEVER

A body temperature of 100.4 degrees F or above is normally a sign that your immune system is working to fight off an infection, such as strep throat, influenza, or COVID-19. But if you also have abdominal pain, you might have appendicitis; tenderness and swelling in your legs, deep vein thrombosis; skin that is red and painful to the touch, cellulitis; a cough or shortness of breath, pneumonia; or bloody urine or pain when you urinate, a urinary tract infection.

HEARING PROBLEMS

If you didn’t spend last night at a rock concert and your ears are sore, it could be an ear infection, referred pain from an infection in your teeth or jaw, or temporomandibular joint (TMJ) syndrome. If you’re experiencing hearing loss on one side or a constant ringing sensation (tinnitus), you might have a tumor in the temporal lobe, the part of the brain responsible for processing sounds and language. Some diuretics for heart disease, chemotherapies, and antibiotics can damage your ears, as can type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

NAUSEA AND VOMITING

Feeling queasy is often a side effect of motion sickness, pregnancy, or

gastroenteritis. But heart attack symptoms can also mimic stomach problems such as nausea, vomiting, or overall GI upset—especially in women. If your nausea is accompanied by pain in the upper right side of the abdomen, you may have had a gallbladder attack. If you have back pain and a fever along with nausea, chances are a urinary tract infection has morphed into a full-blown kidney infection. Stomach ulcers and pancreatic cancer can also cause nausea.

RASH OR HIVES

An intensely itchy, blistering rash can signal celiac disease, while dark skin patches called acanthosis nigricans are often a sign of diabetes. A red, angry rash can be a symptom of leukemia. A painful rash that appears in a strip on one side of the face or body is characteristic of shingles. And if you’ve recently been hiking, you may have Lyme disease or Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

ACNE

Although most acne can be attributed to clogged pores or fluctuating hormones, blemishes can also indicate leaky gut syndrome, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), or stress.

BREAST PAIN

“The vast majority of women who come in with breast pain do not have cancer,” says Diana Ramos, MD, cochair of the National Preconception Health and Health Care Initiative. Other culprits could be pregnancy or an infection. Men who feel breast pain might have testicular cancer.

CONSTIPATION AND DIARRHEA

Going to the bathroom too much—or too little—can be a sign of celiac disease, Crohn’s disease, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), leaky gut syndrome, depression, or too much

protein. If constipation becomes severe and persistent, it could indicate colorectal cancer. Constipation or diarrhea accompanied by bloating or needing to urinate often might mean ovarian cancer. NSAID pain relievers, magnesium-containing antacids, and proton pump inhibitors can cause the runs, while narcotics, diuretics, iron supplements, and antacids can stop you up.

NAIL PROBLEMS

When your nail bed is concave, or spoon-shaped, you have a condition known as koilonychia, which is usually caused by anemia. Suddenly swollen skin near the cuticles with nails that are bulbous can be a sign of

lung disease. Tiny little dents along the surface of the nail are associated with psoriasis or alopecia areata.

Nails that are white with a pink or brown band at the tip are associated with kidney, liver, or heart problems. Melanoma can appear under your nails as a black spot on the nail bed or a dark-colored line. Brittle nails that peel or split can be caused by an underactive thyroid. Ridges in nails can signal that you’re not making enough stomach acid.

VISION AND OTHER EYE PROBLEMS

Blurred vision that worsens over time may be cataracts or glaucoma. Bleeding in the retina may signal diabetes. Antihistamines, sleeping pills, antianxiety pills, and some pain relievers cause eye dryness and redness by reducing tear secretion. And cancers that start in the brain or spinal cord can affect vision, while those that start in the pancreas can cause jaundice— yellowing of the whites of the eyes.