We’ve all grappled with the reality of searching for a symptom on Google, perhaps a mere rash, or a pain located somewhere in the armpit, and after hours of reading coming to the conclusion that we are either terribly ill and will have precious few weeks to spend with our loved ones, or that we have nothing to worry about. The amount of online diagnoses out there is vast, not always professional, and can at times be terrifying.

Google may have just come up with something to put our minds at ease when searching for symptoms – the company says about 1 percent of all Google searches are symptom related. From now on when you search for symptoms using the Google app for iOS or Android you should get more dependable results. If you search for something specific, such as ‘headache on one side’ the results will show related conditions. If you search for something general, such as headache, you’ll find information concerning what you can do and if you should see a doctor.

Symptom search is more reliable says Google because various symptoms and web results have been checked, “against high-quality medical information we’ve collected from doctors for our Knowledge Graph,” according to a Google blog. Moreover, Google has been working with experts at Harvard Medical School and Mayo Clinic to evaluate search results of symptoms and medical conditions. Earlier this year Google updated its Knowledge Graph to include rich medical content.

Users will be asked if the results provided have been helpful, to finer tune symptom search. It will only be available in English, in the US, at the beginning, but Google hopes to roll-out symptom search in other languages soon.

Google points out that this is not a replacement for a doctor, only a way to receive more accurate information that might better educate you on your condition or advise you to seek further advice from a doctor.

Photo credit: Leonid Mamchenkov via Flickr