[META] Medical Advice on AskScience: The Guidelines.

As most users are aware, one of the cardinal rules of /r/askscience is do not give or request medical advice. While that seems simple enough, it appears there is confusion about what is and isn't medical advice. So, we've come up with five easy guidelines to follow:

1.) If your question includes the words “Me, I, or My”, and asks about the human body, then you are asking for medical advice. By including the reference to you, any answer is, by definition, giving you information about your own personal medical status. That, my friends, is medical advice. For those of us who are medical professionals, answering the question can open us up to issues with liability, even if the question is something as simple as “Why do I have hair on my head”. I realize it may seem trivial, but a simple re-wording to “Why do humans have hair on their heads” COMPLETELY changes the question to something we can allow.

2.) If you’re asking about something related to the human body that you experience, that the majority of other human beings do not experience, then you are asking for medical advice. If it isn’t something normal, go see a doctor. We cannot diagnose you, even if you think it’s not something serious. I recognize many of you are just looking for some extra information about an “oddity”, or maybe even trying to decide whether you should go see a doctor, but that is not a service we can provide. Besides the fact that it can be illegal for some of us to answer your question, you shouldn't trust this type of thing to strangers on the internet.

3.) Asking about "a friend", family member, celebrity, or even the homeless guy down the street is still medical advice. Just because it isn't about you, doesn't change it from being medical advice. If you are asking about a specific individual, it's off limits.

4.) Adding a clarifier at the end of your post like, “I’m not asking/looking for medical advice”, does not change the fact that you ARE asking for medical advice. We get hoards of posts like, “I have this weird burning sensation when I pee, what could it be? Oh, by the way, I’m not looking for medical advice.” Yes, yes you are looking for medical advice.

5.) Posts that provide any recommendations to an individual about their body, diet, medical/psychological status, et cetera, are considered giving medical advice, and are not allowed.

We really hope this has helped clear up some of the confusion. If you have questions or concerns, please feel free to comment on this thread. While the rules are not up for debate, this thread is for an open Q & A to make sure the rules are clear…just don’t ask for medical advice!

EDIT: I'd like to clear up a few things. First, there are numerous reasons for these rules, however they are primarily in place to protect the safety and well-being of our users. Secondly, the rules have not changed. These have always been the rules. In the past when we were a smaller subreddit we were able to message each OP and help them reword their question into something appropriate. We're too large now to keep providing that service and people with potentially good and legitimate questions are falling through the cracks. We're hoping that by explaining the rules and providing these guidelines, more people can post the first time in a way that allows them to get the information they're after in a safe and ethical way that doesn't place anyone in a position of liability or lead to gross misinformation. The point is to increase the availability of good scientific information, not restrict it.