When you’re feeling achy, sick or unwell, your doctor will often ask how you’re feeling and what symptoms you’re experiencing. But what exactly are symptoms and signs, and how do they differ from one another? Internal medicine physician Manjaree Daw, MD, breaks down the difference between the two terms to help you understand what’s going on inside your body.
Symptoms are things that only you can feel and they’re subjective, meaning they’ll vary from person to person. Signs, on the other hand, are objective and can be observed by others and may help a provider identify what’s causing your health issue. For example, swelling in the legs or feet can be a symptom of high blood pressure, heart disease, vein problems or kidney issues. Abdominal pain can indicate a variety of issues, including constipation or chronic conditions like gallbladder inflammation or kidney stones. A sudden fever, confusion or hallucinations may indicate serious problems and require immediate medical attention.
Symptoms can be the key to diagnosing what’s wrong with you, but it is important to note that some diseases don’t show any symptoms at all. This is called being asymptomatic and can be very dangerous. For example, some cancers don’t show any symptoms until they’ve done severe damage to multiple organs. High blood pressure is a common condition that can be asymptomatic until it causes serious complications.