Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Image
Topics: News, Technology, Google
Maxine Harrison
We all use Google to answer the looming questions in our heads. But there are apparently some things we should avoid using the search engine for.
From searching symptoms we are experiencing to finding out the latest movie release, Google is certainly a handy tool when it comes to easily accessing information.
However, the top search engine in the world also has some sides to it that we should seek to avoid.
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Regular users of the search engine will be used to using Google Images. However, no matter how innocently motivated your search may be, some of these images should not be glanced at and are hard to leave your mind easily.
Unfortunately, Google Images does not come with trigger warnings, so consider this article a friendly warning before you decide to search any of the following five terms on Google.
In fact, these terms are so stomach-churning that they have been compiled in a report by It's Gone Viral in 2023.
Try to remember that while it may seem harmless to Google health-related terms, if you have any concerns about your health, prioritize consulting a medical professional above searching for answers online.
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Anyway, let’s proceed with the specific words you should avoid searching…
The first word we highly recommend you avoid searching is Larvae.
According to the Oxford Dictionary, it is defined as 'the immature form of an insect or animal that has hatched from an egg but has not yet become an adult'.
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While this may seem like an innocent search, you could stumble across a condition of the same name.
According to WebMD: "Mouth larvae are parasites that hatch and live inside the oral cavities of human and animal hosts. These pests can cause a dangerous infection known as oral myiasis."
The site adds: "People can develop oral myiasis by eating larvae in their food. Flies can also enter the mouth and lay eggs in wounds."
Another word to avoid Googling is degloving.
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WebMD defines degloving, also known as avulsion, 'happens when a large piece of your skin along with the layer of soft tissue right under it is partially or completely ripped from your muscles and connecting tissues'.
Sounds incredibly unpleasant, right? Well so are the images so don’t dare to take a look!
While Krokodil may sound like crocodile, you won’t see anything near the reptile if you search that on Google Images - so beware of any typos when searching for crocodile images!
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Instead, what you’ll be shocked to discover is that Krokodil has different meanings in different languages.
However, the particular definition defined in the It's Gone Viral report refers to the opioid drug desomorphine.
A Time magazine report from 2013 dubbed it as 'The World’s Deadliest Drug'.
It started when doctors in Russia discovered 'strange wounds' on many drug addicts.
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Later, it was discovered that they'd been injecting a new drug known as 'Krokodil'. This was later dubbed as a 'flesh-eating zombie drug' in a report from CNN.
Definitely not the type of visuals you want your eyes to witness, right?
While Fournier is a popular French name, it can also refer to an 'acute necrotic infection' of the genital area, according to the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD).
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WebMD warns: "Fournier’s gangrene gets worse quickly and can kill you, so it’s always an emergency."
The final word you should avoid Googling is Harlequin baby syndrome, also known as congenital ichthyosis.
Healthline defines this as a 'rare condition affecting the skin', which is a 'type of ichthyosis, which refers to a group of disorders that cause persistently dry, scaly skin all over the body'.
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The site clarifies further that the skin of a newborn with this condition is 'covered with thick, diamond-shaped plates that resemble fish scales'.
Babies with this condition should be treated immediately.