Getting Help with Healthline

Top Questions Change / lost password Re-send Verification Email Didn't Receive Email New Users How we're different Creating a Healthline account Logging in to Healthline Verifying your account Registration data and privacy Search Results Who we search Medically Guided SearchTM Trusted search results Saving a search result Emailing a search result News search results

Symptom Search What is Symptom Search? Why did Healthline launch symptom search? Why didn't I see the possible causes that I expected? Is this a doctor reviewed product? How do I find the symptom that I'm looking for? What other health issues should I discuss with a healthcare provider? HealthMaps® What is a HealthMap? How do I use a HealthMap? Saving HealthMaps Emailing HealthMaps Printing HealthMaps Articles Saving articles Emailing articles Printing articles

Policies Privacy Policy Editorial Policy Advertising Policy Sponsorship Policy Terms of Service My Healthline Changing your password Changing your email address My Personal Information Favorite Pages Contacting Us Email Us

How do I change my password? I lost my password.

1. Go to http://www.healthline.com/password_forgot.jsp
2. Enter the email address you used during registration.
3. You'll automatically receive an email with a link for resetting your password; if you don't receive it promptly; check your Bulk or Spam email folder.
4. Click the link found in the email.
5. You'll be taken to a page on Healthline where you can enter a new password and select the Secure Sign In button.
6. Once done, you'll immediately be able to sign in to Healthline.

Back to Top

How do I get another verification email?

1. Log in to Healthline with the email address and password that you registered with.
2. Click on the link entitled "Click here to learn how to activate these features".
3. Click the button entitled "Resend the verification email".

Back to Top

I can't find or never received my verification email.

Our verification and password related emails sometimes appear in bulk mail or spam mail folders, depending on your Internet Service Provider or email client. Please check to make sure the message from 'Healthline' has not been mistakenly identified as unwanted email. The email is from register@healthline.com. The subject should read 'Please verify your email address'.

Back to Top

How we're different

Unlike general purpose search engines, Healthline only searches the top health sites on the web, so you only receive the best health information, without having to sift through pages of unnecessary and unrelated results. Further, we understand the words and phrases that both medical and non-medical people use; so, for example, if you search for "brittle bone disease", we know you're thinking about "Osteogenesis Imperfecta". And, most importantly, we put it all in context; when you search with Healthline, we use the collective knowledge of over 1100 doctors to give you more precise search options, all just a click away (we call this Medically Guided Search^TM). And if you prefer it, you can use our HealthMaps to visually navigate those search options.

To learn more about what makes Healthline unique, please take the Quick Tour.

Back to Top

Creating a Healthline account

Creating an account with Healthline is easy and free. Simply click the Register link from the Home page (or go to http://www.healthline.com/registration.jsp). As a registered member, you'll have access to our personalized features that can help you manage your health, such as: rating and reviewing articles, saving articles, creating news alerts and more. Importantly, none of your personally identifiable information will ever be shared with third parties; please see our privacy policy for more details. Back to Top

Logging in to Healthline

Healthline takes your personal registration and health information seriously. Because of this, we require that you sign into Healthline each time you use a free member service (such as rating an article or reviewing your saved pages). Logging in is simple and straight-forward. Simply go to http://www.healthline.com/signin.jsp and enter the email address and password you used during registration. If you've lost your password, you may reset it by completing the lost password form at http://www.healthline.com/password_forgot.jsp. If you're still having trouble, please see the Help section entitled "Lost Password." Back to Top

Verifying your account

To ensure the security of your account, we require that you verify your account before using any of our member-only services. You will automatically receive an email with a verification link (URL) after submitting your registration information; simply click the link and your account will be verified.

If you misplaced the email (or never received it), you can easily request a new one by:

1. Clicking the My Healthline link at the top of the page (or by going to http://www.healthline.com/myhealthline/account_overview.jsp).
2. Clicking the Resend the Verification Message button that appears.
3. You'll receive a new email with a verification link.
4. Click the verification link inside the email (or copy and paste it into your browser) and your account will automatically be verified.

Back to Top

Registration data and privacy

Healthline takes your personal registration and health information seriously. None of your personally identifiable information will ever be shared with third parties; please see our privacy policy for more details. Back to Top

Who We Search

Unlike general search engines, Healthline doesn't search every web site on the Internet. Rather, we search approximately 200,000 (and growing) web sites that we believe represent the top tier of health web sites. Also, we search more than 50 times as many web pages as other popular health sites, like WebMD.

If you don't find results from your favorite web site, we invite you to submit it at http://www.healthline.com/submitsite.jsp. And, if you see a site that you don't believe is appropriate, we would greatly appreciate your help in identifying it: http://www.healthline.com/yourfeedback.jsp.

Back to Top

Medically Guided Search^TM

Healthline provides you with more than a simple set of search results that match your search words. Rather, our goal is to put your search in context; to help you understand how your search fits into related medical concepts so that you have an overall understanding of what you're searching for.

Our Medically Guided Search links are located at the top of the search results page. You can easily Broaden or Narrow your search and explore Related Topics by simply clicking the appropriate links. If there are more than two Broad/Narrow results available, click the provided arrow to open the menu of all of the links.

Healthline also provides HealthMaps® for over 2,700 diseases and conditions. HealthMaps make it very easy to understand a medical concept by presenting them to you visually. To learn more about HealthMaps, see the Help section entitled "What is a HealthMap?"

Back to Top

Trusted search results

On the search results page, up to the first two results are from Healthline's database of licensed health articles. While we are committed to searching the whole web for the best health information (please see the "Who we search" section of this Help page), we also acknowledge that you need the most credible and current information regarding your most important health searches. As such, we have licensed (and will continue to license) up-to-date, doctor-written and doctor-reviewed health articles, which we host on Healthline for your convenience. Back to Top

Saving a search result

A Save link appears next to every search result on Healthline. As a Healthline member (membership is free), you may simply click the link to save any page to the Favorite Pages section of My Healthline. After clicking Save, you'll be prompted to enter the following information:

1. Title (required): Automatically filled in with the name of the article.
2. Rating (optional): Give the article a rating from 1 to 5 stars, 5 being best.
3. Notes (optional): Enter private notes about the article for your personal use.
4. Reminder Tags (optional): Enter one or more words or phrases, separated by commas, that are associated with the article so that you can easily find it later. From Favorite Pages, you'll be able to view all of your saved pages, or display only those with an assigned Reminder Tag; e.g., show only pages tagged "diabetes."

Once you've entered the above information, click the Submit button. The page will be saved and you'll automatically be returned to the search results you were originally viewing.

Back to Top

Emailing a search result

An Email link appears next to every search result on Healthline, making it convenient to share results with friends and family members. After clicking Email, you'll be prompted to enter the following information:

1. Subject (required): The subject of the email message.
2. Email to (required): Who should receive the email message; enter one or more email addresses, separated by commas.
3. Your email address (required): This will automatically be filled in for Healthline members.
4. Send a copy to yourself (optional): Click this checkbox if you want to receive a copy of the email message.
5. Personal Message (optional): Enter a personal message (i.e., why you think your friend would like this information) to be sent along with the link to the page you're emailing.

Once you've entered the above information, click the Send button. The email will be sent and you'll automatically be returned to the search results you were originally viewing.

Back to Top

News search results

Along with searching the web, you can also search current news. Healthline provides news that is updated every 15 minutes from over 10,000 sources. At any given time, there are roughly 350,000 news articles available. The number of news pages, however, is substantially less than the number of web pages available through the Healthline web search feature, so if you have trouble finding something in a news search, try searching with fewer or more general words. Back to Top

What is a HealthMap®?

A HealthMap, part of Healthline's unique Medically Guided Search^TM, is a kind of interactive chart that you can use to navigate through a medical condition. When you click on a topic (box) that interests you, Healthline searches the web to find the best information that matches the topic you clicked.

You can learn more about using HealthMaps in the "How do I use a HealthMap?" section of this Help page.

Back to Top

How do I use a HealthMap®?

There are three important things to learn about using HealthMaps: opening them, searching with them, and closing them.

To open a HealthMap:

1. Do a search on Healthline (e.g., "pregnancy").
2. Check the "Explore HealthMaps" section at the top of the search results page; if one or more HealthMaps are listed, simply click the link.
3. The HealthMap will automatically open. If it doesn't, check your browser settings to ensure that you have JavaScript and Flash support enabled.

To use a HealthMap:

1. Once the HealthMap is open, take a moment to review it (you can learn a lot about a medical concept simply by reviewing a HealthMap). The orange box shows your current location within the medical concept (and the current search results that you're seeing). Blue boxes represent other topic areas that you can explore.
2. When you're ready, click one of the blue boxes; Healthline will automatically close the HealthMap, conduct a new web search for you (updating the search results, the Board/Narrow/Related options, and, your location on the HealthMap).

To close a HealthMap:

1. If you decide not to use a HealthMap to search, simply click the Close box in the upper or lower right corner of the HealthMap window. The HealthMap will close, leaving your last set of search results displayed.

Note that HealthMaps are also available from many Healthline health articles, and all Health Channels; HealthMaps work the same way no matter where on Healthline you find them.

Back to Top

Rating HealthMaps®

Every HealthMap on Healthline can be rated by Healthline members. Ratings range from 1 to 5 stars, 5 being best. Rating HealthMaps helps other Healthline visitors identify the best content; it also helps the Healthline team better understand the types of information that our members find useful.

To rate a HealthMap, click to open the HealthMap, then click the "Rate or Review this HealthMap" link at the bottom of the HealthMap window. You'll be taken to a new page with the HealthMap displayed; simply click one of the five stars next to it. Once you've rated a HealthMap, you can clear your rating by clicking the Clear Rating button, which will appear once you've rated the HealthMap.

Back to Top

Reviewing HealthMaps®

Every HealthMap on Healthline can be reviewed by Healthline members. Reviewing HealthMaps helps other Healthline visitors identify the best content and learn from your experience and perspective.

To review a HealthMap, click to open the HealthMap, then click the "Rate or Review this HealthMap" link at the bottom of the HealthMap window. You'll be taken to a new page with the HealthMap displayed; simply click the "Write a Review of this HealthMap" link at the bottom of the page. You'll be prompted to enter the following information:

1. Rating (optional): You may optionally specify a rating from 1 to 5 stars, 5 being best.
2. Review Title (required): Enter the title of your review; all other Healthline visitors will see it.
3. Review Text (required): Enter the main text of your review; all other Healthline visitors will see it.
4. Reminder Tags (optional): Enter one or more words or phrases (separated by commas) that are associated with the HealthMap so that you can easily find it later (e.g., "diabetes, research, for mom"). From Favorite Pages, you'll be able to view all of your saved pages, or display only those with an assigned Reminder Tag; e.g., show only pages tagged "diabetes."
5. This page will be automatically saved to the Favorite Pages (Details) section of My Healthline.

Once you've entered the above information, click the Save button. The review will be saved and you'll automatically be returned to the HealthMap you were originally viewing.

Back to Top

Saving HealthMaps®

Every HealthMap on Healthline can be saved by Healthline members. To save a HealthMap, click to open the HealthMap, then click the "Rate or Review this HealthMap" link at the bottom of the HealthMap window. You'll be taken to a new page with the HealthMap displayed; simply click the Save link at the top of the page. You'll be prompted to enter the following information:

1. Title (required): Automatically filled in with the name of the article.
2. Rating (optional): Give the HealthMap a rating from 1 to 5 stars, 5 being best.
3. Notes (optional): Enter private notes about the HealthMap for your personal use.
4. Reminder Tags (optional): Enter one or more words or phrases (separated by commas) that are associated with the HealthMap so that you can easily find it later. From Favorite Pages, you'll be able to view all of your saved pages, or display only those with an assigned Reminder Tag; e.g., show only pages tagged "diabetes."

Once you've entered the above information, click the Submit button. The page will be saved and you'll automatically be returned to the HealthMap you were originally viewing.

Back to Top

Emailing HealthMaps®

To email a HealthMap, click to open the HealthMap you want to email, then click the "Rate or Review this HealthMap" link at the bottom of the HealthMap window. You'll be taken to a new page with the HealthMap displayed; simply click the Email link at the top of the page. You'll be prompted to enter the following information:

1. Subject (required): The subject of the email message.
2. Email to (required): Who should receive the email message; enter one or more email addresses, separated by commas.
3. Your email address (required): This will automatically be filled in for Healthline members.
4. Send a copy to yourself (optional): Click this checkbox if you want to receive a copy of the email message.
5. Personal Message (optional): Enter a personal message (i.e. why you think your friend would like this information) to be sent along with the link to the page you're emailing.

Once you've entered the above information, click the Send button. The email will be sent and you'll automatically be returned to the HealthMap you were originally viewing.

Back to Top

Printing HealthMaps®

To print a HealthMap, click to open the HealthMap you want to print, then click the "Rate or Review this HealthMap" link at the bottom of the HealthMap window. You'll be taken to a new page with the HealthMap displayed; simply click the Print link at the top of the page.

After clicking Print, a new "pop-up" window will appear, with only the contents of the HealthMap showing (i.e., advertising, related news and articles, etc. will all be removed). At the top of the window, you'll find a Print Page button; click it to print the HealthMap. Once done, click the Close Window button to dismiss the window.

Back to Top

Rating articles

Every article on Healthline can be rated by Healthline members. Ratings range from 1 to 5 stars, 5 being best. Rating articles helps other Healthline visitors identify the best content; it also helps the Healthline team better understand the types of information that our members find useful.

To rate an article, simply click one of the five stars next to it. Once you've rated an article, you can clear your rating by clicking the Clear Rating button, which will appear once you've rated the article.

Back to Top

Reviewing articles

Every health article on Healthline can be reviewed by Healthline members. Reviewing articles helps other Healthline visitors identify the best content and learn from your experience and perspective.

To review an article, simply click the "Write a Review of this Article" link on the article page. You'll be prompted to enter the following information:

1. Rating (optional): You may optionally specify a rating from 1 to 5 stars, 5 being best.
2. Review Title (required): Enter the title of your review; all other Healthline visitors will see it.
3. Review Text (required): Enter the main text of your review; all other Healthline visitors will see it.
4. Reminder Tags (optional): Enter one or more words or phrases (separated by commas) that are associated with the article so that you can easily find it later (e.g., "diabetes, research, for mom"). From the Favorite Pages section of My Healthline, you'll be able to view all of your saved pages, or display only those with an assigned Reminder Tag; e.g., show only pages tagged "diabetes."
5. Your review will automatically be saved in the details section of your Favorite Pages. Click on Favorite Pages and the "Edit Details" button to view and edit.

Once you've entered the above information, click the Save button. The review will be saved and you'll automatically be returned to the article you were originally viewing.

Back to Top

Saving articles

A Save link appears on every health article on Healthline. As a Healthline member (membership is free), you may simply click the link to save any page to the Favorite Pages section of My Healthline. After clicking Save, you'll be prompted to enter the following information:

1. Title (required): Automatically filled in with the name of the article.
2. Rating (optional): Give the article a rating from 1 to 5 stars, 5 being best.
3. Notes (optional): Enter private notes about the article for your personal use.
4. Reminder Tags (optional): Enter one or more words or phrases, separated by commas, that are associated with the article so that you can easily find it later. From Favorite Pages, you'll be able to view all of your saved pages, or display only those with an assigned Reminder Tag; e.g., show only pages tagged "diabetes."

Once you've entered the above information, click the Submit button. The page will be saved and you'll automatically be returned to the article you were originally viewing.

Back to Top

Emailing articles

An Email link appears on every health article page on Healthline, making it convenient to share articles with friends and family members. After clicking Email, you'll be prompted to enter the following information:

1. Subject (required): The subject of the email message.
2. Email to (required): Who should receive the email message; enter one or more email addresses, separated by commas.
3. Your email address (required): This will automatically be filled in for Healthline members.
4. Send a copy to yourself (optional): Click this checkbox if you want to receive a copy of the email message.
5. Personal Message (optional): Enter a personal message (i.e. why you think your friend would like this information) to be sent along with the link to the page you're emailing.

Once you've entered the above information, click the Send button. The email will be sent and you'll automatically be returned to the article you were originally viewing.

Back to Top

Printing articles

A Print link appears on every health article page on Healthline, making it easy to print articles that can then be stored or shared with friends and family members.

After clicking Print, a new "pop-up" window will appear, with only the contents of the article showing (i.e., advertising, related news and articles, etc. will all be removed). At the top of the window, you'll find a Print Page button; click it to print the article. Once done, click the Close Window button to dismiss the window.

Back to Top

Writing a review

Healthline members can write reviews for all health articles and HealthMaps® on Healthline.

For more information on writing article reviews, see the "Reviewing articles" section of this Help page.

For more information on writing HealthMap reviews, see the "Reviewing HealthMaps" section of this Help page.

Back to Top

Review moderation

If you write a review that other Healthline members (or Healthline staff) determine to be off-topic, incomprehensible or offensive, we may un-publish your review. If we do so, you will receive an email indicating which review was un-published and what about it was inappropriate.

You may correct the problem by going to the My Ratings and Reviews section of My Healthline, editing the review, and then clicking the Publish button. For more information on managing your reviews, please see the "My Ratings and Reviews" section of this Help page.

Back to Top

My Healthline: Changing your password

You may change your password from the Change Password section of My Healthline (http://www.healthline.com/myhealthline/change_password.jsp). To change your password, enter your current password in the "Current password" field, enter your new password in the "Enter new password" and "Enter it again" fields, then click the Save Changes button.

Back to Top

My Healthline: Changing your email address

You may change your email address from the My Personal Information section of My Healthline (http://www.healthline.com/myhealthline/personal_info.jsp). To change your email address, enter your new information in the "Email address" field, then click the Save Changes button.

Back to Top

My Healthline: My Personal Information

The My Personal Information section of My Healthline is where you can set, or reset, any of the following information:

1. Your email address (required): Used to login and receive news alerts.
2. Your first and last name (optional): These will only be shown publicly if you specify "Use Real Name" in the My Profile section of My Healthline.
3. Your Healthline screen name (required): This is the name that will appear next to any reviews you write and on your profile page. It must be at least 3 characters long and may be no longer than 25 characters.
4. Your zip code (optional): This information, if provided, is displayed on your profile page.
5. Your birth year (optional): This information is never displayed publicly.
6. Your gender (optional): This information is never displayed publicly.
7. Your biography (optional): This information, if provided, is displayed on your profile page.
8. Your educational history (optional): This information, if provided, is displayed on your profile page.
9. Whether or not you want your email address to be shown on your profile page.

Once you're done updating your information, click the Save Changes button to make your changes permanent.

Back to Top

My Healthline: Favorite Pages

The Favorite Pages section of My Healthline is where you can view, edit, email and delete your saved health articles, search results and HealthMaps® you find on Healthline, or any page on the web if you're using the Healthline - Save From Anywhere tool.

To view a Favorite Page:

1. 1. Click the title of the Saved Page and Healthline will automatically take you to the page. (Note: You may receive an error message if you saved a page on the web that no longer exists.)

To email a Favorite Page:

1. Select the box on the left hand side of the article.
2. Click the Email Button at the top of the page.
3. Your email address (required) will automatically be filled in for Healthline members.
4. Email to (required): Who should receive the email message; enter one or more email addresses, separated by commas.
5. Send a copy to yourself (option): Click this checkbox if you want to receive a copy of the email message.
6. Personal Message (optional): Enter a personal message (i.e. why you think your friend would like this information) to be sent along with the link to the page you're emailing.
7. Select the Submit button.

To edit a Favorite Page:

1. Click the Favorite Pages link.
2. Each article has an Edit Page Details button.
3. Edit the tags and notes, rating and reviews sections then press Save.

To delete a Favorite Page:

1. Click the Delete link that appears under the title of the Saved Page. Healthline will prompt you to confirm that you want to delete the page. Click the OK button to delete the page.

Back to Top

My Healthline: Ratings and Reviews (Inside Favorite Pages, Details)

Ratings and Reviews can be viewed and edited in the Favorite Pages (Edit Details) section of My Healthline.

To Edit and revise your review

1. Click on the article that you reviewed. Then click on the edit details button. Your review will be on the lower half of the page.

To view the original item reviewed:

1. Click the title of the original article or HealthMap, which appears in the Article column.

To un-publish your review:

1. If you decide that you no long want your review to appear publicly, please contact customer service.

Back to Top

What is a Reminder Tag?

You may set Reminder Tags any time you save a page on Healthline. Reminder Tags are useful for helping you organize and share information.

For example, imagine that you searched for "Diabetes" on Healthline. As you review the results, one in particular stands out to you. You click the Save link next to it. On the resulting page, you're asked to specify one or more Reminder Tags, separated by commas.

The first tag comes to mind immediately, as it's what the article is about: "Diabetes".

Since you're doing research on behalf of your sister, you add the tag: "For Susan".

Finally, because you haven't read the article yet, you add the tag: "read this".

A day later, you return to Healthline and log-in. You go to the Favorite Pages section of My Healthline, and click to show all of the pages you've saved tagged "read this". Four articles appear; finding the Diabetes article, you click its title to read it.

After reading it, you realize it's just what Susan needs to read, and that some of your other friends and family should to. You return to Favorite Pages and edit the saved Diabetes page, deleting the "read this" tag, and adding three new ones: "For Joe", "For Dad", and "Share This".

The above example shows how you can use Reminder Tags to remind you of what a saved page is about, who might find it valuable, and where you're at in working with it (i.e., need to read it, ready to share it, etc); the Reminder Tags that you use are completely up to you... the only restriction is your imagination.

Back to Top

What is Symptom Search?

Healthline's symptom search provides a unique way to navigate a restricted set of doctor reviewed Healthline articles. Entering a symptom or building a list of symptoms will lead you to articles about some possible causes. Symptom Search does not include every possible cause of symptoms, and it is NOT intended to be used as a diagnostic tool or self-help guide.

Back to Top

Why did Healthline launch Symptom Search?

At some time in our lives, we or our loved ones experience health problems. When such issues arise, information empowers us to communicate better with our health care providers. We developed this product to help you research things you may be worried about. Our hope is that it helps you talk to your doctor about your concerns.

Back to Top

Why didn't I see the possible causes that I expected?

There are an infinite number of possible causes of symptoms and a limited number of health condition articles in this product—about 600 to be specific.

If you started your research with a specific symptom, try using a more general symptom name. Also try pressing the "clear list button" on the upper list and entering your symptom again.

Back to Top

Is this a doctor reviewed product?

Yes. Absolutely. Our team of medical professionals has carefully researched each of these 600 possible causes for inclusion, and every health article has been written and/or reviewed by a doctor. Results have also been reviewed by several groups of medical professionals.

Back to Top

How do I find the symptom that I'm looking for?

While we have made every effort to provide a comprehensive list of symptoms and synonyms, our list is by no means complete. Three ways to enter and find symptoms are as follows.

1. Type Ahead Box on Left. Enter the first few letters of the term that you are searching for (like "head" for headache) in the search box and look at suggested terms in the highlighted box below.
2. Pick From a List on Right. Click on the menu to the right, review popular symptoms and click on one to make a selection.
3. Click on the Add Related Symptoms Button on the Upper Right. A box will appear with additional choices. Click on a choice to add it to your symptom list.

Back to Top

What other health issues should I discuss with a healthcare provider?

Other possible causes for unexplained symptoms that you might want to discuss with your doctor or healthcare provider would include

• Reactions to medications, including over the counter and prescription drugs, food supplements, herbs and their interactions.
• Recent injuries or immunizations.
• Exposure to environmental pollutants or allergy causing materials.

Back to Top