Every now and again, Lifehacker asks a medical professional the health questions that you wish an expert would answer but you can't quite bring yourself to ask. Today's letter writer just wants to take care of their skin health - but one of their moles is in a very private location.

In terms of tricky conversations, telling a therapist you're planning on ending therapy can feel nearly as stress-inducing as breaking up with a significant other, or quitting a long-term job.

You've seen the labels on your antibiotic prescriptions: "FINISH ALL THIS MEDICATION unless otherwise directed by prescriber." It's been dogma for years, but this rule might not actually be the best way to prevent antibiotic resistance. But don't throw out your half-used bottle of penicillin just yet.

Cancer is the worst. And, maybe thanks to Movember and pink consumer goods, we're all extremely aware. Too aware. Because we've gotten it drilled into our heads to always get tested, patients are ignoring the risks of unnecessary cancer screenings, says the New York Times. Low-risk patients often get false positives, leading to dangerous and wasteful misapplications of radiation and chemotherapy.

Obviously, if you break your leg, you're going to head straight to the nearest emergency room. But it's harder to know what to do when you've rolled your ankle, or have a nagging pain in your knee. Will you be fine with rest and ice, or do you need to get it checked out?

Pregnant workers often need modifications to their jobs (less lifting, for example.) If your job is quite physical, a doctor's note may be required exempting you from certain types of work - but the contents of the note could also backfire. To protect your job, don't ask for the note too early and make sure your doctor knows what it needs to say.

When you're not feeling well, your first move might be checking your symptoms with a search engine. A recent study, however, suggests that real doctors are still way more accurate than any symptom checker tools out there.

Depending on where you go to university, there's a good chance you shell out good money every semester for student health services. Those services and on-campus clinics include more than just quick visits with a nurse or doctor. You usually get loads of other benefits you'll want to take advantage of.

Some medical professionals spend their careers in a lab, bettering the world through their research, while others focus on being caring physicians towards their patients. Dr Tina Cascone, MD, PhD, does both.

Annual health exams are pretty normal, but whether they're necessary is up for debate. Years ago, I asked my doctor for a checkup and he chuckled, pointing out that I seemed fine. So, is this annual tradition really a necessity? It boils down to three simple questions.

When most people look for a doctor, they try to find someone close to their home or work, covered by their private insurance and perhaps recommended by others. I look for those things too, but what I really want -- and have learned is frustratingly difficult to find -- is a doctor who uses 21st century tools like, you know, email.

Until now, medicine has been a prestigious and often extremely lucrative career choice. But with intelligent machines now used to diagnose diseases, in the near future, will we need as many doctors as we have now? Are we going to see significant medical unemployment in the coming decade?

Mammograms can be lifesavers, but they could also be unnecessary exams, depending on when you have them. The American Cancer Society is now recommending women with average risk for breast cancer start having mammograms at age 45 -- not 40, as previously recommended.

Hospitals can be scary places. Whether you're visiting a loved one or checking in yourself, many people are worried about contracting hard-to-treat illnesses or picking up something nasty from other patients. Let's talk about how realistic your chances of coming down with something are, and what you can do to lower your risk.

Today, Google announced that it would be adding health-related information to search results, with cards providing answers about symptoms, potential treatments and other info, curated by a team of doctors.

When doctors say you can go home from the hospital, they give you a long list of instructions, but they They may forget to advise you on what home medications you should stop taking. Before you (or a family member) leaves the hospital, go over the entire list of regular and as-needed medicines.

Kids' doctor visits can be fun, right up to the point where the nurse or doc pulls out a hypodermic needle. But if you have a phone or tablet handy, you can reduce the amount of pain your child feels by showing her a cartoon while she gets the shot.

Most visits to the doctor start with the question "What brings you in today?" Preparing a pain worksheet gives the medical professional key information to help personalise your visit.

The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) is urging Australians to exercise more caution when ordering direct-to-consumer genetic testing kits such as 23andMe, Navigenics and Family Tree DNA. Many of these companies are based overseas and may not meet Australian standards for quality and reliability for medical laboratory testing.