For the past few years, I've been frustrated with my toaster oven. Every now and then, the light wouldn't go on and it wouldn't heat up. One of two methods usually got it working again: bang it on the side, or pick it up and drop it back onto the counter a few times.
A few months ago, even those tricks didn't help. I took it apart and looked carefully at every wire and every place where the wires were attached to dials and switches. I was sure the problem had to do with the electricity not getting through properly, but I couldn't find anything that looked bad. Frustrated, I put the thing back together and plugged it back in. To my surprise, it started working again, but a few weeks later finally quit altogether.
Feeling defeated, I bought a new toaster oven. After unpacking, cleaning, and carefully inspecting the new unit, I plugged it in and turned it on. Nothing happened. Only then did I do what many of you have probably already thought of: I plugged it into a different outlet - and it worked perfectly. Sure enough, the old toaster oven worked just fine, too. The problem all along had been the outlet, not the oven.
It turns out I was correct in my diagnosis of an electrical problem. It just took me a while to figure out the exact cause of that problem.
You can think of your body and health as a much more complicated version of my toaster oven dilemma. Frequently, logical evaluation of your symptoms will suggest a problem in one or more body systems. The next step is to figure out exactly where that problem is, and how to fix it. Many of us try to do the first few steps ourselves, and that often works out OK.
If that doesn't solve the problem, though, it's important to keep your mind open to the possibility of some other cause you didn't initially suspect. Asking an expert often helps to arrive at a correct diagnosis and treatment sooner than going it alone.
But even experts sometimes need to try a few things before they figure out exactly what is going on. You may still wind up with one or more incorrect suggestions before getting to the right one.
