My friend Rebecca posted something about her toe Friday night on her Facebook page. Rebecca wrote that she thought "it's broken; my husband thinks it's just bruised. Either way, my toe hurts."

What struck me about this was the response that came from her friend Tracy less than an hour later: "Post pix and let your FB MDs decide."

I loved this reply. Health topics that were once taboo (OK, maybe not broken toes) are now open for discussion -- on Facebook, no less. As a medical reporter, I've had more than one man start a conversation with me about his prostate exam and PSA numbers. But more often, in talking to friends, we discuss ours ailments or our kids' maladies and try to make armchair diagnoses. A lot of them figure our combined knowledge could be (nearly) as good as any docs. I wouldn't go that far, but that doesn't mean I don't engage in a little informal doctoring of my own.

Do you and your friends "play doctor," trying to diagnose one another? Do you use Facebook to do it? Twitter?

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