"Your Tests Are Normal" Shouldn't Be Where Care Ends

If you've hesitated to say that you're tired

Key points in 30 seconds

1. "Your tests are normal" doesn't mean "nothing is wrong." It means "a serious illness has become less likely."
2. Care shouldn't end there. It should start there.
3. We can talk about fatigue in numbers because Dr. Nahyun Park is someone who counted those numbers herself.
4. An analysis pooling data from 620,000 people worldwide found that one in 4 people feels fatigue, and for one in 13 it lasted more than six months.
5. Because we know the numbers, we don't exaggerate. We tell you separately what has been confirmed and where things are still unknown.

What we often hear

• "My tests are normal, so if I say I'm tired, it sounds like I'm making a fuss."
• "I can't bring it up anywhere."
• "I worry it might be something serious, and if it isn't, that's frustrating in its own way."

People who come in because they're tired worry about two things at once.

What if it's something serious? And what if the tests are normal and I'm treated like I'm making a fuss?

What "your tests are normal" means

It doesn't mean "nothing is wrong."

It means "a serious illness has become less likely."

Care shouldn't end there. It should start there. Sleep, mood, digestion, and whether your days are regular. If you look at these things that don't show up on tests, one by one, most fatigue has a reason.

Having a reason means something can be done about it.

Why we can talk about it in numbers

Fatigue is a common word, but data that properly counted how common it really is were rare.

Dr. Nahyun Park of our clinic is one of the people who counted.

A paper that pooled studies from several countries and analyzed data from 620,000 people together was published in an international journal in 2023. Dr. Nahyun Park is co-first author.

Here's what it found:

• One in 4 people feels fatigue
• For one in 13, that fatigue lasts more than six months

The same year, she published a paper analyzing fatigue in cancer patients by severity, and the following year a paper comparing in which illnesses fatigue is more common. She is first author of the latter.

That's three papers on fatigue published in international journals.

So how is our care different?

First, we give you the numbers.

Out of 100 people who come in for fatigue, a serious illness is found in only 4 or 5. That means the rest have reasons that tests don't pick up.

When people hear this number, they say, "So it's not just me." From there, we can really talk.

Second, we don't exaggerate.

When you write papers yourself, you learn how far a single study can actually take you.

So we tell you separately what has been confirmed by research and what is still unknown.

For us, "We don't treat without evidence" is not just a promise but the way we work.

Come see us when

• You've been tired for months
• Your tests are normal but your body doesn't feel that way
• You've hesitated to bring it up anywhere

But if you're losing weight for no reason, have a fever or wake at night from pain, seeing a doctor comes first, not this article.

How quickly you get better varies from person to person depending on the cause. But the way to start is the same: find out what the cause is.

For questions or appointments, message us in English through the messenger at the bottom right of the page, or call +82-53-716-1175.

You can ask through the messenger to see Dr. Nahyun Park.

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We've summarized the three original papers and more details in the column written by Dr. Nahyun Park, Fatigue that doesn't go away with rest: is it an illness?.