How do you manage anxiety about health without either ignoring it or spiralling?
The pattern that keeps health anxiety going is a cycle of checking and reassurance — symptom searching, body scanning, repeated tests — each of which relieves anxiety briefly and strengthens it over time. What helps is agreeing a rule in advance with a doctor about what genuinely warrants review, then following that rule rather than each day's fear. Limit symptom searching to zero rather than trying to do it moderately, since it rarely stays moderate. This is a well-recognised and treatable pattern, and cognitive behavioural approaches have good evidence for it specifically.
Answers
Agreeing rules in advance with a doctor is a genuinely good technique. It moves the decision out of the anxious moment.
Reassurance relieving anxiety briefly and strengthening it long-term is the trap. More tests never once helped.