Symptoms
Understanding your symptoms
Clear, calm explanations of what common symptoms can mean — and, just as importantly, when it is time to speak to a GP, call 111, or seek emergency help.
- Back pain
What causes back pain, what actually helps recovery, and the red flags that need urgent attention.
- Blood in poo
What blood in stool can mean — from piles to serious causes — and when to see a GP urgently.
- Blood in urine
What blood in urine can mean — common causes, when it is an emergency, and what tests a GP may arrange.
- Breast lump
What a breast lump can mean — common benign causes, cancer warning signs, and when to see a GP urgently.
- Chest pain
What chest pain can mean, the emergency signs to act on immediately, and common non-serious causes.
- Cough
What a cough can mean, how to ease it, and when a cough needs medical advice.
- Dizziness
What dizziness and lightheadedness can mean, what helps, and when to get medical advice.
- Earache
What earache can mean — common causes in children and adults, home treatment, and when to see a GP.
- Feeling sick (nausea)
Common causes of nausea, how to ease it, and when feeling sick needs medical advice.
- Fever in children
A plain-English guide to fever in babies and children — when to worry, how to bring temperature down, and when to seek help.
- Headache
What different headaches can mean, common causes, and the warning signs that need urgent medical help.
- High temperature (fever)
What a fever in adults can mean, how to manage it at home, and when to get medical help.
- Itchy skin
What causes itchy skin, how to relieve itch at home, and when to see a GP or seek urgent help for persistent or widespread itching.
- Jaundice
Jaundice (yellow skin and eyes) — causes including liver disease, gallstones, and hepatitis, and when to seek urgent medical help.
- Mole changes
When a changing mole needs urgent GP assessment — the ABCDE guide and skin cancer warning signs.
- Neck pain
Common causes of neck pain and stiffness — how to ease it at home, and when neck pain needs urgent medical assessment.
- Palpitations
What palpitations feel like — common causes, when they are harmless, and when to seek urgent help.
- Rash
What a rash can mean — common causes, how to soothe itchy skin, and when to seek urgent medical help.
- Rashes in babies and children
Common rashes in babies and children — what they look like, when to treat at home, and when to seek urgent help.
- Sciatica
What sciatica is — leg pain from a trapped nerve in the back, how to ease it, and when to see a GP urgently.
- Shortness of breath
What breathlessness can mean, common causes, and the warning signs that need emergency help.
- Swollen glands
Swollen lymph glands (lymph nodes) — common causes, when they are normal after infection, and red flags needing urgent GP assessment.
- Testicular lump
What a testicular lump can mean — when to see a GP urgently, and how testicular cancer is diagnosed and treated.
- Tiredness and fatigue
Common reasons for feeling constantly tired, simple things that help, and when to see a GP.
- Tummy pain
Common causes of tummy (abdominal) pain, simple self-care, and the warning signs that need urgent help.
- Unexplained weight loss
When losing weight without trying needs urgent GP assessment — common causes and red flag symptoms.
- Vaginal discharge
Vaginal discharge — what is normal, when it signals thrush, BV, or STIs, and when to see a GP or sexual health clinic.