Red flag symptoms
Red flag symptoms
- Lumps – persistent lumps or swelling in any part of the body including any lumps in the neck, armpit, stomach, groin, chest, breast or testicle.3
- Coughing – especially a cough lasting three weeks or more; and coughing up blood or blood in sputum
- Chest pain, with or without breathlessness
- Changes in digestion and bowel habits:
- Frequent heartburn and indigestion
- Blood in stools
- Unexplained diarrhoea or constipation
- A feeling of incomplete emptying
- Abdominal or anal pain
- Persistent bloating
- Unexplained bleeding
- Moles that have an irregular shape or border, more than one colour, are larger than 7mm diameter or are itchy, crusty or bleeding
- Unexplained weight loss
- Unexplained pain lasting for three weeks or more
- Extreme fatigue for no obvious reason
- A sore that doesn’t heal, e.g., a mouth ulcer
- Hoarse voice for three weeks or more
- Difficulty urinating
- Dysphagia (difficulty swallowing)
- Persistent, unexplained fever (above 37.5°C) that is not caused by an infection2
- Night sweats4
- Symptoms that are unusual for you.
Conversation tips
Tell
“You said you are taking the painkillers for hip pain – tell me more about that.”
Explain
“Explain to me why you’re worried about these symptoms.”
Describe
“You say the mole has changed; can you describe how it’s changed?”
You should be mindful of your tone of voice when asking these questions; if you use the wrong tone, you may come across as authoritative.3,4