What it means

Three levels, and the cost of getting it wrong is very asymmetric in one direction. Being wrongly sent to an emergency department costs a few hours. Being wrongly told to wait can cost a lot more. That is why this page leans towards “get it checked”.

Emergency — now

Contact your local emergency number or go to an emergency department:

  • Sudden, severe testicular or scrotal pain, especially with nausea or vomiting
  • Severe abdominal or pelvic pain, particularly if rapidly worsening
  • Chest pain with difficulty breathing, or pain spreading to the arm, jaw, neck or back
  • Fainting alongside severe pain or heavy bleeding
  • A severe allergic reaction, difficulty breathing, or choking
  • Sudden loss of vision, speech, or weakness on one side
  • Severe burns, significant bleeding, or a suspected broken neck or spine
  • A seizure lasting more than five minutes, or a first seizure
  • Any possibility of poisoning or overdose
  • Thoughts of harming yourself that feel immediate

Same day

Be seen today, by a GP, urgent care service or out-of-hours clinic:

  • Fever with pelvic or testicular pain
  • Painful urination with fever or back pain
  • Vomiting with urinary symptoms
  • A new painful lump
  • An ear or tooth infection with facial swelling
  • Asthma symptoms not relieved by your usual inhaler
  • Any new symptom in pregnancy that worries you

Routine

Book an appointment, and do not leave it to chance:

  • Periods that have become irregular, or that have stopped
  • A change in a long-standing pattern of anything
  • Persistent tiredness, or headaches more than twice a week
  • A new lump or skin change that is not urgent but not going away
  • Questions about contraception, sexual health testing, or vaccines
  • Anything that is worrying you and does not fit a category above

What can vary

  • Country matters. Emergency numbers, services and definitions differ. Know yours before you need it.
  • Children and babies are assessed differently. The same symptom that is routine in an adult can be urgent in a small child.
  • Pregnancy changes the thresholds. Anything that would be routine can become same-day.
  • Symptoms that come and go can be serious. A symptom that settles completely between episodes is still assessed.

Possible explanations

This page deliberately does not map symptoms to diagnoses. It maps descriptions to levels of care, because the decision “how urgently should I be seen” does not require knowing what you have.

Warning signs

The single most useful question: “if this got worse, would I regret waiting?”

If the answer is yes, get it seen. Nobody has ever been criticised for being assessed unnecessarily.

What to do next

If you are unsure between two levels, choose the more urgent one. If you cannot reach a service, use your local out-of-hours or urgent care number.

Do not use this website, or any website, to work out whether a symptom is safe. That decision needs a clinician who can examine you.

Self-care

Self-care is for symptoms already known and already assessed. It is not a substitute for assessment of a new, severe, or worsening symptom.

Before travelling to an emergency department: take your medication list, and do not eat or drink if you might need a procedure.

When to seek help

This page is the answer to that question.

How to talk about it

When you call or arrive, say the description, not the suspected diagnosis:

“I’ve had sudden severe pain in my right testicle since this morning, and I feel sick.”

“I’ve got a fever and bad lower abdominal pain, and it started yesterday.”

“I’ve been bleeding heavily for two days and I’m feeling dizzy.”

Those sentences get you seen faster than “I think I might have an infection”.

Sources

Public sources are linked so you can read the detail rather than take this site’s word for it. None of this has yet been reviewed by a qualified clinician — see how we handle medical review.

Keep reading

Related articles

Picked by editorial hand rather than algorithm, so they follow the questions this page actually raises.

Related articles

  • What's hurting?

    Sudden testicular pain

    Sudden severe pain in the testicle or scrotum is a genuine emergency. Here is why, what to do, and how it differs from ordinary aches.

References

Where this comes from

Linked so you can check it against a recognised public health source rather than take this site's word for it.

  1. Appointments and urgent care — NHS NHS (opens in a new tab)
  2. Emergency and critical care — WHO World Health Organization (opens in a new tab)

These are public sources from recognised health organisations, linked so you can read the detail rather than take this site's word for it. Reading them does not tell you whether any of it applies to you, and none of these articles has yet been reviewed by a qualified clinician. How we handle sourcing and review.