Check if you have a problem
Quick Health Check
If you are experiencing a health issue, to support you to identify the problem, check the seriousness of the problem and understand what action to take to manage it, we have provided easy-to-use tools to help you.
The Tools
The Quick Health Check is an automated version of these 5 tools. These tools work together to help you with bladder and kidney problems.
- Checklist
Answer a few simple questions to help you to quickly identify a problem - Warning Signs
Check whether you have a serious problem that needs immediate attention by a healthcare professional - Severity Scale
Quickly assess how severe the problem is - Interference Scale
Select one number to determine how much the problem interferes with your daily life - Action to Take
The severity and interference scale ratings combine to provide you with the recommended action you need to take to manage the problem.
You can use the 5 manual tools below if you prefer this approach to using the automated Quick Health Check in the top right-hand corner of the page.
1. Checklist
Check if you have a problem
If you answer ‘yes’ to any of the questions below, refer to the Severity scale to see whether your problem is mild, moderate or severe, and then the interferance scale and action to take table, to understand whether you can self-manage or whether you need to manage with the support of a healthcare professional.
- Have you been experiencing any recent problems or changes in bowel emptying/routine?
- Having episodes of alternating constipation and diarrhoea?
(note: this can result from severe constipation with episodes of bowel impaction and overflow. It may sometimes indicate another problem, such as irritable bowel syndrome) - Having frequent bowel accidents, occurring once a fortnight or more often?
- Having either very loose, watery stools (diarrhoea) or opening your bowels more often than usual?
- Having harder stools that are difficult to remove, emptying your bowel less often than usual, feeling your lower bowel has not been fully emptied or needed to take more laxatives?
- Having episodes of alternating constipation and diarrhoea?
Have you been experiencing bleeding during or after bowel care?
Have you been experiencing any problems with abdominal discomfort, pain or bloating? Is it relieved by emptying your bowel?
Have you been experiencing any difficulty swallowing, or having a burning sensation in your chest or acid taste in the mouth after meals or when lying down, occurring more than once a week?
Do you have a family history of bowel cancer or inflammatory bowel disease?
Have you experienced unplanned weight loss?
Have you been experiencing episodes of sweating, headache, blotchy skin/rashes or blurred vision during your bowel care, which may indicate autonomic dysreflexia?
2. Warning Signs
The following symptoms are warning signs indicating there may be a serious problem that requires further investigation and/or treatment:
- Severe sweating or headache (autonomic dysreflexia) during or after bowel care
- Significant rectal bleeding, passing dark tarry stools or vomiting of blood
- New rectal bleeding of unknown cause
- Unexplained weight loss
- If you are feeling unwell due to having not opened your bowels and are experiencing symptoms such as bloating, nausea, vomiting or abdominal pain
- A major change in your bowel habit, including:
- severe constipation, incontinence or altered stool consistency
- Prolonged time for bowel care
- Reduced ability or endurance to self-manage bowel care.
If you experience any of these issues there may be a serious problem requiring further investigation – seek medical attention immediately
3. Severity scale
To check how severe your problem is, use the Severity Scale to assess the intensity, duration and frequency of your signs and symptoms.
Problems | Mild | Moderate | Severe |
|---|---|---|---|
Constipation | Less than 3 bowel movements per week; firm to
hard stools (BSC* type 2-3) Less than 25% of time | Less than 3 bowel movements per week; hard stools (BSC* type 2) 25%-50% of time | Less than 3 bowel movements per week; prolonged (>1 hour) or incomplete evacuation, very hard stools (BSC* type 1-2) More than 50% of time |
Bowel accidents and/or diarrhoea | Occasional – once or twice a year | 1 to 3 times a month | Once or more a week |
Alternating constipation and diarrhoea | Occasional – once or twice a year | Every few months | Once or more a month |
Haemorrhoids | Bleeding occurs less than once a month | Bleeding occurs several times a month | Bleeding occurs more than once a week AND/OR large amounts of blood |
Abdominal bloating and discomfort | Infrequent – less than once every few months | 1 to 3 times a month | Once or more a week |
Heartburn | Infrequent – less than once every few months | Occurs some of the time | Occurs most of the time |
Constipation |
|---|
Mild Less than 25% of time Moderate 25%-50% of time Severe More than 50% of time |
Bowel accidents and/or diarrhoea |
Mild Moderate Severe |
Alternating constipation and diarrhoea |
Mild Moderate Severe |
Haemorrhoids |
Mild Moderate Severe |
Abdominal bloating and discomfort |
Mild Moderate Severe |
Heartburn |
Mild Moderate Severe |
*BSC: Bristol Stool Chart
4. Interference scale
To determine to what extent your problem interferes with participating in everyday activities, use the scale below:
5. Action to take
This table provides a way to combine your severity and interference ratings from above scales to help you decide what level of support you may need to most effectively manage your problem.
Severity rating | Interference rating | Management strategies |
|---|---|---|
Mild problem | (0) Not at all | Self-manage without support |
Mild problem | (1) A little of the time | Self-manage without support |
Mild problem | (2) Some of the time | Self-manage with support from your GP or other healthcare professional |
Mild problem | (3) A lot of the time | Self-manage with support from your GP or other healthcare professional |
Moderate problem | (0) Not at all | Self-manage with support from your GP or other healthcare professional |
Moderate problem | (1) A little of the time | Self-manage with support from your GP or other healthcare professional |
Moderate problem | (2) Some of the time | Self-manage with support from your GP or other healthcare professional |
Moderate problem | (3) A lot of the time | Manage with specialist support |
Severe problem | (0) Not at all | Manage with specialist support |
Severe problem | (1) A little of the time | Manage with specialist support |
Severe problem | (2) Some of the time | Manage with specialist support |
Severe problem | (3) A lot of the time | Manage with specialist support |
Note: If you are self-managing without support and your problem has not been resolved, you should seek help from your GP, other healthcare professional or involve a spinal cord injury specialist in your management plan.