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 the five following tools. These tools work together to help you with skin 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.
- Do you have any signs of a red spot, area of firmness, or discolouration to skin over a bony point?
- If your skin is currently broken, is there any sign of infection (e.g., increasing discharge from wound, redness or swelling, unhealthy looking tissue or smelliness)?
- Do you monitor your skin for pressure injuries twice a day, or have someone else do this for you?
- Old scar tissue can makes your skin more fragile and at risk of breakdown.
- Any change in your pattern of spasms, neuropathic pain or autonomic dysreflexia may indicate underlying skin damage.
- Area of skin that is to moist due to bladder or bowel leakage or excessive sweating?
- Change in your, equipment, (e.g., cushion/sitting position) and/or, activities or ability to transfer.
2. Warning Signs
If you experience any of the following warning signs, you need to seek medical attention:
- Purple or discoloured skin or a blood-filled blister indicating a deep pressure injury that develops from the inside out
- Fevers, sweats, the shakes or you have been feeling unwell because of a pressure injury
- Your pressure injury is discharging a lot of pus and/or the surrounding skin is red
- Your pressure injury has not been improving, has increased in size and depth or has unhealthy tissue at its base
- Having more than one current pressure injury
- Any major change in your weight (increase or decrease)
Have you ever required surgery for a severe (stage 3 or 4) pressure injury?
You may need to restrict your activity and use special dressings that help protect the area while it heals. In severe cases, surgery, hospitalisation, medication, and skin grafts may be needed.
If you experience any of these issues there may be a serious problem requiring further investigation – see medical advice 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
Pressure injury | Stage 1 or 2 pressure injury, which heals rapidly | Stage 2 pressure injury (≥ 4 weeks), AND/OR infection (superficial) present Recurrent or multiple Stage 1 or 2 pressure injuries | Stage 3-4 pressure injury, deep tissue injury, prolonged healing (≥ 3 months) AND/OR infection (deep) present Recurrent pressure injuries/previous flap repair (Stage 3-4) Deteriorating or pressure injuries over multiple areas |
Burn | Superficial burn (first-degree). Skin is red, painful, dry, without blisters. Mild sunburn | Partial thickness (second-degree) burn. Skin is red, blistered, and may be swollen and painful. | Full thickness (third-degree) burn. Skin looks white or blackened and charred. |
Cellulitis | – | Red, swollen, tender, warm area of skin Occurs infrequently (once every 12 months or less often) | Red, swollen, tender, warm area of skin Occurs frequently (twice or more per year) AND/OR spreads to involve lymph nodes and/or enters bloodstream |
Pressure injury |
|---|
Mild Moderate Recurrent or multiple Stage 1 or 2 pressure injuries Severe Recurrent pressure injuries/previous flap repair (Stage 3-4) Deteriorating or pressure injuries over multiple areas |
Burn |
Mild Moderate Severe |
Cellulitis |
Mild Moderate Occurs infrequently (once every 12 months or less often) Severe Occurs frequently (twice or more per year) AND/OR spreads to involve lymph nodes and/or enters bloodstream Any skin-related symptoms of any severity associated with autonomic dysreflexia are considered SEVERE and require URGENT MEDICAL ATTENTION. |
Any skin-related symptoms of any severity associated with autonomic dysreflexia are considered SEVERE and require URGENT MEDICAL ATTENTION.
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.