Symptoms: start with what you feel

Patient orientation

Symptoms: start with what you feel

Pain, dizziness, weakness, swelling or walking difficulty: start from your symptoms without self-diagnosing.

Safety first: when should you not wait?

Contact local emergency services immediately for sudden one-sided weakness, sudden facial drooping or sudden difficulty speaking. Chest pain with breathlessness, severe difficulty breathing, or a painful swollen leg with chest pain or breathlessness also requires emergency care.

Significant low-back pain extending into the leg with new bladder or bowel problems, or new numbness around the perineal area, requires immediate assessment.

Seek urgent medical advice for unexplained painful swelling in one leg, new or worsening breathlessness, or another new symptom progressing in a concerning way. Do not wait for a rehabilitation appointment in these situations.

Check warning signs

Symptom pathway

Neck, arm and shoulder

Neck pain, arm symptoms, tingling and shoulder pain: explore the pathway without self-diagnosing.

Patient information

Neck pain

Read →Patient information

Hand tingling

Read →Patient information

Shoulder pain

Patient information

Knee: start with the symptom

Start with knee pain if you do not know the diagnosis. The osteoarthritis and knee-replacement pages apply to already identified situations.

Knee pain

Read →Known diagnosis

Knee osteoarthritis

Read →After surgery

After TKA

Patient information

Ankle & foot

Ankle, heel and Achilles pain: start with the symptom before choosing a technique.

Ankle pain

Heel pain

Achilles pain

You do not need to know your diagnosis first

This page helps you choose a sensible starting point. One symptom can have several causes, so a symptom alone cannot establish a diagnosis.

Pain

Patient information

Low-back pain

Low-back pain, pain after sitting or pain travelling into the leg.

Read →Patient information

Neck pain

Neck stiffness, cervical pain or pain travelling into the arm.

Read →Patient information

Shoulder pain

Pain with arm elevation, stiffness or functional limitation.

Read →Patient information

Hip pain

Groin, lateral hip or buttock pain.

Read →Patient information

Knee pain

Walking, stairs, swelling or return to sport.

Read →Patient information

Ankle / heel pain

After a sprain, with weight-bearing or during activity.

Neurology, balance and other symptoms

Patient information

Tingling / numbness

Hand, arm, leg or foot symptoms need context and examination.

Read →Patient information

Dizziness / imbalance

Symptoms in bed, with head movement or while walking.

Read →Patient information

Weakness / walking difficulty

Progressive weakness or recovery after neurological injury.

Read →Patient information

Urinary leakage

With effort, urgency or after childbirth.

Read →Patient information

Swelling / oedema

New swelling should be explained before choosing a treatment.

Read →Patient information

Breathlessness with activity

The cause should be understood before exercise rehabilitation.

Neurology & vestibular rehabilitation

Vertigo in bed

When positional vertigo may fit BPPV — and when another cause should be considered.

Unsteady walking

Neurological, vestibular, weakness-related or multifactorial.

Pelvic health — symptoms

Urinary leakage

Stress, urgency or mixed leakage: start from the symptom without assuming the diagnosis.

Oedema & Lymphatic — symptoms

Limb swelling

Start by distinguishing urgent, postoperative, venous or lymphatic causes.

Respiratory

Shortness of breath

Start from the symptom without self-diagnosis.

Seniors & fall prevention

Fall or near-fall

Understand contributors before prevention.

Fear of falling

Rebuild confidence and independence.

Sport & return to sport

Pain after sport or exercise

Load, injury or adaptation?

Patient pathway

Continue in the appropriate pathway

These links organise navigation; they do not mean that any technique is automatically indicated.

Centre NASSER

Not sure where to start?

Start from the main symptom and an appropriate clinical assessment. A routine rehabilitation appointment does not replace emergency care.

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