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Symptoms
Start with what you are noticing. Each guide explains when to seek urgent help, possible causes and how we investigate.
When to get urgent help
Call 999 for severe breathing difficulty, blue or grey lips, collapse, sudden severe chest pain, sudden confusion, or coughing up more than a few streaks of blood. Contact NHS 111 the same day if your breathing is worse than usual. Do not wait for a clinic appointment.
Breathlessness
Getting out of breath more easily than before, or breathlessness that has not been explained by earlier tests.
Read the guide →Persistent cough
A cough lasting more than three weeks, a change in a long-standing cough, or a cough that keeps returning.
Read the guide →Wheeze and chest tightness
Symptoms that may be due to asthma, especially if they vary, are worse at night or with exercise.
Read the guide →Recurrent chest infections and sputum
Repeated infections or daily sputum may suggest bronchiectasis, ABPA or another airway problem that needs investigation.
Read the guide →Chest pain
Chest pain once heart causes have been assessed, including chest wall, reflux, pleural and breathing-pattern causes.
Read the guide →Fluid or air around the lung
A pleural effusion or pneumothorax, assessed with thoracic ultrasound by our pleural specialists.
Read the guide →Abnormal chest X-ray or CT
Lung nodules and other scan findings are common and usually benign, but need specialist review.
Read the guide →Snoring, pauses in breathing, daytime sleepiness
Possible obstructive sleep apnoea, assessed with a home sleep study.
Read the guide →Coughing up blood
Needs an urgent GP appointment or NHS 111 advice. Call 999 for more than a few streaks, or with breathing difficulty or chest pain.
Read the guide →