Medical Disclaimer
Information on this website is general health education. It does not replace advice from a doctor who knows your medical history.
If this is an emergency
Do not use this website to decide whether an emergency is serious. If someone has chest pain, sudden breathlessness, severe bleeding, a serious injury, sudden weakness or difficulty speaking, fits, or loss of consciousness, go to the nearest emergency department or call 108 for an ambulance.
Education, not diagnosis
Our condition, treatment and health library pages explain what conditions and procedures generally involve. They are written for a general reader and cannot take account of your age, other conditions, medication, allergies, test results or family history — all of which change what the right course of action is for you.
Reading a page here is not a consultation, and no page should be used to diagnose yourself or someone else, to start or stop medication, or to decide against seeing a doctor.
No guaranteed outcomes
Medicine deals in probabilities, not certainties. Where we describe a procedure, recovery or treatment, we describe what is typical. Your experience may differ, and nothing on this website is a promise about the result of any treatment.
How our health content is written
Health content on this website is written in plain language and, where it covers clinical matters, reviewed before publication. Where an article has been medically reviewed, the reviewer’s name and the date appear on the page. Where no reviewer is named, the page has not been through clinical review — and we would rather tell you that than imply otherwise.
Availability of services
Not every treatment described on this website is appropriate for, or available to, every patient — that depends on clinical assessment, and on which specialists and equipment are available at the time. Please confirm availability with us before you travel for a specific procedure.
External sources
Where we cite an external medical source, we do so because it is authoritative on that topic. We do not control those websites and are not responsible for their content.