Blog posts

For many people, booking a first consultation with a specialist can feel intimidating. You may not know what will happen, what to bring, how long it will take, or whether your concerns will be taken seriously. This article is designed to remove that uncertainty. My aim is to walk you step-by-step through what actually happens during a consultation — whether in person at Salford or online — and to explain how I communicate with your GP afterwards. A medical consultation should

It's one of the most frustrating experiences in healthcare: you're feeling genuinely unwell, you've undergone tests, and everything comes back "normal." Yet you still feel terrible. You're not imagining it, and you're certainly not alone. This scenario happens far more frequently than many people realise, and there are clear, practical steps you can take to get the answers and care you deserve. Why "Normal" Test Results Don't Always Mean You're Well The fundamental issue li

A cough that refuses to go away after a viral infection is one of the most common reasons people feel unsure about what to do next. The infection seems over, the fever has settled, the energy slowly comes back… but the cough stays. Sometimes for two weeks. Sometimes for four. Sometimes longer. And this gap between what people expect and what the body actually does creates anxiety. In the clinic, I meet two groups again and again: those who fear that a lingering cough must mea

Many people describe the same pattern: the morning goes reasonably well, energy feels stable, and the day seems manageable… until early or mid-afternoon.Then suddenly, almost like a switch has been flipped, fatigue arrives sharply. Eyes feel heavy, focus disappears, and the only thought is to lie down — even if you rarely do. This daily dip in energy, sometimes called “crash fatigue” , is far more common than people think. Yet very few understand why it happens, when it is ha

When the fever settles, the cough improves, or the infection finally fades, most people expect to bounce back quickly. A couple of days of rest, a return to regular meals, and life should pick up where it left off, or at least that’s the hope. But in reality, many people find that recovery is not a straight line. Instead, they notice: a deep, dragging fatigue breathlessness on stairs or during short walks a lingering cough poor sleep afternoon energy crashes muscle weakness