Endometriosis is a chronic condition, which affects women from puberty to menopause. The condition is very prevalent and often diagnosed late because symptoms are either ignored or disregarded by clinicians. The most common symptom is cyclical pelvic pain,...
There are two main types of urinary incontinence. The first is invariably associated with childbirth or the ageing process. This incontinence is often called stress incontinence when the woman can leak with coughing, laughing and sneezing. As the condition progresses,...
Subfertility often causes great anxiety to couples. It is, therefore, essential to investigate thoroughly and quickly at the appropriate time. It is important to realise that 25% of subfertility issues are due to male factors, so investigations should always be...
Approximately 25% of women over the age of 35 have fibroids. A large part of managing these will lead to simple reassurance for many women who have had incidental scans for another reason and have been told they have fibroids. Fibroids, however, can cause problems as...
Circumcision is the excision of the foreskin, the retractable fold of skin that covers the head of the penis. It is a treatment option for a tight foreskin (phimosis) where it is difficult to retract the foreskin over the head of the penis. Phimosis often causes pain...
Heavy periods (menorrhagia) is possibly the most frequent cause for a referral to a gynaecologist. There are many aspects of menstrual disturbance other than heavy periods. Quite frequently, it is a combination of several symptoms that women present with, such as...
Seeing blood in the semen (haematospermia) can be startling. It rarely, however, signals a serious problem, especially in men under the age of 40. Haematospermia often doesn't last long, as it's usually a self-resolving problem. Possible causes of haematospermia...
The average age of menopause in the UK is approximately 51 years of age. Most women get menopausal symptoms, and those symptoms can be broad and diverse, ranging from hot flushes, night sweats, insomnia, forgetfulness or mood changes with flashes of anxiety or...
Haematuria is the medical term for passing blood in the urine. Several different conditions and diseases can cause haematuria. Although most causes are benign, it can be a sign of a significant health problem, even if it happens only once, so you should talk to your...
As a woman releases an egg from her ovary, a small cyst is formed. These are called physiological ovarian cysts and occur from puberty right through to menopause. Assessment of ovarian cysts involves initially distinguishing between a physiological (normal) or...
Kidney stones are crystal deposits from urine that build up to form a solid stone. They usually form silently in the kidneys and often do not cause symptoms until they start to pass from the kidneys to the bladder. As they pass, they may cause abdominal, loin or back...
Pelvic organ prolapse is the descent of parts of the pelvic organs, usually the vaginal wall or the uterus. Vaginal prolapse on the front wall of the vagina is called a cystocele as the bladder lies immediately above the front wall of the vagina. A prolapse on the...
Circumcision is the excision of the foreskin, the retractable fold of skin that covers the head of the penis. It is a treatment option for a tight foreskin (phimosis) where it is difficult to retract the foreskin over the head of the penis. Phimosis often causes pain...
The prostate gland is located just below the bladder in front of the rectum. It wraps around the urethra, the tube that carries urine and semen out of the body. A normal prostate weighs around 20 to 30 grams and is approximately the size of a large walnut. It tends to...
Chronic pelvic pain in women is a complex condition to treat. There are numerous potential causes of pain within the pelvis. At the pelvic clinic, we bring a multidisciplinary approach to ascertain the likely underlying cause of pelvic pain, ensuring appropriate...
A testicle lump or swelling is an abnormal mass that can form in or around the testicles, sometimes referred to as scrotal swelling. Scrotal swellings are relatively common, can occur at any age and have many different causes. Most scrotal lumps are benign or...
Pelvic pain is felt below the belly button and between the hips. It may be a sudden, severe pain(acute pelvic pain) or a more moderate pain but last for more than six months (chronic pelvic pain). It can affect both men and women. Common causes of acute pelvic pain...
Many women today are directing themselves towards good, high-quality sexual health screening. This involves not only assessment for infections but also cervical screening. Many women choose to have in-depth HPV screening and more frequent cervical smears than...
A hernia occurs when a portion intestine pushes through an opening or weak spot in the abdomen and groin. An inguinal hernia or femoral hernia might appear as a mass in the scrotum or higher in the groin, whilst an umbilical hernia causes a bulge around the belly...
A Hydrocoele occurs when there is a build-up of fluid in the sac that surrounds the testicle. A small amount of fluid in this sac is normal, but the excess fluid results in a painless swelling of the scrotum. In infants, a hydrocoele usually occurs because an opening...
Chronic scrotal pain refers to constant or intermittent scrotum pain lasting more than three months. The pain may be around one or both testicles or change from side to side. The pain can also originate in the epididymis, a crescent-shaped organ around the testicle...
A Urinary Tract Infections (UTI) is the result of a bacterial infection affecting part of the urinary tract causing either a bladder infection (cystitis), kidney infection (pyelonephritis), urethral infection (urethritis), or in men, the prostate (prostatitis). The...
A Urinary Tract Infections is the result of a bacterial infection affecting part of the urinary tract causing either a bladder infection (cystitis), kidney infection (pyelonephritis), urethral infection (urethritis) or, in men, the prostate (prostatitis). The most...
A vasectomy (male sterilisation) is an effective form of birth control whereby the vas deferens, the ducts that carry sperm from the testicles, are cut and tied or sealed off. It prevents sperm from being released during ejaculation. Vasectomies are generally...
Undescended testes, also known as cryptorchidism, is a common condition where one or both of a boy's testicles are not in the scrotum. During pregnancy, the testicles form inside a baby boy's abdomen and gradually move down into the scrotum before birth. Around 1 in...
Prostatitis is inflammation of the prostate. It is often painful and can affect both sexual function and the ability to urinate. Prostatitis is one of the commonest causes of urinary symptoms in men under 50 years of age. A bacterial infection may cause it, but the...
An anal fissure is a small tear on the skin around the anal canal that often give symptoms of bright red bleeding and pain on passing a bowel motion. This can either be an acute anal fissure or a chronic, long-standing, non-healing anal fissure. If you have these...
An anal fistula (‘fistula-in-ano’) is an abnormal connection from the skin on the outside of the back passage to inside either the anal canal or sometimes the rectum itself. An anal fistula can result from several conditions but most commonly from prior abscess around...
The appendix is a small finger-like projection of the first part of the large bowel or colon known as the caecum. Several conditions can arise from the appendix, including appendicitis (inflamed appendix) or tumours that can arise from within the appendix. Removal of...
Cancers arise when abnormal cells divide uncontrollably, then invade surrounding tissues or organs and eventually spread to other parts. Cancer that grows from within the large intestine (colon) or back passage (rectum) is termed colorectal cancer. Bowel cancer is the...
Patients with underlying spinal cord problems often also have issues with their bowels. This can include functional issues with the colon where one has difficulty opening their bowels and severe haemorrhoids. Of course, other bowel problems that affect non-spinal cord...
Constipation is an extremely common condition. If you suffer from constipation, we will take a detailed history and perform a clinical examination when you come to our clinic. We would look for signs of underlying medical problems that a leading to constipation....
Diverticular disease is a very common condition that can affect anywhere in the gastrointestinal tract but most commonly involves the large intestine, particularly the sigmoid colon. Diverticular disease often causes no symptoms. Diverticulitis is the term given to...
Endoscopy is the general term for a ‘camera test’. A flexible camera called an endoscope examines the upper gastrointestinal tract, a gastroscopy, or the lower gastrointestinal tract called a colonoscopy. We can perform all of these tests for you and do these with or...
Faecal incontinence is a condition where a person does not have control over either gas, liquid, or solid stools. Faecal incontinence can affect the quality of life of patients who suffer from it. Because of this, we work extremely closely with you to maximise your...
The gallbladder is located underneath the liver and is part of the biliary tree. The liver makes bile, the function of which is to dissolve fats in your diet to allow their absorption in the intestines. Once the liver makes the bile, it goes through a network of tubes...
A hernia is where part of the body (an organ or a piece of tissue) protrudes through a defect (usually in a muscle) and often causes a lump. Groin hernias include inguinal and femoral hernias. We deal with both of these and specialise in recurrent groin hernias....
Haemorrhoids (piles) are very common. They often present with bright red bleeding from the back passage either on the toilet paper or in the toilet basin. Haemorrhoids are essentially enlarged veins around the back passage. They are graded from grade 1 (internal...
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a range of conditions where there is inflammation throughout the intestines. Most cases of inflammatory bowel disease are either Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis. Crohn’s disease affects any part of the gastrointestinal tract...
Obstructive defaecation is where a patient strains when passing stool and has a sense of incomplete evacuation, sometimes having to use a finger to remove stool from the back passage. This syndrome is highly complex and requires careful management to improve...
Rectal intussusception is where the wall of the rectum invaginates in on itself when you open your bowels. It is also termed ‘internal prolapse’. It may give symptoms such as obstructive defaecation where you cannot empty your bowels properly and feel as though...
Rectal prolapse is where part of the bowel protrudes out from the back passage. We see rectal prolapse that ranges from affecting only the rectum lining to full-thickness prolapse of all layers of the rectum. Prolapse often causes symptoms of pain, the passage of...