From chest pain to skin discolouration - common symptoms you should not ignore

We often put off going to the GP for something "small" that's bothering us.

But there are many common symptoms people ignore that doctors prefer they wouldn't.

On this edition of Doctor's Surgery, Dr Charl van Loggerenberg answers questions about everything from chest pain and night sweats to heel pain and skin discolouration.

At the top of the list is chest pain, which Dr Charl says has a cause list "as long as my arm".

This ranges from the most benign source in terms of a gastrointestinal issue to chest wall or rib (costochondral) discomfort through to a more serious heart or cardio-related problem.

"People tend to act in two ways; either they think it could be a heart attack and get some treatment, or they ignore it with 'I don't want it to be serious, and hopefully it will go away.'"

Van Loggerenberg emphasises that they always like to do a proper medical inquiry around chest pain just to make sure it's not an early red flag for something cardiac, so make that doctor's appointment.

Another listener raises the problem of skin discolouration – she reports developing a dark line around her lips which makes it look like she is wearing lipliner.

A symmetrical type of dark skin change like this can sometimes be traced to underlying drug side effects, the doc says.

In this case, the profile of medication the patient might be taking should firstly be checked.

"We can also look for an underlying autoimmune problem, for example, with a rash or a discolouration, especially around the face. But otherwise it is not specifically indicative of one type of disease."

Again, this warrants a trip to the doctor to get a proper history taken.

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To listen to Dr Charl in conversation with Sara-Jayne Makwala King on CapeTalk's Weekend Breakfast, click on the audio link below: