Complementary Therapist's Guide to Red Flags and Referrals

Unique ready reference for all complementary medicine, massagetherapy and manual therapy practitioners andstudents alerting them to 'red flag' symptomswhich should be referred for Western medicalinvestigation or emergency medical treatment. When can a patient be safely reassured and whendo they need further investigation or treatment?'Red flags' are clinical signs that suggest a patientneeds prompt investigation and treatment fora potentially dangerous situation. Therapistsincreasingly find themselves working alongsideconventionally trained doctors and nurses and it isvital for them to understand conventional medicaldiagnoses, symptoms and treatments and, crucially,to recognise warning signs of serious disease. Thisis essential in order to be a safe practitioner. Clare Stephenson's The Complementary Therapist'sGuide to Red Flags and Referrals meets this need byproviding an easily accessible reference to 'red flag'symptoms, designed especially for therapists. It offersguidance on how best to respond to those symptomsand signs of disease which can be readily discernedthrough routine history taking and basic examinationof the body. The guidance is in language which isaccessible to therapists, and clear advice is offeredon when to refer patients to conventional medicinepractitioners and how to communicate with doctorswhen making a referral. Clinical syndromes which merit rapid response aresummarised for ease of reference.