--- title: Signs of Chronic Inflammation in the Body and the Blood Test That Measures It description: The signs of chronic inflammation in the body, simple checks you can do at home, what a CRP blood test shows and how to read your hs-CRP result. author: Dr Marina Nani (Editor-in-Chief) date: 2026-11-10T14:14:32.483Z updated: 2026-11-11T16:15:56.811Z canonical: https://richhealthmagazine.com/article/signs-of-chronic-inflammation-crp-blood-test image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/pexels-12599545.webp categories: Health, Longevity & Science content_type: Guide publication: Rich Health Magazine schema_type: Article --- Chronic inflammation rarely announces itself. It brings no fever and no visible swelling, and the signs it does produce are easy to blame on a busy diary, a bad week or simply getting older. Yet [low-grade inflammation](https://richhealthmagazine.com/article/chronic-inflammation-explained) sits behind heart disease, type 2 diabetes and memory decline. Would you recognise the signs in yourself? No single symptom proves that you have chronic inflammation. The pattern matters more. Several of the signs below appearing together and lasting for weeks is a reason to look closer. ## Signs of Chronic Inflammation in the Body ### Tiredness That Sleep Does Not Fix When you have flu, inflammatory messengers act on your brain and make you feel drained, slow and keen to stay in bed. That response saves energy for fighting the infection. Low-grade inflammation triggers a milder version of the same response, and it can run for months. You wake up tired after a full night, your energy dips by mid-afternoon and rest does little to restore it. ### Aches in Your Joints and Muscles Persistent aches that feel like the start of flu, stiffness when you get out of a chair and sore muscles after ordinary activity can all reflect body-wide inflammation. Joints that are swollen, hot or stiff for more than half an hour in the morning need a GP appointment, as they can point to an inflammatory form of arthritis. ### Bloating and Digestive Trouble Your gut lining holds a large share of your immune cells, so inflammation often shows up in your digestion. Regular bloating, wind, constipation, loose stools and acid reflux are common signs. Blood in your stools, black stools or a change in your bowel habits that lasts three weeks or more needs a prompt visit to your GP. ### Skin Flare-Ups Your skin reflects what happens inside your body. Eczema, psoriasis, rosacea and adult acne can flare when inflammation rises, and cuts and grazes may take longer to heal. ### Low Mood and Brain Fog Inflammatory messengers reach your brain and affect the chemicals that control mood, motivation and concentration. You may notice that you feel flat for no clear reason, that you lose your train of thought or that ordinary tasks take more effort. ### Frequent Colds and Slow Recovery An immune system that stays busy with background inflammation responds less well to new threats. Colds that come one after another, or a cough that lingers for weeks, can be a sign that your defences are stretched. ### Bleeding Gums Gums that bleed when you brush or floss are a sign of gum inflammation. Gum disease is also a source of body-wide inflammation in its own right, so it works as both a warning sign and a trigger. A dental check-up is one of the simplest steps you can take. ### A Waistline That Keeps Growing Fat stored deep around your organs releases its own inflammatory messengers. A waist that keeps expanding, even when your weight on the scales changes little, is one of the clearest physical signs of raised inflammation. ## Simple Checks You Can Do at Home **Measure your waist.** Find the point halfway between your lowest rib and the top of your hip bone, which sits roughly level with your belly button. Breathe out normally and wrap a tape measure around your middle at that point. To work out your waist-to-height ratio, divide your waist measurement by your height, using the same units for both. A waist of 85cm and a height of 170cm gives a ratio of 0.5. UK health guidance says your waist should measure less than half your height, so a ratio of 0.4 to 0.49 is healthy, 0.5 to 0.59 means increased health risk and 0.6 or above means high risk. The check does not work during pregnancy. As a second guide, the NHS advises men with a waist of 94cm (37in) or more and women with a waist of 80cm (31.5in) or more to lose weight, and men at 102cm (40in) or more and women at 88cm (34in) or more to speak to their GP. **Keep a symptom diary for two weeks.** Each evening, score your energy, sleep, aches, digestion and mood from one to five, and note what you ate and drank, how long you slept and how stressed you felt. Patterns often appear within a fortnight: a bloated, foggy day after a late night with wine, or stiffer joints after a week of takeaways. **Check your gums.** Look for bleeding, redness or swelling when you brush, and book a dental check-up if you see it. ## The CRP Blood Test C-reactive protein, or CRP, is a protein your liver makes when inflammation is present. Its level in your blood rises within hours of an injury or infection, and it is the most widely used marker of inflammation in medicine. There are two versions of the test. The standard CRP test picks up the high levels caused by infections, injuries and inflammatory diseases, and doctors use it to diagnose and monitor illness. The high-sensitivity CRP test, often written as hs-CRP, measures the same protein at much lower levels. It is the version that shows low-grade, body-wide inflammation and its link to heart disease. ## How to Read Your hs-CRP Result Heart specialists group hs-CRP results into four bands, measured in milligrams per litre (mg/L): - **Below 1 mg/L:** low inflammation and a lower risk of heart disease. - **1 to 3 mg/L:** average inflammation and an average risk. - **Above 3 mg/L:** raised inflammation, linked to roughly twice the heart disease risk of a result below 1 mg/L. - **Above 10 mg/L:** this level usually points to an infection, injury or active illness, so the result says little about long-term heart risk and the test should be repeated once you have recovered. CRP can jump after a cold, a dental infection, a hard workout or a minor injury. For a reliable reading, take the test when you feel well and have not trained hard for a couple of days. Doctors often repeat a raised result two weeks later, and two readings give a truer picture than one. Your result means most when your doctor reads it alongside your cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar, weight and family history. ## Other Blood Tests That Complete the Picture CRP is the headline marker, but a few other routine tests help show whether inflammation is affecting your health: - **ESR (erythrocyte sedimentation rate):** a second, slower-moving marker of inflammation, often ordered alongside CRP. - **Full blood count:** a raised white blood cell count can reflect ongoing inflammation or infection. - **HbA1c:** your average blood sugar over the past two to three months, which shows whether insulin resistance is developing. - **Liver function tests:** a raised liver enzyme called ALT can be an early sign of fatty liver disease. - **Cholesterol and triglycerides:** these complete your heart risk profile and often rise alongside inflammation. ## How to Get Tested in the UK Your GP can order a CRP test when there is a medical reason, such as ongoing symptoms, a suspected infection or a possible inflammatory condition. The high-sensitivity version is not part of the standard NHS Health Check, which adults aged 40 to 74 in England are offered every five years. Many private clinics, pharmacies and home finger-prick kits offer hs-CRP for a fee. If you test privately, choose a service that uses an accredited UK laboratory and take your results to your GP so they can be read alongside the rest of your health. ## When to See Your GP Straight Away Low-grade inflammation develops slowly, but some symptoms need prompt medical attention whatever the cause: - weight loss you cannot explain - blood in your stools or vomit, or black stools - a fever, night sweats or a cough that will not clear - hot, swollen or very stiff joints - a change in your bowel habits that lasts three weeks or more - extreme tiredness that stops you getting through the day Chest pain, sudden weakness on one side of your body or sudden difficulty speaking needs an emergency call to 999. ## What to Do With What You Find If several signs apply to you, or your hs-CRP sits above 1 mg/L, the next step is to find out what keeps your inflammation switched on. Our guide to the [foods to eat and the foods to limit](https://richhealthmagazine.com/article/inflammation-prevention-diet-10-foods-to-eat-and-5-to-limit) is a good place to start in the kitchen, and our piece on [what affects your health over 50](https://richhealthmagazine.com/article/what-affects-your-health-how-to-build-a-new-relationship-with-your-body-over-50) looks at how the signs change with age. Your body sends these signals for a reason. Learn [the everyday habits that keep your immune system on alert](https://richhealthmagazine.com/article/what-causes-chronic-inflammation), and you can act years before a warning sign becomes a diagnosis. ## Frequently Asked Questions **Q: How do I know if I have chronic inflammation?** Chronic inflammation often has no obvious symptoms, so a blood test is the most reliable way to check. A high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) test measures low levels of inflammation, and a result above 3 mg/L suggests raised inflammation. Signs that can point to it include tiredness that sleep does not fix, joint and muscle aches, digestive problems, skin flare-ups, low mood, frequent infections and a growing waistline. A GP can advise on testing. **Q: What causes high CRP levels?** CRP rises sharply with infections, injuries, surgery and inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease. Smaller, long-lasting rises are linked to excess belly fat, smoking, poor sleep, chronic stress, inactivity, gum disease and a diet high in ultra-processed food. A cold or a hard workout can also raise CRP for a week or two, so a raised result is often repeated two weeks later. **Q: What blood tests show inflammation in the body?** The main test is C-reactive protein (CRP). Its high-sensitivity version, hs-CRP, detects the low levels of inflammation linked to heart disease. Doctors often add an erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) test and a full blood count, and tests for blood sugar (HbA1c) and liver function can show whether inflammation is affecting metabolism. These tests show that inflammation is present but not its cause, so results need to be read by a doctor. **Q: How do you calculate your waist-to-height ratio?** Measure your waist halfway between your lowest rib and the top of your hip bone, then divide that number by your height in the same units. A waist of 85cm and a height of 170cm gives a ratio of 0.5. A ratio below 0.5 is considered healthy, 0.5 to 0.59 means increased health risk and 0.6 or above means high risk. The measure is not suitable during pregnancy. --- *This article is for general information only and is not medical advice. It does not replace a diagnosis, treatment or advice from your GP or another qualified health professional. Speak to your doctor before you make changes to your diet, exercise, medication or supplements, especially if you have a medical condition, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or take regular medication.*