Is going to the doctor a waist of time for most running injuries?

Heel thy self. It so easy.

I go to rule out something serious when there is any doubt. Don't have an X-ray machine at home. I want to know that my guestimates of recovery needs are as close to reality as possible . O.K. this only happened once after I fell off my bike, and when i had a long lasting cough, but it was very helpful both times. The doubt was getting me down.

Other than that , yeah, Doctors are a waste of time for running stuff. I am older than my doctor and he can't run, that right there tells you something.

There is almost nothing a doctor can do for most running injuries. They CAN an are very apt to intervene in ways that can make things worse. This may be changing with the advent of regenerative medicine, but under the current standard of care orthodox medicine has little to nothing to offer runners or athletes in general.

In my experience wrote:

I've had a lot of injuries in my running career and about 95% of the time that I've gone to a doctor for one of them it turns out to be a waist

What's wrong with your waist?

I thought it was a given that most people went to sports physios or sports Doctors? If I'm going to a new physio centre I'll normally go their webpage as they often have profiles of their physios. For example my physio has 10 physios, a friend of mine works there, but she is a graduate with 1 years experience vs the top guy there, 20 years+ specialising in shoulder and neck injuries. So when I had a shoulder problem, that's who I chose to go and see.

IMO, internal medicine M.D.'s & sports med doctors are a waste of time. Most of them are foot soldiers for the pharmaceutical industry. My encounters with them always resulted in a prescriptions for pain control & usually a recommendation to quit running and take up underwater basket weaving or something. 😄 If they don't run themselves, they don't understand the importance of running that many of us have.

OTOH, I think orthopedic surgeons are valuable in getting an accurate diagnosis & pathology of the injury which would dictate a treatment plan, which could include surgical intervention if appropriate. I sustained an acute injury to my ankle during a race where I suspected a torn tendon or ligament. Saw a foot/ankle surgeon who did a clinical & diagnostic (MRI) exam. Results were a rupture PTT & medial column collapse. Given a surgical & non-surgical option for a treatment plan. None of the 15 min office visit BS only to be given a Rx and be told to quit running.

Always see a specialist and know what you're up against.

In my experience wrote:

I've had a lot of injuries in my running career and about 95% of the time that I've gone to a doctor for one of them it turns out to be a waist of time and money. Usually they tell me what I already know or they just don't understand how running injuries work. Anyone else have this experience with doctors and running?

*waste

Picking up a book and doing some reading would probably be well spent.

In my experience wrote:

I've had a lot of injuries in my running career and about 95% of the time that I've gone to a doctor for one of them it turns out to be a waist of time and money. Usually they tell me what I already know or they just don't understand how running injuries work. Anyone else have this experience with doctors and running?

Around the developed world there are consumer protection laws eg if your new TV, car or phone stuffs out within weeks you get you $ back but doctors, physios, and dentists get away with a lousy service (Americans can sue but not elsewhere). 18 months ago I pulled my hamstring and decided to go to a physio for a change and got the standard rehab drag, the guy said it was only a grade 1 as I could jog on it. After 5 weeks of 2/3 visits per week I tried strides and after 5/6 reps it came back again. What solved it was hours looking through youtube for different exercises and trial & error testing them to see what works. Generally most are crap.

A lot of the time, unless you need an x-ray. Most of the time they will tell you to "wear orthotics" that cost $200 and don't work. That's how they make money.

You may need qn x-ray or scan to rule out serious injury

Other than that you'd better advise here

There's a lot of trial and error involved in self-rehabbing

So many guys on here dumb enough to hurt themselves and then blame a doctor for not being able to fix things or "understand running injuries".

YOU are responsible.

Are going to the doctor a waist of time.

Get it right.

yes, you are wasting your doctor's time with your self-inflicted injuries.

blame the fentanyl wrote:

So many guys on here dumb enough to hurt themselves and then blame a doctor for not being able to fix things or "understand running injuries".

YOU are responsible.

That's why so many doctors get paid big bucks to tell patients that it's your fault and take up another, less hazardous sport. Lol. Of course, the prescription pad is always in the ready position.

Going to a primary care doctor for a running injury is like asking a plumber to prepare your will. It'snot what they do. Go to an orthopedic surgeon who has a history of treating runners. I owe my running life to such a doctor.

As a doctor who was a runner before becoming a doctor, I would agree. The average primary care doc or PT is not going to be helpful with running injuries. The exception is an experienced orthopedic surgeon or sports medicine who ideally is a runner themselves...not easy to find one.

They're few and far between, but DOs who do osteopathic manipulation can be great for soft tissue stuff. Unfortunately, most DOs just learn OMT in med school and then forget about it, but there are some who still make it a central part of their practice.

No Hope For Injured Runners wrote:

blame the fentanyl wrote:

So many guys on here dumb enough to hurt themselves and then blame a doctor for not being able to fix things or "understand running injuries".

YOU are responsible.

That's why so many doctors get paid big bucks to tell patients that it's your fault and take up another, less hazardous sport. Lol. Of course, the prescription pad is always in the ready position.

It IS your fault though. A Doctor can't make you smart about hurting yourself.

Doctors have almost no training in treating soft tissue injuries other than surgery, NSAIDs and prescribing rest and/or PT. Even when prescribing PT, the doctor is almost completely removed from the therapy and has no idea what works and does not work.

The first line of defense for runners should be a good chrio or physio who has training in soft tissue techniques like Graston, ART, etc. and has a lot of experience with runners. These practitioners are few and far between. It is pretty easy to tell if a chiro is the real deal. If they start cracking your back and offer a package of 10 visits at a discounted rate, they are clueless. The chiro I see actually markets himself on reducing recovery time and getting you back in action with as few office visits as possible. That is a good sign.