Why do I even go to doctors for running injuries?

I don't bother going to my primary care, I usually just request a referral to pt if an issue lasts longer than a few weeks. I did go to the ortho recently and he diagnosed a FAI/hip impingement/labral tear. MRA showed no tear. Prior to the follow up I read everything I could find and sacroiliac came up as a possible cause. When I went in, he told me there was no tear. I asked about sacroiliac and requested referral to a new pt. Turns out my pelvis and sacrum were rotated/twisted. If I hadn't asked, I don't think the dr would have mentioned it. But, he was right that I had the impingement, just not the reason for it. I'm lucky that my primary care will refer me to pt without making me go in first.

Independence wrote:

Waistoftime wrote:

Yes, a bunch of runners that don't know physiology, pathophysiology, nor about any of the organ systems will know more about sports injuries than a person with either:

Orthopod: 4 years medicine+5 years orthopedic surgery residency + (potentially) 1 year of sports medicine fellowship

Sports medicine doctor: 4 years medicine+3 years family medicine residency (although there are many ways to get a sports medicine fellowship)+1 year of sports medicine fellowship.

Makes cents. Your welcome.

(Yes, written that way on purpose to those that are too dull to notice sarcasm)

You're the idiot if you think schooling translates into competence in any arena.

Explain to me the action potential and how it transmits a nerve impulse to the motor endplate. Then describe the process by which calcium ions expose the G-actin, with special reference to where they're stored and the role of the T-tubules in transmitting the action potential across the motor unit.

There is no way you're not trolling, but on the offchance you aren't.

Also, please upload a shot of the laptop you built, on the laptop you build. Extra credit for constructing your own network to transmit it, partial credit for telling us how it works.

Charlie Stache wrote:

What a complete waste of time. Does anyone find that ortho's or sports medicine doctors actually helped you with a running injury?

My visit today confirmed that I'm best sticking to the Letsrun search tool & home remedies.

Well most of the time running injuries are due to overtraining and the only solution is to stop / reduce training or completely rest and cross train +\- icing/stretching/focused strength training. This should be intuitive and / or learned by experience (assuming you are not in middle school / high school / a beginner). So yeah, most of the time going to see a doc is not that enlightening because their advice / recommendations are obvious (though sometimes only in retrospect).

That being said, the two times I have gone to see a sports medicine doctor (at RIC in Chicago) I have gotten solid advice that I am sure helped speed my recovery. The first time was for AT. The doc recommended icing and 3 x 15 reps of eccentric calf raises x 3 times a day. I got better in 2 weeks and was able to run and PR at Boston 6 weeks later. The second time turned out to be a medial meniscus tear due to overuse / age / degenerative joint disease. The doc TALKED ME OUT OF SURGERY and recommended 6 weeks of PT and focused strength training. Six months later I PR'ed again in the marathon and avoided surgery. So, your experience is in stark contrast to mine.

Many of the comments above are totally ignorant. Yes, schooling does matter when it comes to medicine. It is true that a lot of family medicine / internal medicine / orthopods know very little about running related injuries. But, if you find a good sports medicine doc or a PM&R trained doc they are worth their weight in gold. Those of you bashing the medical profession are total asshat anti intellectual teabaggers.

You're deliberately hurting yourself, you shouldn't be allowed to see a doctor.

A doctor is for sickness and accidents not people hurting themselves as a hobby.

Life experience is better than anything you learn from a textbook. Message boards are actually very helpful for a lot of things and having an internet connection is cheaper than having an insurance and paying doctor visits.

Bazinga!

hjlkjl wrote:

Explain to me the action potential and how it transmits a nerve impulse to the motor endplate. Then describe the process by which calcium ions expose the G-actin, with special reference to where they're stored and the role of the T-tubules in transmitting the action potential across the motor unit.

Possessing knowledge is not the same thing as being able to problem-solve. Problem-solving in my experience, and apparently in many others as well, is not something medical doctors are particularly good at in general.

I'm sure there are good doctors out there. Personally, I've yet to find one. Every last one I have ever met has been on the brink of disappearing up his own arse in a cloud of his own ego.

Abstinence, pills and knives: apparently these are the panaceas.

Engineers are sometimes good at designing stuff and the theory behind it but that doesn't mean you want them actually building it or fixing it.

UK Limey runner wrote:

Possessing knowledge is not the same thing as being able to problem-solve. Problem-solving in my experience, and apparently in many others as well, is not something medical doctors are particularly good at in general.

I'm sure there are good doctors out there. Personally, I've yet to find one. Every last one I have ever met has been on the brink of disappearing up his own arse in a cloud of his own ego.

Abstinence, pills and knives: apparently these are the panaceas.

how the f*ck are you able to even have the most remote guess at how good doctors in general are at problem solving? it's very clear from your post that you are not a doctor, you have no idea how that stuff works. therefore you are not qualified to say anything about it.

btw I'm not a doctor either but a friend of mine is and over the years I've learnt a lot about how complex this profession is. and you mistake that for having a big ego. you idiot.

and yes, if you have an overuse running injury, there will be no magic pill from the doctor that cures it in the fraction of a second like you secretly wish it would.

instead of such wishful thinking, own up to your own mistake and accept that there is no magic solution.

and yes, overall usually there is no point in going to a doctor with most running injuries because that's not what their job is about beyond giving you the general advice of rest etc, which you clearly don't need a doctor for telling you.

yet, when you get told that, you don't want to admit that it's really just that. you just want the magic solution. which doesn't exist.

this is what all the people here complaining about doctors need to get into their head. instead of complaining.

Mojo Jerkin wrote:

Over the years I have been to doctors dozens of times for running injuries. Not once I have gotten anything of value from it.

Honestly, you'll get better advice by posting here.

+1

these boards are better than almost any doctor

You need to get recommendations. I have a doctor, chiropractor, physical therapist and acupuncturist who treat Olympic athletes and/or pro sports teams. All can fix me in one or two treatments as opposed to my previous docs' advice to use RICE.

What's new here? Same old issues and arguments, same as it ever was. Is there a modern day George Sheehan?

I live in Chicago. My training partner was having knee problems that kept him from running for 2 years. During that time he was seeing a Dr well known in the running community who is supposedly the best and is a runner himself. How could he be wrong, he's well known and a runner too,right? He couldn't find the source of the problem, said nothing was on the MRI or XRay, put him through all kinds of therapy, no solution, no running.

He finally went to another Dr. That Dr took an X-ray, said not one but both had small meniscus tears, scoped him and he's been running ever since.

Its just like anything, there are good options and bad options. Key is not hesitating to get second opinions instead of trusting too much, then cutting loose the bad sooner than later.

It's Ok to come here and talk about injuries and do some research, but don't be all trusting and self diagnose. It's no different than the idiots that worship flagpoles financial acumen. Sounds easy here, but. In the end you are left holding the bag if you don't seek professional advice.

I have not had the best luck either with doctors. But I did have knee problems after a marathon which would cause my leg to lock up about 2 miles into a run.

The doctor just called it runners knee and referred me to a PT, told me it was ITBS which seems kind of obvious now. They did a lot of massage, stretching, and strengthening and I was good to go after a few weeks. So I found the PT helpful.

Persistent knee pain that got worse as I ran... I had an ortho order an MRI followed by the use of an ACL brace while running, "forever"... (I'm not kidding)

Needless to say, I looked to other options. My friend dug his elbow into my quad until i almost cried. I ran pain free after that.

oheo wrote:

Persistent knee pain that got worse as I ran... I had an ortho order an MRI followed by the use of an ACL brace while running, "forever"... (I'm not kidding)

Needless to say, I looked to other options. My friend dug his elbow into my quad until i almost cried. I ran pain free after that.

Interesting.

I'm a Certified athletic trainer and ran in college, and now coaching college. I kind of find this thread funny. I highly believe that you should go to a ortho or a sports dr if you dont know what is wrong. As a runner of 13 years and a Certified Athletic Trainer I feel you know your body better then anyone else. Most running injuries are overuse anyways. If there is a pain in your foot, could be a stress fracture, could not be. Tendonitis. Take time off. With any running related injury it's best to take time off and rest anyways. I agree paying to hear this when you already know this is a waste of time. But however if you don't know what your injury is and rest has not help seeking medical advice is always good.

I'm with you. I've had injuries and mostly they just say, "stop running." "it's not good for you." "why do you do this?" "let's talk about your weight…?" It's completely pointless. Unless you've broken your leg in half, I'd suggest doctors are pointless in this realm of things. You get to the point where you can figure out your injuries.

infmacs wrote:

and yes, overall usually there is no point in going to a doctor with most running injuries because that's not what their job is about beyond giving you the general advice of rest etc, which you clearly don't need a doctor for telling you.

yet, when you get told that, you don't want to admit that it's really just that. you just want the magic solution. which doesn't exist.

this is what all the people here complaining about doctors need to get into their head. instead of complaining.

Rest rarely will "cure" any overuse injury other than fractures. Sure your IT band pain (or whatever) may go away, that is, until you start running again.

Archimedes wrote:

Rest rarely will "cure" any overuse injury other than fractures. Sure your IT band pain (or whatever) may go away, that is, until you start running again.

+1

it might get you back on your feet temporarily. but if you don't fix the reason you got hurt in the first place, you will be out again.