Why do I even go to doctors for running injuries?

Doctor visit preview wrote:

PATIENT: Doctor, it hurts when I run.

DOCTOR: Stop doing that. Take an over-the-counter pain reliever for discomfort.

*******

There. I've saved you your copay and a couple of hours of your life.

Seriously, doctors can treat broken bones and other major mechanical breakage. For most overuse injuries, they can only tell you to rest and take pain relievers for discomfort.

I have nothing against doctors but going to the doctor for 90% of running injuries makes as much sense as a doctor visit for the common cold. There are things doctors can treat successfully and things they can't and most running injuries fall in the latter category.

+1 This has been my experience. Accurate both in wording and brevity. Unless I snap my leg in half, a basic google search will tell me more (and be more helpful) than a doctor.

doctors > quacks wrote:

infmacs wrote:

I would also add another letter into the acronym for fixing muscle imbalances. Suggestions? :)

What about SCAM?

why? do you think that stuff is bullshit?

with certain injuries, I sometimes found that there was an underlying imbalance. say, something would temporarily hurt and then my body created an imbalance to overcompensate for it, the little hurt then went away but the imbalance stayed and caused an injury. I fixed that and the injury would get better too. I am not sure if this really speeds up recovery but it seems to in the few cases I've played around.

not many cases, luckily, so my experience is limited and I'm not a physical therapist and have no education about this topic but the idea of muscle imbalance makes sense to me based on what I've experienced.

so I don't think it's bullshit or scam.

asdfadsfads wrote:

Doctor visit preview wrote:

PATIENT: Doctor, it hurts when I run.

DOCTOR: Stop doing that. Take an over-the-counter pain reliever for discomfort.

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatories interfere with the healing process. You're behind the times, though unfortunately a lot of doctors are too.

is this proven? that they interfere with the healing process. I heard of that before but I also heard of cases where they actually helped. I have never taken them myself because I just didn't feel the need. so no experience.

the same with ice baths/icing injuries, I heard that they can be bad for the healing process. I don't use ice myself. there was one little hurt once where I tried it and it worked. in all the other cases I tried icing, it didn't make a difference so I stopped playing with it.

I would only go to the doctor if I suspected a stress fracture. Otherwise RICE and finding strengthening exercises tend to do the trick.

www.therestlessrunner.com

Ten... wrote:

Correct, most runners just don't rest injuries, leading to more injuries down the road. When a baseball player pulls a hamstring, he is out 6 weeks, doing some PT exercises and active rest after some total rest. When this happens to a runner,he is looking for someone to give him a magic potion or exercise or strap so he can get back at it within a couple days.

While that may be true, I think one thing that's different is that baseball and many other sports are SKILL sports. If that guy's shoulder is sore and he takes time off, he will still have the skill to throw a baseball accurately and fast, or hit a fast ball. His hand eye coordination is still there.

Running is like 99% conditioning. We know that time off is taking us back to square 1, or maybe just square 2 if we're lucky. We're facing a long road back to proper conditioning.