Grrr....Doctors

[User]

 

[Paulus]

Blimey, a prescription for Ibruprofen, With the prescription charge it would be many times the price of the tablets from a shop. Maybe some light cycling after a week or so if the tendonitis goes.

 

[Dave Davenport]

Classic GP response; they're not interested in or equiped to deal with stuff like that and it's easy to just tell you to stop doing whatever aggrevates it, i.e cycling, running etc.

I had a similar problem and went to a podiatrist (after same response from gp) who told me to get some shaped insoles to correct my foot posture, no problems since.

 

[pshore]

Yeah, like the time I had severe RSI. "Oooh that's terrible, you should stop typing". Thanks a bunch I'll just jack the job in then shall I ?

 

[XmisterIS]

[QUOTE 1326155"]And told me to lay off the bike for a couple of weeks.[/quote]

That, unfortunately is what doctors always recommend when you come with some kind of joint trouble. The physios say it is the worst thing you can do because you don't fix the problem - it just comes back when you start using the joint again. If I were you, I would do regular stretching exercises with the tendon and keep on using it. That's the advice a physio gave me for my shoulder when I had tendonitis there. The doctor just said, "don't use your shoulder". WTF??!!

 

[brockers]

I'm increasingly wondering what the point of GPs is. Last time I went was with a chronic hip ache, and basically wanting a referral to a physio or osteo, they, (two docs - one was being trained) advised me to lay-off the running for a bit, take up swimming, and to take 20mg co-codamol. Have since made an appointment with the local osteo training institution to get cheap private treatment. Wouldn't be so bad if I didn't already have to fork out for psychotherapy (so that I'm able to find work without having a breakdown!) and a minor procedure to have a mole removed that itches periodically. All this on incredibly tight finances.

(Also doesn't help that it took the medical profession a year to diagnose my Dad's cancer. He was dead two weeks after the diagnosis.)

 

[rich p]

I went to my quack about wanting some advice about the options available for a new hip and he said that I knew more than him as he hadnt studied orthopaedics for 20 years and things had moved on.

He's getting £100k pa to be a referral agency.

 

[theclaud]

Classic GP response; they're not interested in or equiped to deal with stuff like that and it's easy to just tell you to stop doing whatever aggrevates it, i.e cycling, running etc.

I share a general exasperation with GPs, but in this case I'm afraid this is the best possible advice. Tendonitis simply doesn't get better unless you rest from the activity that caused it. When it subsides you can start the activity again, but try to make a slight change of some kind that will avoid putting exactly the same stress on it. I had extensor tendonitis during a fortnight where I was doing a lot of hilly miles last summer. Because it only hurt badly once I got off the bike and started walking, it was very tempting just to keep cycling, but it got worse until I stopped for nearly a fortnight. I was in the habit of wearing cycling shoes done up quite tightly, so I've loosened them right off and haven't had a recurrence. Change your shoes, Paul, and/or try a different kind of pedal/cleat...

 

[Gromit]

I went to see my doctor just before Xmas as my leg was really painful, she suggested wearing shoes with a bit of a heal.

My mum's doctor after she went in with a swollen knee sent her away with just pain killers. Three weeks later, bedridden and a serious bout of anaemia because she was unable to eat, my sister took her to a walk in centre. The doctors there were disgusted with her GP for leaving her in that state. She was rushed into hospital to have the fluid drained.

She has terminal cancer and still her doctor is a useless piece of s**t.

From my experience and what happened to my friend Sarah, after a doctor in hospital with over 30 years experience, failed to diagnose her with a head injury which caused her to have two major strokes. I would always get a second opinion!

 

[Globalti]

Go to a good bike shop and try some Specialized BG insoles. You'll be amazed at how comfortable they feel.

 

[Chilternrides]

In defence of the Docs mine is a marathon runner, and advises "physiotherapist over doctor any day of the week" when it comes to muscles & joints.

I also had to visit with chest problems recently, and instead of a quick listen, prod, and prescribe, he actually took time to pull out pencill and pad, and draw a thorax with ribs, sternum, lungs, pleura & pipes, the lot, and then used it to show me what he was examining and why, and the possible outcomes.

Met some useless beggars in my time too though...

 

[Falwheeler]

I'm lucky, my GP and one of my rheumatologists are both cyclists so are more understanding.

 

[Foghorn_leghorn]

Sounds like it could be plantar fasciitis. It can be caused by tightness in the calf muscles and Achilles tendon. The insoles that correct foot posture helped a lot when I had it last year.