Doctor or Physio first?

ILikeBananas

If you suffer a new injury when running (muscular or ligament) is it better to go to a doctor first or should you just go directly to a physio?

Note to mods: please allow this since I'm not looking for specific medical advice, rather advice on how to get help from a professional.

tunney

ILikeBananas wrote: »

If you suffer a new injury when running (muscular or ligament) is it better to go to a doctor first or should you just go directly to a physio?

Note to mods: please allow this since I'm not looking for specific medical advice, rather advice on how to get help from a professional.

You: My knee hurts when I run
Doctor: Stop running

or

You: My knee hurts when I run
Physio: Hurts exactly where and how?
You: Here and XYZ
Physio: Right thats ABC and you'll be fine in 5 sessions


Personally I rate neither physios nor doctors. I prefer someone trained by this crowd http://www.nsrt.ie/

Typically
Me: I'm fvcked, I've knackered my knee
Them: Hop up there
<30 minutes of extreme pain later>
Them: Have fun, just take it easy for the rest of the day

RacoonQueen

If you're pretty sure it's muscular or ligamentous you can just go to a physio. Your average doc won't do anything for something like that.

If it's something more you'll probably have to go to your doc for a referral for xray/mri. Baffles me that physios can't refer you for stuff like that, instead you have to go and pay 60 quid to another health professional...

tunney wrote: »

Personally I rate neither physios nor doctors. I prefer someone trained by this crowd http://www.nsrt.ie/

Typically
Me: I'm fvcked, I've knackered my knee
Them: Hop up there
<30 minutes of extreme pain later>
Them: Have fun, just take it easy for the rest of the day

30 minutes? They go easy on you!

Raighne

It's worth noting there are different types of doctors as well. I only use GPs that are qualified in sports medicine as I want a professional who understands an athletes different physiology (e.g. doesn't send you for a heart test because a scan shows an enlarged heart or think a maximal stress test stopping at HR 173 is in any way useful. Both real life example of mistaken assumptions made by non-specialised medical professionals I have encountered).

In general a physio can prescribe adequate treatment and diagnosis for most injuries especially "the classics". Once your condition shows sign of being more mysterious (nothing works, unclear diagnosis, multiple recurrences) the doctor can be the better route particularly, as the earlier poster noted, to get the scan.

I usually just go to Dr Leahy at the Laser Clinic, however, as that will give me both a precise ultra-sound scan of all injured areas and some immediate treatment of the area. My physio and the Laser Clinic will exchange notes so using a specialist who is actively collaborating with other professionals helps (so looking for practitioners in joint clinics often works well). Many injuries need several routes of treatment to be fully managed especially long-term.

Husavik

I went to my doctor twice for running related ailments as he is a former athlete's medic. On each occasion he referred me to a physio......that'll be €60 please!!

So I'd recommend a physio but for foot/ankle - a podiatrist.