[quote]bushidobadboy wrote:
Professor X wrote:
bushidobadboy wrote:
Professor X wrote:
bushidobadboy wrote:
For example, the OPs dad will not get much success from going to see his MD, but instead should see a good ortho PT or manual therapist with a background in treating athletes/recreational lifters, etc.
I’m sorry, but the MD is exactly where he should start at. Maybe you missed it, but shoulder pain does not always relate to a “shoulder injury”. It could literally be ANYTHING considering the info given. We have entire classes on things like this which do nothing but teach us that just because you hear hoof beat, it doesn’t mean you aren’t looking for a zebra.
Some of you need to quit with this “almost a chiropractor only without the schooling” take on everything you read.
Yeah yeah, we have the same classes too. But, given the history (what there is of it), the serious pathologies are effectively ruled out. Even if they weren’t, in the UK, chiropractors, osteopaths and physiotherapists are primary healthcare practitioners which means we are taught to eliminate red flags before anything else.
Kind of like dentists, except we specialise in the musculoskeletal system.
Most MDs (not all I grant you) would take a quick look (possibly. Some may not even do that) and a brief history, then either prescribe painkillers and anti-inflammatories or possibly refer to a musculoskeletal specialist, which given the state of the NHS in this country could take a long time.
The OP made no mention of night pain, corticosteroid use or vascular pathology, so I’m curious as to what “ANYTHING”, you think it could be.
BBB
I am not sure what doctors you’ve been around, but I don’t know many who would avoid palpation or movement of the area and simply prescribe anti-inflammatories unless all signs pointed to that as the cause and nothing else. In fact, if you actually run into one who does something like that, simply find a new doctor.
The first places most will start is by taking a blood pressure. the reason should be obvious to anyone who has a clue what they are doing given which shoulder it is. If he needs to be referred, he will be.
This current hatred of those in the medical field makes no sense to me.
Dude, I do not ‘hate’ doctors or other medical professionals. At some things, they excel, no question. Unfortunately, a lot of familly GP excel at prescribing drugs. I don’t blame them, but rather the system.
However you have to consider that in the UK where healthcare is free, 90% or GPs and their nurses are drastically overworked and stressed out. They have the bare minimum of time to see a patient and when they do, they sometimes neglect to do what you and I would consider essential. For example, measuring BP may not be done, if the GP knows the patients history and has never seen a high BP in them. A quick palpation, to check for signs of pain and inflammation might be a luxury of time that many GPs simply cannot afford. And a proper orthopaedic examination? Forget it. Most would struggle to locate and palpate the biceps tendon.
My own experience of GPs in this country has been less than sterling, with most having only a rudimentary knowledge of the musculoskeletal system. Sure, they may have been better 20 years ago, but 20 years of treating the same common systemic conditions, day in, day out has often blunted their skills and anatomy knowledge, in my experience. Moreover, many have never done a days exercise in their life and have zero understanding of what it means to lift weights.
I remember back in the day, when I was working as a fitness instructor, seeing a guy on the crosstrainer in fully zipped up waterproofs. I asked him what he was doing and he said “Losing weight”. I asked him if he was a weight-classed athlete, trying to drop water for a competition. “No, I’m a doctor” he said. I tried to explain that sweating out water only results in a quick, temporary loss in ‘weight’ that comes back as soon as you drink some fluids. He didn’t believe me. Ever since then I have opened my eyes to what some doctors have forgotten about elementary physiology.
BBB[/quote]
Our sue happy system of medicine/law prevents to a large degree someone simply writing off pain as something minor with no deeper inspection. It is because of our current system and our overbearing insurance companies that many docs in this country have to go out of our way to make sure all bases are covered often to the detriment of the patient’s pocketbook.
While your system may seem to suck from a “Mc Donald’s health care” stand point, ours goes pretty much to the other extreme which is why fees are often through the roof just to be seen.
We can discuss the pains of health care in another thread, however. There is no reason at all for this man to avoid a GP in the USA…which is where the OP lives.