How do you choose a Doctor?

[bjvinson]

Rip,

Do you have any advice on choosing a good doctor to look at the injuries that crop up from time to time when lifting?

I'm 48 and I don't want to go to a doctor that is recommended by soccer moms or my friends who tell me, "You are too old to squat."

I'll know he or she is full of crap if they tell me, "Squats are bad for your knees." So I think I can identify the bad ones but how do you know if an ortho is a good one?

Thanks in advance,

[Mark Rippetoe]

You don't until you find out for yourself or from someone else. Unfortunately there is no directory for orthopods with their heads out of their asses.

[Irishman301]

I was looking for a good doctor about a year ago for my knee. I was told that "sports doctors" are the way to go as opposed to regular family doctors. I don't know if it's true or not, because my insurance didn't cover the sports doctor, so I never went to him.

[Mark Rippetoe]

In this context, "sports" means running and riding your bike.

[TPrewittMD]

I am not sure that you need a doctor for the little aches and pains everyone gets. It is the rotator cuff tears, herniated disks, etc. that really need a physician's care. And those may be different doctors.

Here's an idea. If you live anywhere near a city with a major sports team, call the team trainer and find out what doctors they use. Those sports docs don't keep professional athletes out unless absolutely necessary, and they don't operate unless they have too.

[seafood]

I've had some luck using doc's that are on the staff of a local university's atheltic department.

[bjvinson]

I am not sure that you need a doctor for the little aches and pains everyone gets. It is the rotator cuff tears, herniated disks, etc. that really need a physician's care. And those may be different doctors.

Here's an idea. If you live anywhere near a city with a major sports team, call the team trainer and find out what doctors they use. Those sports docs don't keep professional athletes out unless absolutely necessary, and they don't operate unless they have too.

The reason I asked is because my left shoulder has been giving me fits on and off for about 3 months. Presses hurt, bench presses with just the bar are painful until about midway through the 2nd set of 25. When I get ready to squat placing my hands on the bar then moving them in toward the center of the bar and picking my elbows up hurts but it is tolerable.

The damn thing wakes me up at night too.

We have a local university so I can talk to their doctor. LSU is an hour away so I can go up there.

Thanks,

[sytennison]

I've been endlessly frustrated with doctors but was referred by a friend to a chiropractor who has helped me a lot. She's a competitive weight lifter and runs her own CrossFit facility. When I went to her with my bad lower back, she helped me fix the problem rather than A) hiding the problem with drugs and/or B) telling me to stop doing whatever I was doing when I got injured (lifting heavy objects). She then instructed me to continue lifting heavy objects in a modified program of recovery that included lots of supplemental treatment with ice and foam rollers. I recovered nicely and went on to set a new squat PR.

How can you find your own wiz-kid chiro or doc who won't treat you like an idiot for wanting to be stronger? Word of mouth is your best bet. Talk to your fellow gym rats and gym owners. Talk to your local on-line buddies. Heck, you could even email or call all the local gyms in your area. Someone's sure to know someone who can help you.

[TPrewittMD]

The reason I asked is because my left shoulder has been giving me fits on and off for about 3 months. Presses hurt, bench presses with just the bar are painful until about midway through the 2nd set of 25. When I get ready to squat placing my hands on the bar then moving them in toward the center of the bar and picking my elbows up hurts but it is tolerable.

The damn thing wakes me up at night too.

We have a local university so I can talk to their doctor. LSU is an hour away so I can go up there.

Thanks,

Yep. I have had the same kind of thing. I have chronic shoulder pain from a supraspinatous injury in my R shoulder. One steroid injection helped temporarily but then pain came back. Silly tube exercises, etc. didn't help at all.

Then I started doing what I learned here from Rip. High rep presses with an empty 45 lb bar. Up to 50 at a time. This really helped. Have done a lot of shoulder dislocations too with PVC. Chins still hurt some, but I am setting PRs regularly with presses. And I can sleep much better with a lot less positional shoulder pain.

None of this may apply to you, just serves as an example of what you can do without surgery.

For your symptoms, I suggest that you look around for an ortho guy who has done a sports medicine fellowship. Find out who takes care of the athletes at LSU and go to Baton Rogue. Get a diagnosis based on a physical exam. Unless you really messed up, avoid an MRI. It will likely be abnormal and then someone will recommend that you get your shoulder scoped. Try conservative measures first, unless something is really bad wrong.

I don't want to put words in his mouth, but I think Rip would pretty much agree.

Funny, I am just up the road at UMMC in Jackson. I am a surgical oncologist on the faculty here. We have several good folks who can see you if you are in the neighborhood.

[James]

In a college town, whoever treats the collegiate atheletes is often your best bet. The podiatrist in Fayetteville AR who treats the Razorback's footballers is competent, attentive and a former powerlifter. In Gainesville, the team that rehabs injured Gators helped me with a crushed finger; I am working my way up to closing the #3 gripper today because they do great, great work.

So in my experience, whoever deals with the college atheletes is usually not a fool. This may not be true for non-SEC teams. Because as everyone knows, the SEC is the greatest conference of all.

[fullpen]

In a college town, whoever treats the collegiate atheletes is often your best bet. The podiatrist in Fayetteville AR who treats the Razorback's footballers is competent, attentive and a former powerlifter. In Gainesville, the team that rehabs injured Gators helped me with a crushed finger; I am working my way up to closing the #3 gripper today because they do great, great work.

So in my experience, whoever deals with the college atheletes is usually not a fool. This may not be true for non-SEC teams. Because as everyone knows, the SEC is the greatest conference of all.

Except when they play Michigan.

I agree with this advice. I've had some interaction with some of the guys on the University of Michigan staff and gotten great advice on injury treatment. Also, my mother worked at a hospital for many years and I'd ask her who the most "active" doctors were and what questions to ask. There is on where she worked who lifted weights extensively. Helped me with a hip problem. I have weird, penguin like hips. It's amazing.

[bjvinson]

Yep. I have had the same kind of thing. I have chronic shoulder pain from a supraspinatous injury in my R shoulder. One steroid injection helped temporarily but then pain came back. Silly tube exercises, etc. didn't help at all.

Then I started doing what I learned here from Rip. High rep presses with an empty 45 lb bar. Up to 50 at a time. This really helped. Have done a lot of shoulder dislocations too with PVC. Chins still hurt some, but I am setting PRs regularly with presses. And I can sleep much better with a lot less positional shoulder pain.

None of this may apply to you, just serves as an example of what you can do without surgery.

For your symptoms, I suggest that you look around for an ortho guy who has done a sports medicine fellowship. Find out who takes care of the athletes at LSU and go to Baton Rogue. Get a diagnosis based on a physical exam. Unless you really messed up, avoid an MRI. It will likely be abnormal and then someone will recommend that you get your shoulder scoped. Try conservative measures first, unless something is really bad wrong.

I don't want to put words in his mouth, but I think Rip would pretty much agree.

Funny, I am just up the road at UMMC in Jackson. I am a surgical oncologist on the faculty here. We have several good folks who can see you if you are in the neighborhood.

My mom lives in Brookhaven which is only an hour or so away. The next time I'm up there I'll look you up.

Thanks to everyone for the great input,

[Ian Kovtunovich]

Likewise, if there is a pro sports team in your area, the doctor, doctors, or clinic associated with the team will probably be a good bet. I have a few friends who were frustrated with their treatment options from other docs, and had much better experience with the clinic here that does doctoring for the Portland Trailblazers. I'd be prepared for a wait, though - I suspect the demand for these physicians is relatively high.

[ion]

bjvinson:

Your symptons sounds exactly like mine.

I went around with a sore left shoulder for almost 10 month and couldn't understand what was wrong with it.

It started around x-mas last year. Didn't think much about it, figured it'd go away. It didn't seem to go away, it slowly got worse.

It hurt while getting under the bar to squat. I couldn't do bench pressing, after a simple dive in a pool this summer my shoulder hurt like hell for a while and after that I couldn't press either.

That when I decided to get a diagnose.

So I went to a physiotherapist. I was told a had a impongement syndrome. One of the rotatorcuff muscles had been injured, it got swollen and soon my whole shoulder was constantly inflamed in a state more commonly known as rotator cuff tendonitis.

I went for treatment (streching, massage) one a week, and iced my shoulder at home every day. (She showed me a helpful 3d image of the shoulder so I knew which muscles were involved) Trainingwise, Mainly focused on squats and DL's when lifting to avoid upsetting the shoulder.

I made pretty good progress the first 3 weeks and started with some starr inspirated rehab when she allowed me start doing work involving my shoulders again, Dumbells with high reps didn't irritate the tendons and the increased bloodflow seemed good too.

'Been rehabbing for around 6 weeks now. Yesterday I just did my first barbell press session in a long time! Yeey!

To conclude: I was a stubborn ass going around almost a year with this shit, should've gotten the diagnosis way back!

[TravisRussellDC]

Just so you guys know, more often than not the physicians and physician groups who work with pro teams are the ones who ponied up the most money to be designated "team doctor." It's great advertising for the docs since people tend to associate the docs who work with pro athletes as being the best. I'm not saying this is true 100% of the time as I personally know docs who work with the pro teams based on their own merit. For example, the official chiropractor for the St. Louis Cardinals was one of my former instructors and collegues when I taught at the college. He's one of the few docs working with pro teams who are paid by the team as opposed to paying the team for the privelage of treating the athletes.

Just do your research and don't be afraid to interview docs. Remember, it's your body and you have the right to fire your doctor if you don't like what you hear. Take your time and find the right doc for you.

[TPrewittMD]

My mom lives in Brookhaven which is only an hour or so away. The next time I'm up there I'll look you up.

Thanks to everyone for the great input,

Cool. Just look for the dorky bald guy with goofy glasses who looks like he can squat at least 100 lbs. That would be me.