Why is it so hard to find a quality doctor?

[jake272]

I'm about to lose it, so I go to the doctor for my depression and anxiety because of my low back pain and all he says is, "do some aerobic exercise five times a week, research has shown that this is the best type of physical activity." Then I go to the physical therapist for my back, he doesn't get an mri or anything and just says, do these stretches to strengthen your "core" or whatever the fuck that means. I haven't lifted in a while, and I'm Not sure what to do because theres not a single doctor who knows what the fuck, theyre talking about, which really makes me angry considering they make money off of lying to people, and when I try to explain something, they just talk over me with all this "clinically proven" bullshit, anyone have any ideas on what to do? This is really getting me down.

[Bill Been]

What's your training history, age, injury history, etc.?

[Bryan Dobson]

The best serotonin producer is gains!

Not lifting is not helping your back pain. Might as well lift.

Here is a bone to chew on

Starting Strength

[Les Hahn]

I think any kind of activity is going to help you feel a little better. I choose strength training. You could do Starting Strength 3x per week and then just go for a walk or something on the other two days. I actually started training a 30 year old woman that had some lower back problems from sitting a lot at work. After just 4 weeks, she is feeling better. If that isn't enough, you could always do some of those stretches as part of your warm up. One of my good friends is a physical therapist, and he gave me two stretches to do that helped a lot for benching. It takes 3 minutes, and I just do it as part of my warm up. :-)

[Chebass88]

I'm about to lose it, so I go to the doctor for my depression and anxiety because of my low back pain and all he says is, "do some aerobic exercise five times a week, research has shown that this is the best type of physical activity." Then I go to the physical therapist for my back, he doesn't get an mri or anything and just says, do these stretches to strengthen your "core" or whatever the fuck that means. I haven't lifted in a while, and I'm Not sure what to do because theres not a single doctor who knows what the fuck, theyre talking about, which really makes me angry considering they make money off of lying to people, and when I try to explain something, they just talk over me with all this "clinically proven" bullshit, anyone have any ideas on what to do? This is really getting me down.

You walk in, and tell the doc, "Doc, I'm going to keep lifting. I'm going to get a 600lb deadlift. How can we fix my issues so I can meet my goals?"

If they poo-poo your goals, find someone else. There are doctors all over the place. Physical Therapists mostly do silly bullshit. There might be 1/1000 who knows about lifting. Search until you find that one, and book an appointment.

[jake272]

What's your training history, age, injury history, etc.?

I am 20, I injured my back a long time ago, went to see a doc, all he found was a slight bulging disc, the pain was pretty bad the first two weeks, then it went away, then it came back after a while, I continued to squat and deadlift because I didn't think it was anything too serious, now, when I squat and deadlift, I get a dull ache right above my ass crack. It usually goes away after I stop squatting and deadlifting, but it sometimes pops up when I'm sitting or lying down, I've tried fixing my technique, doing Valsalva harder, wearing a belt, but it hasn't gone away. It just keeps coming back and squatting and deadlifting seems to make it worse.

I'm 20 years old, and I've been training on and off for a couple years, but haven't been able to make progress, for fear of hurting my back further and not having been able to resolve this issue.
Here's a video of my squat form if it helps.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Taohp1ztV6M

[Brodie Butland]

Do you have a video from the side?

[idlehands]

Do you have a video from the side?

I remember taking a day off of high school after throwing out my back. Backs suck.

Time, water, decompression. Read mac wards article and find something that works for you.

Water and deep tissue massage and working on seated posture and decompression and chiropractor have helped me.
( and cissus & fish oil supplements but I suspect that might be placebo )

[lou t]

I understand and empathize with you. A few years ago after being hospitalized with severe back pain and numbness all the way down my right leg, couldn't walk. They took an MRI, told me I had this and that. I was told to never lift heavy ever anything by the orthopedic

Doctors don't know shit.

I got to lifting as soon as I felt I could and never looked back.

At all times in my life, no matter what the crisis, I have always found solace in grabbing a bar and lifting. It has always been the one constant in my life were I can escape from everything and be in the moment.

My suggestion is to do as much fact finding as you can, use common sense and take charge of your mind and body. No one else will.

[Culican]

Had a cervical disk herniation 21 years ago. Presented with severe neck pain and numbness in my left hand and forearm.

Doctor 1: All you need is a good massage.

[two days later weakness starts and i almost drop a coffee cup out of my left hand]

Doctor 2 in the urgent care clinic on a weekend: You had better make an appointment with Doctor 1 again, this could become permanent real fast. You must wear this neck brace and not take it off or else it could get worse fast.

Doctor 1 (irritated at me): Weren't you just here a few days ago? [Does a quick neuro evaluation and gets a look of horror on her face.] Me: Yes, you told me all I needed was a good massage.
Doctor 1: Well, your examination has changed markedly since then. [Doctor 1 runs out of the room and then later returns and tells me I have an MRI scheduled for the next day.]
Me: I can't stand this neck brace
Doctor 1: Wear it backwards, sometimes that works better.

[MRI results come in showing several bulging disks impinging on nerve roots and on the spinal cord in my neck. I am sent to the neurosurgeon]
[I show up at the neurosurgeon's office wearing the neck brace backwards like Doctor 1 told me.]
Me: I can't stand this damn neck brace
Neuro: Throw the damn thing it the garbage then, it doesn't do anything anyway. (Recall that the urgent care doctor told me I must wear it.)
Neuro: Take ibuprofen for 8 weeks and then we will re-evaluate. Also tells me I should get a different job where I never have to lift over 15 lbs. (I work in retail.)

[8 weeks later all my strength in the arm has returned, just a little residual tingling remains. I complain about the tingling and am sent to a neurologist.]

Me: I have this tingling. Also the neurosurgeon said I should get a different job where I don't have to lift and bend.
Neurologist: I don't think you need a different job, sitting in one place might just make it worse.
[See him for several visits at three month intervals. The tingling never goes away}
Me: This tingling is not going to get better, is it?
Neurologist: No, lets just say you and it will come to a better accomodation.
Me: Will I have more problems as I get older? (Remember, this is 1994.)
Neurologist: Actually, you will probably have less. Disks dry up as you age and shrink, which means they might press less on other structures. (I think he was right on this). You do have the neck of an 80 year old man, be careful (I was 40 at the time).

I had already started lifting again several months earlier and didn't tell any of the doctors because I didn't want them to talk me out of it.

Remember, they are not Gods. I grew up in a medical family. I can tell you stories about the two orthopedic surgeons who looked at an x-ray of my right forearm when I was 15 and came to wildly different conclusions regarding what turned out to be a simple fracture.

I can also tell stories about the orthopedic surgeon who showed up blind drunk in our driveway one Sunday morning in his sports car revving the engine. This was after he drove by the local Catholic church and asked one of the nuns if she wanted to screw. (He was a large donor to them, so they let it go.) His wife was a raging alcoholic.

Sometimes I am asked why I didn't go into medicine. The answer is simple: Every time my father would drink too much, he would invariably say, "Son, never become a doctor."
He hated it, I think that the stress from it is what killed him.

My mother had worked to put him through medical school and I realized later that he had never let on to her that he hated it. (I never spilled the secret either while she was alive.)