Doctors!

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In our area the DEXA system is truly bonkers and a total waste of NHS money.

My GP sent me for one - I had had one several years previously, which showed osteoporosis. She wanted to know whether it had progressed in order to make a decision about future treatment.

I went for the scan after a very long wait indeed. I then waited and waited for a result; and kept ringing up about it. In the end they did send a result to the GP, but it had no comparative element - i.e. she had no way of knowing how much it had worsened since the previous one.

To cut a long story short, it turns out that the hospital continues to do the scans but has no staff to interpret or report on them. None at all. So, they do the scans and the results just sit there. Hmmm.

Forgive me if I am slightly cynical about May's announcement today about a new better NHS. I do not think she has the remotest idea what is happening on the ground.

Hope you find a way to help your pain soon

PECS you have all my sympathy as I lie here on the sofa feeling much the same as you so sending you . I feel better knowing I am not alone

PECS I have sent you a PM.

Thank you sparkefizz I will have a go at anything to relieve the pain!

PECS Find a cranial osteopath. I have almost exactly the same as you and I have osteopathy every month to keep the pain at bay. In case you don't know, a cranial osteopath doesn't just work on the head but also on the rest of the body, but it's a very gentle treatment and not manipulative.

Mrs JamJam re your concern re young GP..the chap I saw only qualified in 2017 and he signed me up for everything going!

MrsJamJam I, too, was "treated as a little old lady who knew nothing" over a completely different medical matter to yours, but my GP just brushed me off. I saw another Dr in the practice who did the same.

Eventually, thanks to the Net, I found a private doctor who offered blood tests and it cost me a lot of money, but the results were absolutely dire because by then I was much worse. My GP told me off for having private tests until he looked at the results and panicked because they were so bad. Since then he has been brilliant. He knows I take responsibility for my health (I have a number of different illnesses) and we discuss treatments/outcomes and work as a team. Sometimes I have to wait 3 weeks to see him in particular, but it is worth it for the continuity.

Two of my problems are osteoarthritis and osteoporosis, but GPs have a tick-list now for referring for scans such as DEXAs, one of which is a fracture or break, so it's a case of shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.

Shame on your GP for not listening to you or looking at the X Ray.

MrsJamJam I am in a similar predicament re inability to stand /walk for more than a few minutes. This has happened since September prior to which I lived a very active life, gardening, walking 3-9 miles each weekend, DGC childcare & p/t work etc etc. I tried a chiropractor but made little difference so went to GP after 6 weeks of pain. Referred for MRI and appt with Muscular Skeletal Clinic at local hospital early Dec.. I was diagnosed with stenosis of the spine and a week later had an epidural with steroids. Unfortunately it seems I am in the 50% that feel no benefit. I am now waiting to see consultant for next option. The pain is in my lower back, hip, thigh and sometimes all down my leg. Walking for more than a few minutes is excruciating. In August I was playing on a Cornish beach with DGCs and walking everywhere feeling young(ish) and healthy.

Much the same here. Groin pain for months, thought I had pulled something. Had KCR which seemed to help initially but discomfort came back. Saw another physio who after poking and prodding said she was sure it was osteoarthritis and advised me to see gp and get x-ray. After pushing for an X-ray results showed moderate osteoarthritis in my hip. Called back to discuss and gp discussed results and I pushed to see consultant. Awaiting an appointment.

Yup. Anti inflammatories and keep moving was what I was told when I had a bad back due to a trapped nerve. It took time but it worked!

I used to have the GPs wife for English Tuition, and once she came to see me and I was in pain with sciatica. She said all doctors know that sciatica takes 16 weeks to get better, but then goes away.
GPs don’t tell their patients this because it would depress them. Well my sciatica did go away after 16 weeks and when I had it again years later, it was the same.

They say there are too many OPs for the back which is then not cured permanently. Take enough pain relief and hope that in 16 weeks there will be an improvement

I've had these sort of doctors MrsJJ. They're not confined to male doctors either. When I see my GP I want to make an informed decision about treatment after discussion and in partnership with my doctor. I don't want to be patronised and sometimes we just have to be polite but assertive.

Show him up for what he is then Mrs JamJam -an arrogant git! ??

Poppyred, I had the impression that he (being in his 30s) perhaps regarded me as so old at 69 that I should expect to be settling in an armchair with some knitting - not trying to continue walking on Dartmoor! or perhaps i am just oversensitive to ageism. I hate being treated as a little old lady who knows nothing.

Go back to G.P. surgery and see a different doctor. They are obliged to look at your x-rays and refer you to see NHS consultant if there is a problem. I would also make a complaint, there is absolutely no excuse for not looking at the X-ray results, he/she sounds very arrogant!

MrsJamJam I don’t know if it still applies, but at one time the NHS operated a Choose and Book scheme.
Basically you could ask for a referral to anywhere in the country.
It might be worth checking out the waiting times at different trusts near to you. I know that waiting times in the northeast aren’t as bad as that.

You all have very interesting opinions , but I do think that individual circumstances vary a lot. I asked the question because I am in a debilitating amount of pain and unable to do anything normal. Unfortunately for me our rural GP practice was closed down last year so have had to start with new one. The fact that I have had physio twice before, and have been continuing the exercises, does not count with new one and I must restart at the beginning of the system.

Also, the private hospital has advised that it is no longer an option to see the consultant privately and then go across to his nhs list. You either continue to a private op or go back to the beginning and start again on nhs. And round here the internet tells me that the waiting list for joint surgery is 35 weeks - awful.

To avoid back pain, you must reduce excess stresses and strains on your back and ensure your back is strong and supple.
If you have recurring bouts of back pain, consider:

losing any excess weight
wearing flat shoes with cushioned soles
trying to reduce any stress, anxiety and tension.

For the time being we have a lovely GP who is kind and very thorough. I had to take my OH to him yesterday and he was lovely .
Unfortunately his is due to retire soon.
He is very well regarded in our small town.

The GP would not need to look at the x-ray necessarily. He should have a report to read which would have been done by a radiologist more skilful in interpretation and diagnosis than a GP.

I understood that it was now standard practice, possibly via NICE, for patients to be referred to Physiotherapy before any further treatment. I've certainly been down that route several times and it's seems like rationing to me.
RE chiropractors, a good one is worth it. They study for 5 or 6 years and specialise in the spine and the associated physiology and anatomy. GPs are generalists and seem to know little in detail. I don't know if they do CPD but I wish I had a pound for every story I've heard of a GP out of date, I'll informed or plain opinionated.

My dh had surgery recently. Private consultation with Gp letter and then a switch over to consultants nhs list which had an 18 month waiting list. He got a cancellation in 3 months.

Don't you think a qualified GP is more likely to know what is wrong, rather than a chiropractor?

Yes. If he LOOKED at the x-ray. Which he didnt....