To tell my Gp and physio they are wrong?

[Iwannabeacrocodilehunter]

I started suffering with plantar fasciitis early in the year, and as unpleasant as it was, it was generally bearable after the first few minutes in the morning, or after being sat down. I come to know that horrible pain, very very well.

However, the past 6 months, the pain changed to mostly affect the nerves in the bottom of my foot and the nerves that travel up the inside of my ankle. The pain comes on suddenly throughout the day, regardless of what I’m doing (I can be asleep) and it shoots about like I’ve had acid injected, and burns the inside of my foot and ankle. The pain is excruciating.

After doing my own research (yes I know) I have come to the conclusion that I am dealing with ‘Baxter’s Nerve Entrapment’.

However, three GPs and a physio seem to absolute DENY the existence of this condition, and keep telling me it’s PF. One even said ‘I don’t think it’s Bolshers’.

Am I being unreasonable to demand (politely) they look Baxter’s up. Or perhaps take a print off for them? I can’t afford to go private and no one is taking my concern seriously.

Is Baxter’s Nerve Entrapment not a thing in the UK?

I really don't get why people are being rude about OP googling and wanting to ask a Dr to at least consider it. I had to google my Mum's symptoms and ring her GP to ask for a certain test to which he agreed only 'to settle my anxiety' and low and behold, cancer! He wouldn't have done it if I hadn't googled.

There's no harm in asking.

An F2 and my GP disbelieved me when I said I was sure a vertebra had broken. (Had one before). An XRay was misread.

Had to be referred privately to get the correct diagnosis. Did it matter? Yes it did? It indicated my osteoporosis hadn't adequately responded to zolendronate infusions. The diagnosis was required for my rheumatologist to escalate treatment to teriparatide which is the optimal treatment available.

The NHS wouldn't diagnose, sadly neither will the NHS pay for teriparatide because I am under 65. The NHS is no longer fit for purpose. We already have a two tier service.

Health insurance costs me £210pcm. It also doesn't cover the teriparatide so that's £2500 over two years.

TBF OP, I'd try the podiatrist route for a specialist orthotic and some pilates training for your posture/core before anything else.

I can't help with the question but I wanted to mention that I was recommended Asics trainers with gel in the heels when I had this years ago and found them very comfortable. The gel cushions the heel (check they have gel if you get some- not all do) so made walking less painful.

Oh and also their sizing runs small- I'm a 40.5/UK7 in Asics whereas I'm a UK 6.5 or about 39.5/40 in other brands.

I don't know where in the country you are OP, but pm me if you're anywhere near Edinburgh. I use a superb podiatrist here who was recommended by the consultant I saw, and I credit the pair of them with being able to walk without crutches.

There is a lot of unnecessary sniffyness about 'dr google'.

I went to the GP with a print out some years ago, with what Google told me was a Gallstone attack.

GP was so rude I was embarrassed for her. She literally took the print out off me, tore it in half and threw it in the bin. The pain I had was in my lower left hand side only and the Gallbladder is on the right hand side.

Over the next four months of agony I was misdiagnosed by various GPs as having a UTI, a kidney stone, a pulled muscle, constipation and ovarian cyst. I ended up being admitted to hospital and very nearly died. I had choleocystitis, pancreatitis and sepsis from blocked gallstones. A consultant who sorted me out had once prior to this had a patient with gallstones whose pain was in the bottom left only, with no pain when they pressed the gallbladder. So because he'd seen it once before in his career, he knew about it. But because it was an unusual presentation the GPs did not. Google, however, did.

The idea that a GP can know every single condition they might come across is ridiculous. They can recognise common conditions and refer onwards for other things. Machine led learning is going to be very important in primary care in the future for just this reason.

GP who threw the google print out in the bin has never apologised to me.

And DH, maybe his cholangiocarcinoma would've been found earlier and he'd still be alive.

Medics are not always right, sometimes you have to be your own advocate.

Have you a degree in Medicine Orthopaedics or Anatomy?

it really cant hurt, to take the print out and ask

if it hurts their feelings then that is their problem

Is that a question for OPs GP? I'd imagine not and that's why they haven't assessed her foot.

Doctors don’t know every single condition and how it presents. I had something that my GP had no clue about and basically told me it was probably cancer. It wasn’t, thank god.

exactly - they are general practitioners, not specialists.

@Iwannabeacrocodilehunter my OH had the problems you describe. He saw a podiatry specialist. He had bespoke orthotics made and an ankle brace with specific / bespoke orthotic attached (Richie brace). The company is www.fireflyorthoses.com/en/ OH was told that he'd possibly need the surgery to correct the PF and recovery is 12 months off the foot on crutches. He wore the brace for 3 months and now wears the orthotics daily, and it fixed the problem. The total cost was £1100, but worth every penny.

The best doctor I ever had actually took the time to listen to my concerns and asked me if I had any suspicions what it could be.

Yes to this! I had a good Dr who had run through some tests for what she suspected it might be and then asked did I have any suggestions on what I thought could be wrong as all her tests led nowhere. I told her what I'd read online and she agreed that although my symptons weren't the usual standard for tests that she'd go ahead as we'd exhausted a few avenues already. Unfortunately the consultant who got the referral said no as I didn't have the most common symptom so we got nowhere. Few months later I ended up in hospital and I DO have the thing we suspected but because it didn't present with the usual main symptom then the original consultant wouldn't entertain it. Luckily for me it wasn't a time sensitive issue.

I have plantar fasciitis and it's not really a burning pain (more of an ache) i have but can be there at night. It usually flares up when I've been wearing the wrong footwear. My DR Martens always cause it to flare up because I have a high arch.

Have you had your GAIT looked at? Some independent sports shops do this and so do podiatry which is probably your best option and your GP can refer to and they can undertake an assessment. They have more of an Idea than your GP on feet conditions. I'm actually surprised you have seen a physio before a podiatrist as they are the experts in feet and nerve conditions.
You can also do exercises with a tennis ball by standing on it which helps relieve the pain in the feet.

Just to add some conditions such as Diabetes can cause burning pain to feet.

I disagee. Almost everyone in my family has had a serious misdiagnosis from the NHS, including being told that cancer couldn’t be cancer, food allergy wasn’t food allergy and a serious infection wasn’t infection. In most cases we eventually self diagnosed on the internet then hired a private doctor to investigate properly intil he could confirm the diagnosis and only then with the private referrals could we get the correct treatment paid for by NHS.

I loathe it when people say ‘don’t google l, trust your doctor.’ This advice is out of date. Today, the vague memories from medical school decades earlier of an overworked exhausted GP who only has 5-10 minutes to reach an opinion cannot compete with hours of detailed internet research, if you know anything at all about research ie use reliable medical journal type sources.

Thank you everyone for the help and advice and I apologise that I can’t reply individually. I do appreciate the time everyone has taken to share their experiences, provide ideas and advice and of course, even those who think I’m being a bit daft.

I know I’m not a medical professional, but I just know I’m not dealing with plantar fasciitis. I know, because I know what PF feels like.
And I can tell that what I have, is more to do with the nerves.

I don’t think my Gp is lazy, or incompetent. I think that either their hands are tied or perhaps they just haven’t specialised in this area.

Anyway, I have had a chat with DH and he says we can’t go on like this. I’m 41, normally active, normally healthy and I feel like an old lady. He said whatever the cost, we’re just going to pay and find someone who is more familiar with foot conditions specifically.

Thank you all again.

Some of the GP's at my practice are dismissive of Google. I always remind them that when dd was suffering from anxiety at 16 one of their partners told me CAMHS were useless and she couldn't help with a private referral but advised me to find a therapist/counsellor for dd off the Internet. And ask if that was potentially more dangerous than googling joint pain/weak bladder etc. They usually sigh and move the conversation on. Never an acknowledgement of contradiction not withstanding significant contradiction.

Do you really not see the difference between self diagnosing from google and googling a therapist?

ffs

Agree and same with our family.

I was also put through a medically unnecessary procedure only to find out the reason why that was was because the doctors was going off of outdated information that had been proven not only wrong but dangerous adding more risk for problems and interventions. The information was updated at the time only a few years before my procedure. If they had been up to date with their own chosen specialty, I would not have gone through the trauma nor pain I still live with over seven years later.

I don’t trust doctors who cannot even be bothered to listen to me or get annoyed that I dare politely ask questions so I can better understand instead of simply taking their word as gospel. They’re not the ones who have to physically live with their mistakes

This only works if the specialist you are seeing also works in the nhs (many are wholly private). Also, you would still have to get your GP to then make a formal referral to that specialist at his nhs hospital address or the hospital would not accept it. (I am a private medical secretary).

Hi, im a physio. In my view its good to see patients who are proactive and want to learn as much as possible about their condition, particularly when its not responding to treatment. What you describe sounds more like nerve pain and not typical of plantarfasciitis. Also consider a condition called tarsal tunnel syndrome. Im not in the uk but where i live it would be a good physio (shocked that didn't ask you remove shoes and just phone consultations) first and if that hasnt worked for you a foot and ankle orthopaedic consultant.
Best of luck