Doctors?

[slopeyj]

Using AIBU as I need a quick answer.
I have something wrong with my shoulder/arm that has all the signs of a rotator cuff injury. I’ve never had any kind of muscular pain before and really not sure if I go through the additional pain of trying to get a doctors appointment or straight to a physio? Just feels weird to say to a doctors receptionist ‘my arm hurts’ - I’m probably being silly but would appreciate help.

YABU - go to doctor
YANBU - get a physio appointment

I'd go straight to a physio. The GP will probably recommend it anyway.

I think a lot of NHS physio services are self referral and you go through an online symptom checker (quite detailed getting you to do movements with video examples and answer specific detailed questions), then it advises you what to do

I found it helpful recently for a similar injury/problem

i had that. got it diagnosed three months after i got it. (i just kept thinking test will heal it but no)
gp sent me to physio. a further wait.

if i got it again i’d recognise it and pay for private because sometimes you can get other treatments rhe nhs dont do.

For example when i went over my ankle i eventually gave up waiting for the nhs and went private then, he said if i’d come sooner he could have done a treatment (radio or sonic waves or something, to break up somethimg, swelling or fluid perhaps) but it had to be done at the early stages and i missed out on that. the nhs wouldnt have done it anyway.

so i’d go private for the initial appointment but i’d still be on the nhs waiting list because itll take a while.

expect to be not right for about a year. it takes ages to heal. my arms almost as good as my other now but it wont go quite as high up if i stretch to the ceiling.

if money is an issue id wait on the nhs if it’s already been weeks since you did the damage as the treatment will likely be the same.

I went to gp becaisr of shoulder pain. They told me to do a self referral to physio. ( not sure if all areas have it).

I had a rotator cuff injury that had turned into a frozen shoulder. I had a few physio sessions- slightly different combination of exercises given at each one, based on how things had improved. Shoulder is now back to normal.

If ypu can self referral, I would do that.