I need tips on how not to be fobbed off when I go to docs next week

[voluptuagoodshag]

Had sore hip for over a year now. Visited doc months ago and was referred for physio. The exercises given did no good and the physio kept changing them as nothing was working and in most cases, the more I did, the worse it was.
I am a size 8-10, physically very fit, very flexible (I do yoga and stretch regularly) and have continually maintained that its a pain in my bones rather than muscular. I used to cycle regularly and could cover good distances (30-50m miles), I could also manage a 5k run in about 30 mins but now even a short ten mile cycle and it's throbbing afterwards. Have given up on running until it's sorted.
So I'm heading back to doc next week. I hate this and do not want to be demanding but I feel like no-one is listening to me. How do I progress things so that I'm not back at square 1 and she says it's muscular, see the physio again.

How frustrating for you Marnie! Well I'll give the osteopath a go and see what transpires. Shall still keep my appointment with the GP too just to keep the pan in a few fires

Yes, I'd go back.

Ask about the possibility of self-referring for NHS physio. Some of the exercises they gave me were useful in alleviating aches and pains. And when some of them made it worse they weren't able to just say they didn't know what to do, they instead would have to refer me on to a different care team. It was only thanks to the second chartered physiotherapist drawing a blank and him deciding I needed new scans that I ended up seeing the orthopaedic surgeon.

They thought I had bursitis and persued that for a long time. To finally find out that someone could point at something mechanical and say that it indicated a need for surgery was like a lightbulb going on. And I'd have never got that far if I hadn't made myself a pain in the neck at the gp by going back every time I got fed up of not improving.

Piriformis syndrome??? I'd never heard of it before. This is the diagnosis by the osteopath. Shall keep you posted.

Oh, interesting. I didn't know the piriformis had its own syndrome. Did the physio give you advice or recommend a course of action?

Yes and I have these two simple exercises to do at home which are really effective, prescribed by osteopath, not a physio. I go once a week to osteopath and she does these other things where she pushes one way and I have to push the other to get the muscle working normally again.

The original physio I had said I just had to strengthen my muscles, the osteopath said that I was already really strong and bendy. They can't both be right and the treatment from the osteopath has been much more effective. I just got a bad physio unfortunately. I've heard similar bad reports about him.