What Doctor To See???
 

I am having an issue with pain in my leg. It starts above my knee, then radiates around to the back of my thigh and up into my buttocks. The pain is very intense. It only comes on when I walk a fair distance or do anything strenuous, like golf. But I don't know where to start? See a general Family Practioner? I do think I need an MRI to see if it shows anything. Any thoughts on where to start??? And the name of a good Doctor that would see me??? Thanks.

Start with your family doctor/internal medicine doc. I am presuming you have one. (S)he will review and either refer you or run some preliminary tests to rule out things.

GolfingEagles May offer more relevant input, due to his experience.

I am a Snowbird, so I have no GP . Recommendations??

I would go to one of the Urgent Care facilities in The Villages. They can order an xray, and then refer you to a specialist, based on the results. They probably cannot diagnose anything without some type of xray.

Sounds like possible sciatic nerve, you could try a chiropractor but a neurologist or orthopedic doctor would probably be a better bet. Now since you do not have a primary care doctor, you may have to beg to get an appointment. This may be the time to get a PCP, do not bother with The Villages health, you will not have the correct insurance. I will leave it to others to provide suggestions for PCP or other doctors.

Wondering how you know this?

Hi there TJL,
I am a Registered nurse and used to work in a special procedures unit at one time and we saw a lot of this sort of thing. A question for you first do you or have you ever smoked? If the answer is yes, then what we have found in the past is that there can be plaque build up in your veins and arteries. This comes from a history of smoking. This causes pain when you walk for a distance. It is called claudication. Lake medical imaging can do an ultrasound of that area and it may give them a starting point. I am not suggesting you go to LMI, but that is who is in our hospital. We would then do what is called a runoff. That is where they inject dye into your vein and they take pictures of your body as the dye flows through your vessels. If you want more information, I can try to guide you in the right direction. Hope this helps I have over twenty eight years of experience in the medical field and so am familiar with a lot of things. LOL

See Dr. Nguyen in Maitland. His office is near Universal Studios. If you need a referral, see your primary doctor first.

Sounds like you may have sciatica. I would try to see an orthopedic doctor.

it might be the peraforma muscle

Start with your primary care ... let them point you toward the right specialist

You should go to Urgent Care (there are several) and they will recommend who you should see. My guess is you will be referred to an Orthopedic Practice (there are several). If you want to try a Chiropractor, I have had success with Colony Chiropractic. But, I would start your journey at Urgent Care.

I had pain in my hip and leg and went to GP and orthopedic Dr. They fiddle faddled around and I finally asked for a MRI of my lumbar. Got it ordered and had two ruptured discs and the sciatica nerve was severely pinched and torn. Took MRI to Dr Barry Kaplan neurosurgeon in Leesburg, had day surgery in December and pain is gone! Be aggressive yourself.

golf is strenuous? go to a specialist. bypass the g p.

Could be siatica... a chiropractor could help you. Legacy Clinic is very good

Dr. Michael Messieh: Phone 352-243-6899

Sounds a lot like my own sciatic pain. It set in after a couple of strenuous hikes a few years back. Regular gentle stretching helps a lot, until you can have it looked at.

I am surprised no one has mentioned it might be your hip. I had similar symptoms and tried chiropractor and physical therapy. Then went to orthopedic surgeon and a new hip fixed the pain. A simple x-ray of your hip can tell you if that is the problem. I had mine done in Kansas City area last summer and am very happy. Do not know anyone to recommend at TV.

There are two manipulative osteopaths at Colony & it's remarkable what weekly treatments have done for me. I was advised by 3 surgeons to have back surgery. I advise avoid doctors who perform surgery as that's how they make their money. Most will advise surgery when it's not needed... ***OR*** Go for stem cells.

Wow. Again, another reason why there is no AAAP(American Association of Amateur Physicians)
Intermittent claudication is possible, but with one leg affected above the knee quite unlikely. I would not be starting this work up with a venogram.

Performa muscle? Is that something like the piriformis muscle. No need to add any response to THAT.

Sciatica is by far the most likely diagnosis and a good starting point for evaluation, although there are a lot of possibilities. Plain X ray will probably be unrevealing, most likely the OP will need an MRI and possibly an EMG.

Without a primary care doc, probably start at urgent care to get a referral, which SHOULD NOT be to a chiropractor or a manipulative osteopath

Oh, thank you for saving me ...... I have been reading this, trying to formulate a response to the posts...... you nailed it..... I can sit back and relax and not drain my brain, lol.....

Try a GP first You could save lots of time and Money Dr Tafur 350-6241 is excellent GP

OP---were you able to get a referral to a qualified physician?

I always thought that was one of those add a little money to my account procedures done by folks who are not on the up and up. I am not a medical person and have not ever played one on stage.

No, actually they are all legitimate medical procedures that are quite valuable, under the right circumstances. I get the feeling our nurse friend has "seen" these procedures used over 28 years, but may lack the training to know which one to use when. Not her fault, it's not what she was trained to do. It's kind of like knowing every tree in the forest by its first name, but having no idea what the forest as a whole looks like.

No.... unfortunately...