Advice please - doctor or physio?

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Alice the Camel Dec 2011 8:30am, 13 Dec 2011 595 posts	0 Alice the Camel On 17th December last year , I "did something" to my left ankle. It's still not right. It felt like a sprain although I hadn't cockled over - pain around the inner ankle bone shooting up the calf, bruised feeling under the heel and inability to rotate my foot outwards. It became worse if I tried any sort of proper exercise (ie running or fast walks) or stood for long periods of time. When it first happened, I was living in Qatar. I tried to resolve it myself by doing the usual RICE, also using Ibuprofen gel. I stopped running completely (apart from one or two short "try it" runs). In April I eventually gave in and went to a local hospital. It was xrayed and the conclusion was that it was nothing serious. I was given painkillers, more ibuprofen gel and told to rest it. I went back a couple of times as there was no improvement but I got the feeling that the doctor wasn't too interested. Or maybe the language/cultural barrier was there - why would a woman want to be running in the Middle East? I was back in England in the summer and decided to try our local sports physio who I'd heard good things about. He quickly diagnosed posterior tibialis tendonitis and pointed out a collapsed arch. He prescribed customised orthotics and I underwent 6 weeks of massage/acupuncture. This certainly improved the situation, the pain is now localised to the inner ankle bone and doesn't disturb sleep at night. But it hasn't gone completely. I still can't run on it or stand for longer than about half an hour. Then we moved to Belgium. I have plans for next year and they are going to be ruined if I don't get the remnants of this injury sorted. As well as being unfamiliar with the health system here, I really don't know whether to find another physio or whether to go down the medical route...... What would those of you in the know suggest? Sorry for the long ramble.....
plodding hippo Dec 2011 8:52am, 13 Dec 2011 38009 posts	0 plodding hippo Unless the doc is experienced in sports medicine, id go for a physio
Mrs Winkle Dec 2011 8:58am, 13 Dec 2011 5505 posts	0 Mrs Winkle I agree with Hipps, a good sports injury physio will probably be better...especially if it's about keeping running
Alice the Camel Dec 2011 12:31pm, 13 Dec 2011 596 posts	0 Alice the Camel Thanks ladies, I was sort of thinking that myself..... Just need to find one then!