My leg hurts really bad, but I have no insurance

[ReneeM]

I currently don't have insurance. I go to a place that treats the uninsured for free, but they can't get me in for two weeks. Even though I told them my pain level they won't see me sooner than August 8th.

My leg has been throbbing for several weeks. At first I ignored it, but now it throbs when I try and sit on the floor to play with my chins, to the point I'm in tears. It's also throbbing when I sleep.I can't drive without it throbbing, and of course it's my right foot. It seems to stem from my buttock down.

I'm seriously considering going to the emergency room. I can't continue like this for two weeks

 

[DaddyslilDimwit]

I would go to the ER. We have the same type of free clinic here that you are talking about and the are completely useless. Instead of torturing yourself for another 2 weeks just to have them be totally incompetent when you get there, just got to the ER and get the treatment you need.
I also have no insurance, but I would rather make a $20 payment each month to the hospital and have peace of mind... and no pain.

 

[InkedupTara]

Just keep in mind the ER is not a fix all. They are meant to diagnose, if they can and give initial treatment and cant replace a family dr. Do you qualify for assistance? I know that doesnt help now, but for down the road.

Good luck on getting relief.

 

[Riven]

I would skip the doctor and start with a chiropractor, sounds to me like it's possible your hip is out of place and reducing the blood flow to your feet...

 

[danik22]

If it has been like that for sometime or certain things make it worse it is possibly sciatica. The thing is it could also be a blood clot, so you should weigh your options and figure out which is more plausible. Sciatica can be relieved some with home exercises (i have been a massage therapist for over 5 years), while chiropractic and massage will likely be more effective long term. Grab a tennis ball, goggle sciatic relief and use the tennis ball from to see if there is a root cause in your glutes.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2

 

[ReneeM]

Thanks everyone. I actually don't qualify for assistance. I make about $100 to much on unemployment a month to qualify. I was denied because of this.

 

[addictedtochins]

I would go to the clinic and wait for them to see me. All day today and all day tomm. The ER really won't do much....Maybe a pain pill and then see your Doctor. Danik22 has some good advice.

 

[ReneeM]

The ER diagnosed me with a pinched nerve in my right butt cheek. Gave me prednisone and Tylenol with codeine. My doctor's office will not see me because they are so booked, they flat out told me to go to the ER if it got worse. I could only get in to see a nurse practitioner on August 8th. The doctor has nothing open until the end of August.

They have done this before. When I sprained my ankle in March even though my foot was throbbing, they would not give me an appointment.

The staff is not sympathetic and refuse to budge on scheduling appointments. Even though I was in tears on the phone, it didn't matter. They told me to go to a walk in clinic. Well, if I had hundreds of dollars to do that, I would not have been calling them.

I know they are there to help, but sometimes it doesn't seem like it. Even if I had gone to the office they would not have seen me.

I couldn't stand the throbbing pain anymore. Meds they gave me in the hospital already seem to be kicking in. Feeling pretty good!

 

[addictedtochins]

If it is a county run hospital they should have something in place to help you with the bill. Find out about it. I'm sorry you are having such a bad time this month. You are in my thoughts...

 

[sheena lee]

I'm sorry this is happening, I can't even imagine. The US really needs free healthcare!

[and the Quebec government needs to give us our free healthcare back!!!]

 

[Riven]

I know people who live in Canada and I don't see how free healthcare would help. She has to book her appointments 2-3 months in advance...

But my thoughts on the examples of free health care and what I think it will do to the US is a day long session in itself. Our government can't keep itself out of debt, can't take care of the soldiers who take care of them, but somehow think that they will be able to manage health care better than others...

Anyway, the meds won't help the problem, just cover it it. Again I recommend a chiropractor.

 

[ReneeM]

The meds are just until I can see my regular doctor. I'm going to ask them about a specialist then. My sister in law asked about physical therapy. She is a nurse.

They are helping now, although it was frustrating trying to play with my niece yesterday on the floor

 

[GorillaJTA]

Anyway, the meds won't help the problem, just cover it it. Again I recommend a chiropractor.

Having never met a chiropractor that was not interested in making a patient for life to the point of not referring to physicians when things are not correcting, I cannot recommend chiropractics. My grandmother went to a chiro once a week for 20 years, then 3x a week when she started getting weakness in her leg. After 5 months of no improvement and progression, we finally convinced her to go to an MD and she finally got her cancer diagnosis that could have been caught 5 months earlier. I also got sent to a chiropractor after a wreck. I have pain in places I never had back pain before because he popped them 3 times a week for 6 weeks. I know a mother who refused to have a bulging muscle in her child's neck surgically repaired because the chiropractor she worked for claimed he could fix is with chiropractics. When the kid was 10 months old the parents divorced and the father took the kid to a pediatric joint doctor and they fixed it with a very short and simple surgery after 8 months of "chiropractics". People say conventional medicine is a short term fix, but chiropractics is designed to make chronic patients, too.

 

[Spoof]

Having never met a chiropractor that was not interested in making a patient for life

I did and he changed my life. Granted his goal was to make it so people didn't need to come back.

You have to find the right type and they are usually sports therapists. Don't allow them to adjust joints unless they've done muscle work in that area.

The key to successful chiro is to relieve the source of the problem - misshapen or uneven muscles, adjust the joint and rebuild the muscle evenly. Some of it takes a few weeks of exercises before they will go in and adjust the joints/vertebra.

When my chiro retired I got pretty bad after a horse accident and haven't been able to find another. You know what worked? Yoga. I'm still shocked at what it relieves. If you get cleared from the doc go take a class. I took one at the university here six months ago and it was the best $35 I've ever spent.

 

[sheena lee]

I know people who live in Canada and I don't see how free healthcare would help. She has to book her appointments 2-3 months in advance...

I don't see how it wouldn't help, personally, since one of the issues she's faced with is lack of insurance. She mentioned there are walk-in clinics that cost hundreds of dollars. Here, walk-in clinics cost nothing. I have in fact never, ever paid to see a doctor, whether it was at a private clinic or a community service centre. We do still need to book appointments in advance to see specialists at a hospital (which is also free) but I can go to a clinic and see a doctor for free at any time. Medicare covers everything in Quebec, from a percentage of prescription drugs to major surgery, and all I need to do is renew my card.

 

[ReneeM]

Actually got in to see a nurse practitioner today. She said she thought it was piriformis syndrome. Pretty much seems like sciatica to me. They can get me a one time referral to a physical therapist I can get a discount with. Just to show me what exercises to do. it was actually kinda funny, the nurse was a nun. I've only ever met one nun, my great aunt

 

[ChinnyMom]

not to get too off topic on this thread, but here in Alberta we have 100% free healthcare. when you are born you are issued a health card that you have to show whenever you require medical services. no renewal necessary, the card follows you for life. like Sheena, i've never paid to see a doctor, be in a hospital, or anything of the like. there used to be premiums you had to pay to the province, but they have since nixed those premiums. i'd always qualified for fully subsidized premiums anyway, before they were free for every Albertan citizen.

sadly, Alberta Health does not cover dentistry, the only medical service i really need these days! no benefits at workjob (well, a silly reimbursement program, but when one doesn't have the cash to fork over initially for tooth work, then it's really a mute point, eh?).

Renee, i do hope you are feeling better! just remember, pain meds will mask the pain. even if you feel 100%, take it easy so that you don't hurt yourself any worse, before you have a chance to see your doctor.

 

[Riven]

I love my chiro. He's saved me TONS on medical. Once I went it and told him my arm kept going numb, I'd been tossed off a horse 2 weeks prior and never thought about it, but my shoulder was dislocated. With the MD I would've been on meds and xrays, and the whole works, and this is coming from someone who works with doctors everyday.

A chiro does mechanical stuff, a MD does "chemical" stuff and "insides". That's the why it should be.

 

[mercynursie]

Okay here's my take on it from a medical(Rn not practicing currently) perspective and patient's. I've used a chiropractor(recommended by my MD) for issues of back pain/strain and headaches.I think they help as the chiropractor I saw really did more physical therapy for me than any "physical therapist" that I have ever seen under an orthopedic's orders.I will say that I am not one of those "I love to go to my chiropractor,I feel soo much better afterward" people.I'm sorry but the manipulations and adjustments HURT as far as I'm concerned.It did help but I was sore for days afterward.That said,I prefer sore to drugged up feeling and found that the chirpractor was great alongside my MD.