I find I generally have to tell military doctors what I want to get out of my visits with them (once a diagnosis has been made obviously).

Do I want to manage the pain? Do I want to do PT or some other conservative treatment? Do I want surgery to fix it?

He may be a little weird, and passive, waiting for you to tell him why you’re there. If you don’t want to take pain medication but you’re going back for some reason, obviously. Tell him you want to fix the pain, not just mask it, and ask him what your options are.