When to see a doctor?

How do yall decide when an injury warrants a doctor?

I woke up Thursday with some ankle pain (previous run was normal, five miles on Tuesday). I decided to run anyways, but I noticed every 1-2 minutes, with a heel strike, I would get a shooting pain up my leg. After a few minutes (I went like .6 miles), I realized it wasn't getting better, so I stopped and walked (ok, limped) home. Took it easy for a few days, felt better on Sunday, tried a run.

Went two miles, it hurt a little but not consistently, and not too bad. No shooting pains, just sore for like thirty seconds at a time every few minutes. Definitely nothing alarming. Stopped after two miles, realized I couldn't walk without pain. Spent most of yesterday lying around and icing it.

It feels better again today - I can walk around, I can drive without pain (it's my right ankle - it did hurt to drive on Friday). It's definitely not normal, but I'm also definitely not like OH FUCK.

I'm a little worried that it could be a stress fracture, but I think those hurt more? It feels like a sprain when I walk, but there's also no swelling and I have full range of motion when I stretch it. So I'm kind of at a loss as to if this is a real injury or just a little something that a few days off will cure.

Anyways, my insurance is really bad, so it'll be at least a few hundred bucks to see someone (& what kind of doctor do you even see for an ankle issue?)... I'm at a loss about when I see a doctor?

I'm curious for other Americans who cant handle high medical bills, how do you make that decision? Like how many runs do you skip before you see someone?