soliciting advice

[salixbabylon]

Ok, I give up. If I were younger, I'd call my mommy, but things are tense with her and I'd rather not. So my questions is:

How do you know when a minor injury is worth going to Urgent Care for?

My doctor can't see me for 3 weeks. I hurt my wrist in mid-February. It's probably strain/CTS-type pain, although there are some motions that really hurt and remind me of when I broke a small bone in my left wrist a few years ago. Sharp and almost scream-inducing, but not constant pain or all that annoying.

But it's been a month and it's not getting better. I wear a wrist brace some days and then I think it's getting better, but then I try to do something like hook my bra or use a pencil to write a note and I can't make my hand do what it needs to without cringing.

But I bet I'll get to Urgent Care, sit there for 3 hours or more, have an x-ray, and be told it's a slight sprain and to suck it up and it'll heal on it's own. *sigh*

Anyone? What would you do?

Comments

[nverland]

I've never understood a doctor that puts off a patient for weeks when they are in pain or ill.
I'd go to Doc-in-a-Box or the ER and have it checked. If it IS broken and you ignore it that long, you can look at having it rebroken and set right. And any pain isn't normal and needs to be fixed.

[sarka.livejournal.com]

If you've been betting for a month that it will get better on its own and then it never does, you're looking at something worth going to Urgent Care for, IMHO.

[oceansecrets2.livejournal.com]

Making it a trifecta - go get it checked out, for your own peace of mind if nothing else.

((hugs))

[alliwantisanelf.livejournal.com]

Retired PT checking in here...

You didn't say how you hurt it. Was there a fall? A specific event that caused the pain to start? Fractures CAN occur without a trauma, but are rare.

Is it your dominant hand? Is it the one you broke before? Is it less painful on the days you don't type or write as much?

How many days do you really wear the wrist brace without taking it off? Two hours doesn't count. I mean all day long, sleeping in it too.

Where is the pain specifically? Does it hurt when you press on it, or just when you move it a certain way? Does the pain radiate to other places?

How do you feel about finding another doctor? I'm not talking Urgent Care...I mean somebody who will see you in less than 3 weeks. That's an exceptionally long time to wait for a general practitioner to work you in.

If you've had it for a month, it's not technically URGENT.

They'll take an X-ray. Mash it. Probably give you some anti-inflammatory meds. Tell you to go have it checked out by either your gen. practitioner or an ortho doc, which means another wait.

Can you take ibuprophen? If you're already doing that, how much and how often do you take it? Do you take it just when it hurts, or as a preventative for the pain as well?

Dr. Greenleaf needs the answers to these questions, y'know....

*g*

[sileya.livejournal.com]

You've been hurting too long to put it off. You need to go. Wearing the brace and still having the pain is not a good sign - even a sprain should react well to that. If you're having CTS symptoms, it might be worth it to go to a place that focuses on that - they sometimes do VAX-D, too, to find one. When my CTS flared so badly that it was unbearable pain, I called one and got in the same day.

[uinendolothen.livejournal.com]

Um, if I were anyone but me, I'd go to Urgent Care. I hate doctors and I hate going to see them.

Case in point - when I had a bladder infection that left me with a fever of nearly 103° and had be passing out, my husband had to leave work and drag me kicking and screaming to the ER. In a roomful of people, I was the 3rd one to go back.

So I'm not really the best judge of when one should seek medical treatment. If we were talking about one of my kids, though, I'd already have taken her to the doctor. I think it's just harder when it's yourself you're dealing with, yeah?

*hugs*

[tessa111.livejournal.com]

Well I see you already got quite a bit of advice so I'll just quickly throw this in here. My saying is "Scream-Inducing-Pain = Doctor!"

Hope it gets better soon.

[saleemah.livejournal.com]

I've learned that it's best to get medical attention as early as possible. So what if it turns out to be just a sprain...at least you will know. You can ask your doctors office to call you if there is a cancellation (people flake/cancel all the time) so you can get in earlier. Also,you can talk with your chiropractor. They can take x-rays and adjust your wrists if needed or tell you no you need to see your M.D. I have my wrists adjusted each time I go to prevent carpel tunnel. Ice and Sombra are helpful too in the mean time you get in. Good luck sweetie pie...xoxox

[soar38.livejournal.com]

Better to get it seen to than continue.

[nycene.livejournal.com]

go to urgent care, do not pass go, do not collect $200.00. of course, you will most likely sit for 3+ hours, be told its a sprain and to suck it up.

however, unlike other breaks (a rib, ankle, clavicle...) a badly healed bone in your wrist (especially if its your dominant hand) can f**k you up royally. even slight impairments lead to huge functional difficulties (ie. hooking your bra & writing...). w

what you have sounds more like a break than a sprain, hurting only when 'jostled' rather than all the time (but what do i know - i'm a lawyer, not a doctor).