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

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

*giggle* Going to tell me to chew up some weeds and drink rainwater?

How I hurt it - no idea, there is no event that I can recall. I recall trying to help a friend fasten her corset and that really really hurt it, but it was already sore.

Yes, dominant hand. No, not the one I broke before. Less painful on days of no-typing. I moved my mouse to the left side and that helps, but doesn't fix the problem like it has previous cases of over-use strain.

Brace - all day meaning when not in shower or washing hands or cooking or eating. Otherwise all bloody day and night. Yes it hurts when I press on it, and defintely yes when I bend it in a certain way.

Pain is in hand, down the thumb, almost at the fold of the wrist. Radiate... sometimes it sends a jolt all the way out my hand and down my elbow. But only when I do something dumb like smash it into something or pick up an object that's too heavy.

I could call and get another GP to look at it, but my insurance is GP first and then referral for *everything*. When I said I didn't want to wait, they said to go to Urgent Care.

I haven't been taking ibuprophen because it doesn't actually hurt much. It's not the pain that is bothering me, it's that it keeps coming back/not healing.

Thoughts?

*smooch* Sexiest doctor ever... ;)

[alliwantisanelf.livejournal.com]

Going to tell me to chew up some weeds and drink rainwater?

Hell, I said RETIRED, not returned from the dead!

It keeps coming back because it hasn't had time to heal, and the inflammation and repetition are still there.

Exactly where is the pain? When you say "press on it", where are you pressing? In the meaty part of the thumb on the palm side, in the palm part itself, or at the wrist crease? There's about 10 things that can cause pain in that area.

But only when I do something dumb like smash it into something or pick up an object that's too heavy.

so don't do anything dumb, k? *jk*

Where are you? Do Physical Therapists in your area have "evaluate and treat" rights without a doctor's order? Check the phone book. Maybe there's a hand specialist on staff that could see you just to evaluate it in less than 3 weeks?

The splint won't do much good if it's not immobilizing the exact area that's having the problem. You have to immobilize the joint above AND below the problem. There are a LOT of things that could cause hand pain, and it's impossible to tell without being able to see where you're talking about.

I think going on some anti-inflammatory for a couple of weeks is gonna happen whether you go to Urgent Care or PT or to your GP. Can you take ibuprophen? A prescription Motrin is 800 mg of ibuprophen. Follow what it says on the bottle you're getting your pills from for the dosage, and go ahead and take it around the clock for several days and see if it helps at all. See if it says you can take two (=400mg) every 8 hours or so. You won't be risking anything by covering up pain if you keep the splint on and avoid repetive motion in the meantime. Cut back the typing! No testing it to see if it's better! It'll take maybe 10 days to really tell.

Sounds like whatever it is (I'm suspecting tendonitis) isn't getting enough of what it takes to heal. Hands can be slow, because it's hard to NOT use them.

I'd still be looking for a PT office that could see you early next week, or another GP. I'm just one of those people who thinks Urgent Care should be for things that are URGENT. If you had fallen, or heard a pop after lifting something, or some really specific event had happened, I'd think an x-ray would be in order. But tendons and soft tissue injuries don't show well (if at all) on x-rays. I also think three weeks is a damned long time for a GP to expect a patient to wait without some advice in the meantime.

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

I was thinking elven natural healing, not undead. ;)

You were right on the nose with your diganosis - tendonitis and get off the computer, silly slasher.

*smooch* Thank you for playing Long Distance Doc. It's so nice to feel cared for from a professional, even if it is remote.