You Got Injured: How Serious Is It?

I get asked injury questions frequently. Sometimes I might know an answer and others I might not. Usually, I will give a recommendation, but if I don't have an answer, I have resources that I can contact to get that answer. The following are just a few simple guidelines to follow when it comes to dealing with injuries.

People can generally tell if their injury is severe or not. If you have broken a bone or torn a knee ligament, that ranks pretty high on the pain meter and you should probably get it checked out immediately. For other injuries that I deal with, you can't tell right away how bad the injury is. As a general rule of thumb, I usually recommend giving your injury a few days to see what happens. Does it get worse, stay the same, or get better? If after a few days, it isn't getting better, you should probably get it checked out. I always preface that rule, by saying, feel free to see your doctor at ANY time though. I'm not telling you to wait, that is what I usually do, but see your doctor at any time you feel it needs to be looked
at.

So, if you feel you sprained something, it is usually a result of a stretched or torn ligament. Swelling and pain are very common with this injury. The first person you should probably see would be your personal doctor. He/she might then recommend you go to a specialist if it is severe enough or a physical therapist for therapy if range of motion and strength are compromised.

A knee pain that is caused by some type of dynamic movement and is pretty severe could be a result of torn ligaments such as your ACL or MCL. I haven't had it happen to me, but I have seen it happen many times and you pretty much will know it when you have done it. In this case, you will have to go to an orthopedic and get some X-Rays or an MRI to determine the extent of the damage.

If the knee pain is related to movement that has been caused over time and you haven't had anything damaging done to your knee, then 9 times out of 10 it is some type of "itis" - arthritis, tendinitis, bursitis. Your primary physician could help you out on what you can do from that point.

Finally, back pain is a common injury among adults. I had a lower back strain recently, but how do you know if it is disc or muscle related? Usually, if you did damage to your disc, you would feel numbness or tingling down your extremities. So depending on the severity you might need to go to an orthopedic or physical therapist. If it is a muscular strain, then your primary physician should help out.

Those are some quick guidelines that you can use to determine the extent of your injury and who you need to see to get it treated. Remember, though, always feel comfortable calling your doctor at any point in the process. It is better to be safe than sorry.