Emergency Room or Urgent Care?
Image this scenario:
Your child is playing in a sporting event on Saturday afternoon. She gets hurts after falling to the ground. She is not able to continue playing and is complaining of pain in the wrist. It's hard for her to make a fist or squeeze anything and the wrist is slightly swollen.
What do you do?
After applying ice and giving her some Motrin or Tylenol, you have to decide what the next step is.
- You can wait it out for a day or two to see if it settles down
- You can go to the closest emergency room to get it x-rayed
- You can go to the urgent care clinic for an evaluation there
There is not right answer to this question and everyone has a different tolerance for pain so you have to make decision based on your individual circumstances and comfort level. But I will give you a quick overview of what you are likely to encounter with each of these options.
Wait and See
Sometimes the expense and...
Ankle Injuries: When Do You Need An Xray?
Whether you play football, basketball, volleyball, or soccer, ankle injuries are common in sports. Our first priority as sports medicine physicians is avoiding further injury.
This often means not being able to return to the game immediately. One question that comes up often, usually after the injured athlete has gotten home and the initial efforts – Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation, have not completely eliminated the pain and swelling, is whether an X-ray is necessary. The two benefits of an X-ray are to evaluate for a broken bone and to elevate the alignment of the ankle joint. Sprains can cause just as much pain and swelling as a broken bone so it is not easy to tell the difference by just looking at the ankle. There are a few simple rules that have been identified to help determine when an X-ray is helpful. There are known as the Ottawa rules, developed in Canada by emergency room physicians to help them reduce the number of X-rays performed when evaluating this...
Concussion and Return to Sports
As a sports oriented specialist, I hear a lot of discussion about concussions from patients, parents, and coaches. There are some high profile stories in the news that draw people’s attention and make people start thinking about these issues more.
Concussion
Understanding what a concussion is, how it should be treated, and when it is safe to return to activities are important for the athlete, parent, and treating physician. Below is a brief outline of the guidelines for returning to athletics after a concussion and some links to additional information.
Return to Play
Baseline (Step 0): After a concussion is diagnosed, or suspected, the athlete should be immediately removed from participation in athletic activities. The athlete needs to symptom-free for a minimum of 24 hours before starting this phased recovery. Keep in mind, the younger the athlete, the more conservative the treatment.
Step 1: Light Aerobic Exercise
The Goal: only to increase an athlete’s heart...
