Taking care of my body (Physical Therapist or...?)

[Symbolistic]

Since I am training so much and spending so much time doing physical activity, I am very suspectable to injury, I just want some information from you guys since most of you have been doing intense sports for a while and have been in it longer than me.

Say I want to stay away from surgery, should I keep away from orthopedists?
I talked to my bjj coach and he told me to see a physical therapist and how he uses one and they work well.

I've heard so many bad things about chiropractors, so I am not bothering with those.


I recently hurt my knee a bit, during wrestling, I am taking the week off. I tried to man up and go the next day after I hurt it, thinking I would be fine, boy was I wrong. I went into class, I couldn't even drill bjj moves, the sharp pain was too much for me to handle and I had to leave class, I told my coach I couldn't spar and I apologized to him and my partner, then left.

What happened during wrestling: The person I was sparring against took a shot, single leg, from the outside, my left side. When he took the shot I guess I was standing too stiff and not loose, so when he got me with the shot, I guess he went all out, and my knee went inwards, then when he grabbed it and picked up my leg, the leg got turned again, this time outwards. So picture my foot being under my crotch, and the knee facing outside my left side of my body.
So my leg got forced inward first, then outward, so two different things happened quickly.

Now I am scared of going back because I am not sure of the condition of my knee, it has healed a lot now, but if I twist it left/right TOO MUCH it will get a small sharp pain, not nearly as bad as before, but its there..


Anyway, back to the main topic.
I want to stay away from surgery, I don't want to have to take months off, I can't afford to lose anymore time, don't ask me why.

But in physical therapy I see none of them doing x rays or MRI, my parents told me I should take an x ray or MRI to be sure...

What steps should I take?

 

[NoSmilez]

The doctor should work together as a team with the Dpt. You don't have to go see a specialist but rather a primary care physician in order to get the MRI . You then take the MRI to the DPT and they can treat you with a combination of exercise, ice, electrostim, ultrasound. Also I don't see no reason not to go to a specialist, I know surgery is their forte but they are specialist in their field. I rather a specialist give me a cortisone shot rather than my primary doctor. Also you can get medication to speed up recovery.

 

[Symbolistic]

The doctor should work together as a team with the Dpt. You don't have to go see a specialist but rather a primary care physician in order to get the MRI . You then take the MRI to the DPT and they can treat you with a combination of exercise, ice, electrostim, ultrasound. Also I don't see no reason not to go to a specialist, I know surgery is their forte but they are specialist in their field. I rather a specialist give me a cortisone shot rather than my primary doctor. Also you can get medication to speed up recovery.

So you're saying go to an orthopedist/sports medicine doctor, let them check me out and do an x-ray/MRI, and take it to a DPT?

That seems good, but then co-pay comes into the factor. I'm pretty sure I'd have to pay my $40 co-pay for both of them, which goes to $80, I mean, unless I can find a place with everything in one, idk...

 

[Codger]

If you cannot afford to get joint injuries then BJJ, Judo and Wrestling are not great sports. There really is nothing you can do to stop them happening. You can try and you can strengthen your body etc, but chances are, you'll still get injured.

If an injury needs surgery then surgery is the best thing for it. Avoiding certain parts of the medical profession won't change that.

If MRIs are covered by insurance then why not get one and find out what it is. If not then for this particular injury I'd stay off the mats and away from any activity that makes it hurt until it stops hurting. I'd take ibuprofen for that period to speed it up. It might go away. If it doesn't go away or starts up immediately then I'd get it checked out by the appropriate doctor and MRI'd if need be. The good thing about joint injuries, as opposed thing like abdominal pain, is that there is no danger that it's something serious and time-critical. So you can generally afford a wait and see policy and they won't get worse - as long as you don't try and push through.

Going back to the mats too soon is a really bad idea with most injuries. But it something most of us do anyway and then regret it.

I wouldn't go the physio route initially. I've done this myself a couple of times because of the stupid wait to get an MRI on the NHS and wasted time and money because they didn't really know what they were treating. Turned out they were wrong both times and nothing they'd been doing with me would have ever made any difference. Funnily enough they didn't offer me my hundreds of £'s back.

 

[NoSmilez]

So you're saying go to an orthopedist/sports medicine doctor, let them check me out and do an x-ray/MRI, and take it to a DPT?

That seems good, but then co-pay comes into the factor. I'm pretty sure I'd have to pay my $40 co-pay for both of them, which goes to $80, I mean, unless I can find a place with everything in one, idk...

Pt isnt a one time deal. I am not sure what insurance and tier of payment you have. If you only have 40 bucks I would go see a specialist then. Try to get the MRI but you have another copay for it. But at least you can milk some medication and cortisone but that also depends on your insurance

 

[Symbolistic]

]If you cannot afford to get joint injuries then BJJ, Judo and Wrestling are not great sports. [/B]There really is nothing you can do to stop them happening. You can try and you can strengthen your body etc, but chances are, you'll still get injured.

If an injury needs surgery then surgery is the best thing for it. Avoiding certain parts of the medical profession won't change that.

If MRIs are covered by insurance then why not get one and find out what it is. If not then for this particular injury I'd stay off the mats and away from any activity that makes it hurt until it stops hurting. I'd take ibuprofen for that period to speed it up. It might go away. If it doesn't go away or starts up immediately then I'd get it checked out by the appropriate doctor and MRI'd if need be. The good thing about joint injuries, as opposed thing like abdominal pain, is that there is no danger that it's something serious and time-critical. So you can generally afford a wait and see policy and they won't get worse - as long as you don't try and push through.

Going back to the mats too soon is a really bad idea with most injuries. But it something most of us do anyway and then regret it.

I wouldn't go the physio route initially. I've done this myself a couple of times because of the stupid wait to get an MRI on the NHS and wasted time and money because they didn't really know what they were treating. Turned out they were wrong both times and nothing they'd been doing with me would have ever made any difference. Funnily enough they didn't offer me my hundreds of £'s back.

I never said I can't afford to get injuries, I just want to avoid surgeries in general and strengthen my body so I can prevent any serious injuries from happening.
I know it will still be a possibility, but still, I rather have a less chance of it happening.

Main reason is I don't want to waste time sitting around instead of training. I want to be on the mats often, training until I can't stand anymore.

Pt isnt a one time deal. I am not sure what insurance and tier of payment you have. If you only have 40 bucks I would go see a specialist then. Try to get the MRI but you have another copay for it. But at least you can milk some medication and cortisone but that also depends on your insurance

I've heard MRI's take a while to get one done, I am pissed about this. I just want to get this stuff done quickly and get back to training as fast as possible...

 

[Kaldog]

Since I am training so much and spending so much time doing physical activity, I am very suspectable to injury, I just want some information from you guys since most of you have been doing intense sports for a while and have been in it longer than me.

Say I want to stay away from surgery, should I keep away from orthopedists?
I talked to my bjj coach and he told me to see a physical therapist and how he uses one and they work well.

I've heard so many bad things about chiropractors, so I am not bothering with those.


I recently hurt my knee a bit, during wrestling, I am taking the week off. I tried to man up and go the next day after I hurt it, thinking I would be fine, boy was I wrong. I went into class, I couldn't even drill bjj moves, the sharp pain was too much for me to handle and I had to leave class, I told my coach I couldn't spar and I apologized to him and my partner, then left.

What happened during wrestling: The person I was sparring against took a shot, single leg, from the outside, my left side. When he took the shot I guess I was standing too stiff and not loose, so when he got me with the shot, I guess he went all out, and my knee went inwards, then when he grabbed it and picked up my leg, the leg got turned again, this time outwards. So picture my foot being under my crotch, and the knee facing outside my left side of my body.
So my leg got forced inward first, then outward, so two different things happened quickly.

Now I am scared of going back because I am not sure of the condition of my knee, it has healed a lot now, but if I twist it left/right TOO MUCH it will get a small sharp pain, not nearly as bad as before, but its there..


Anyway, back to the main topic.
I want to stay away from surgery, I don't want to have to take months off, I can't afford to lose anymore time, don't ask me why.

But in physical therapy I see none of them doing x rays or MRI, my parents told me I should take an x ray or MRI to be sure...

What steps should I take?

Fiirst things first, if you want to prolong your grappling life then you must train smart. That means if you're injured, simply heal up before you train again. In regards to x-ray and MRI, ive seen issues missed on both methods.There is no sure fire, gold standard of muscle or joint testing either though.

 

[Symbolistic]

So according to what most people here are saying, my best bet would be to take an MRI and get my issues checked out, then go to a PT.

One more question, can I request an MRI for multiple bodyparts all in 1 session?
Knee, Shoulder, Upper Back, Lower back, wrist?

The main major issues right now are just my knee and shoulder, if I had to stick to one, I'd say of course, my knee.

Everything else isn't urgent, but things I can concerned about for my well being and would like to take a look at

 

[Codger]

If it's only been a week and it's already improved I'd tend to just give it more time off the mats.

But if money isn't a problem, and MRIs are harmless, then why not I guess. But here in the UK I'd start with my MD first - often they can rule out various problems from some basic tests and experience.

When they image a body part they have to immobilize and focus in on that part, often putting a transmitter thing next to it to improve resolution. So to do multiple parts requires multiple separate scans, which take like 40 mins each. So I'd be surprised if you can just ask them to check multiple parts.

 

[the heed]

I have heard bad crap about chiropractors but I guess I found the right one.
It has helped me a lot with my back and neck problems.

 

[JMG1134]

My orthopaedist always gives me a choice, and they have both and MRI and a PT in house. Find a place like that. I can get a shot, MRI, surgery, or PT all in the same place, and there is no pressure to go one way or another, only a clear diagnosis of the injury, treatment methods, and likely outcomes of each.

 

[dayroc]

PT, Chiro (using the activator method, not their hands), and sports massage for sore parts has worked wonders for me.

its about $40- $100 per service.

 

[Badger67]

My orthopaedist always gives me a choice, and they have both and MRI and a PT in house. Find a place like that. I can get a shot, MRI, surgery, or PT all in the same place, and there is no pressure to go one way or another, only a clear diagnosis of the injury, treatment methods, and likely outcomes of each.

I find integrated healthcare systems like this are difficult to come by though, but its awesome you have these options.

 

[Gungir]

Say I want to stay away from surgery, should I keep away from orthopedists?

I want to stay away from surgery, I don't want to have to take months off, I can't afford to lose anymore time, don't ask me why.

You are kind of painting yourself into a corner.

Yes, if you never see a doctor you will never run the risk of having surgery. Seems like a poor way to treat an injury.

So let's break this down:
You don't want to get injured
If injured you don't want to rest
You don't want surgery to correct what may take months of rest (if ever) to recover from.

Good luck on your journey.

[Edit because I spellz good]

 

[Kid Muscle]

Yoga

 

[Mike Piekarski]

Go to PT and if they feel you need an MRI then get one after. I always encourage people to try conservative physical therapy first before going the surgery route.

FYI I'm a physical therapist so I am biased.