Who do you see if you think you have a broken bone?

[loskadoodle]

Dh wants to go to his Pcp. I think he needs X-rays, so er or urgent care.

[Deleted]

Urgent care, unless it's like a toe.

[sjh722]

Urgent care or ER, unless your PCP will x-ray and can get you in this afternoon. The PCP may or may not have an x-ray tech available.

[pooh8402]

Speaking as a former ER employee, go to urgent care. If they can't do it for some reason (complicated break or something), you'll often be referred to the ER.

[cece]

Urgent care if that's available and ER if not. Hope whatever it is isn't broken.

[Deleted]

I'm suprised at the answers because I thought Urgent Care would turn you away since you will need x-rays. I would go to the ER.

[loskadoodle]

His ankle. He missed the last step yesterday but was leaving for a work meeting. He asked me to make an appt for him. But I think it's pointless.

[SJ]

I would call my PCP and then do whatever they said.

[mannah]

Unless the PCP has imaging services in the office they're just going to send him to wherever to get an X-ray so I would just go to urgent care or the ER if he's in a ton of pain.

[holly116]

If you don't need a referral, I'd go straight to a podiatrist. That's what we did when my mom broke her foot and when DH sprained (but thought he broke) his ankle. They were able to xray on site.

[6fsn]

Not all Urgent Cares have X-rays. I'd call my PCP and go from there.

[kittycatlove]

When I thought I broke my ankle (ended up being a really bad sprain) I called my PCP who told me to go to urgent care, the one affiliated with the hospital that does xrays.

[Stingyshark]

I guess it depends on what I thought was broken. My finger? Urgent care. My leg, probably the ER. I guess.

I worked at an UC and we had an xray machine - we rarely turned anyone away for broken bones. Most of then could be set & casted then referred to an ortho for f/u.

[bearbaby]

I'd default to Urgent Care - you can usually look up online what services they have. Our local one does have x-ray/etc.

[Deleted]

I would call urgent care or ER and do what they tell me:)

[Ashley&Scott]

Urgent Care or the ER.

[ohgillian]

There's ortho urgent care where I live, so we'd go there.

[rbp]

If I were in a lot of pain, ER. If I were not in a lot of pain, PCP or urgent care.

[rbp]

Jan 15, 2015 16:37:48 GMT -5 loskadoodle said:

His ankle. He missed the last step yesterday but was leaving for a work meeting. He asked me to make an appt for him. But I think it's pointless.

Can you walk on a broken ankle? When I broke mine, I was in the most pain of my life (including childbirth). There was no question in my mind that it was broken. But I guess he could have a less serious fracture. I shattered my fibula. 

[holly116]

Jan 15, 2015 17:41:53 GMT -5 rbp said:

Jan 15, 2015 16:37:48 GMT -5 loskadoodle said:

His ankle. He missed the last step yesterday but was leaving for a work meeting. He asked me to make an appt for him. But I think it's pointless.

Can you walk on a broken ankle? When I broke mine, I was in the most pain of my life (including childbirth). There was no question in my mind that it was broken. But I guess he could have a less serious fracture. I shattered my fibula. 

That's now my mom was when she broke her foot. She misstepped walking to the car and called me from the ground crying to come get her and I live 30 minutes away. She couldn't even hobble back into her house while I drove over. She couldn't have made it through the morning without seeing someone, let alone a day.

DH's sprain wasn't as dire.

[loskadoodle]

Jan 15, 2015 17:59:32 GMT -5 @cse1960 said:

ER. And I would not delay about it.

Well, it's too late for that!

[h]

For an obvious broken bone (bone sticking out, bent extremity, etc.), unbearable pain, or significant bleeding, I would go to the ER asap.

For a "hmm, my foot really hurts--I wonder if something is broken" situation, I would go see an orthopedic surgeon or, if I couldn't get in quickly, my PCP. I have never been to urgent care, and it would not occur to me to go.

[Alyssa]

Depends....

Stubbed toe, possibly broken = Urgent Care

Broken arm that is all wonky looking = ER