I twisited my knee 6 days ago. When I first contacted my chain of
command, I was told "Go to this guy, he'll check you out and get you
an excuse slip." This guy is a chiropractor. My 20 min consult
consisted of manipulating my very sore knee, causing me to come up off
the table and say not nice things. Xrays ant and lat, in a weight
bearing position, and an order for a MRI the next day. Note said off
work until results of MRI are in. You would think ,ok, I'm 7 hours
into my injury, I can barely walk, much less get into and out of a
car. I'll get the MRI tomorrow, off for 3 days, light duty for a
while.
I'm a tough guy, don't need pain meds (didn't ask & wasn't given). I
don't need any brace or appliance (didn't ask & wasn't given) I
already know RICE (wasn't told or given paperwork on how to treat
this) so I'll go home, put this up, ice it down & watch some tube.
The OTC ibuprofen wasn't working. The borrowed lortab didn't help
(bless my wife). If I kept still, I was fine. Any body movement
reminded me to stay still. So, I get the MRI done, see the
chiropractor on the 3rd day. He says, results aren't in yet, You go
back to work on light duty until I get them, and then we'll decide.
Let me give you an electrostim and set you up for another appt.
OK - I'm a medic - but I'm feelin' pretty sure that a chiropractor
does not have my best interests at heart regarding my injury. I told
him my employer will put me in a van and drive people around for 8-10
hours. Granted, I don't have to get out with every patient, but I will
have to constantly flex my knee to drive. This dosen't sound like a
prudent idea with pain, recent acute injury and no MRI results. He
said, that's what your employer wants, so go back to work and deal
with them. After I saw a physician (as in MD) He put me off for 7 days
started NSAIDs and RICE, no weight bearing until reeval with MRI
results. This torques my employer to no end. I'm being made to feel
like I should be taking the advice if a chiropractor and liking it -
without questioning. I say HOO HAHH! The state comp laws say I can see
any number of practitioners regardless of my employers preference.
Like I said thouigh, I'm a tough guy. At 6 days, I can now walk like a
human instead frankenstein, and can flex my knee without having to
catch myself from falling. When I return, I plan to tell all my
colleuges that they must use thier own judgement on who they see for
work related injuries. Instead of trying to save the company a little
money, get the best treatment you can trust.

appalachian paramedic

earle horton

The Emergency Room is a good place to go when you have an acute injury. If
you can get to an MD quickly, that is good too. They have an acute care
clinic where I live, to take cases that aren't exactly critical enough for
the ER. I have been retired for 11 years and my philosophy is to get the
health care problem taken care of first, and figure out who's going to pay
later.

Chain of Command is good for work-related problems, although the one time I
complained to Chain of Command I was ultimately referred to the BME of my
state! Examples of work-related problems are potential sources of injury or
unprofessional behavior. As soon as you are injured that is your problem
and your responsibility and right to deal with as you see fit.
Chiropractor? Huh?

Saludos cordiales,

Earle


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