How long after a fall do you see a dr ? (lingering pain)

[shadesofbay3]

so i already have a long history with back problems, you can see my post history, i broke/fractured my L1 in 2010, and despite really doing everything my back and core has never been quite right since, doctors have said i’m just going to have pain the rest of my life, but i’ve just continued riding

fast forward to last week and a half ago, riding my new horse, he just turned 4… he spooked then bucked me off. thankfully i was wearing a vest but im pretty sure i landed right on my back (it happened really fast)… anyways this was like i said, almost 2 weeks ago at this point, and while i can almost walk better and i felt like the pain was getting better, today it almost feels worse?

it’s not even in my lumbar/lower back area but almost on the left side at the top of my leg. i can’t really put my finger on it but i figured there was no break to any bones and didn’t really want to see a doctor, just see how it did over time. i feel like two weeks out tho it should be feeling better…

how do you all handle falls and injuries (and the ones i mean where you are feeling pain a few days out)

[Demerara_Stables]

Obligatory I am not a doctor

I find a lot of pain I get when I fall is soft tissue related, and my first step is to try some gentle stretching (at the end of the day after I’ve moved around/warmed up, not straight out of bed) to see if that helps. If stretching helps a little (or a lot), my next step is a massage therapist. At two weeks out, most of the bruising should be gone so if there are any muscle spasms, this is the time to get to them.

[Larksmom]

I don’t know if this will help you, but I fell down in my house about a month ago. I was very dizzy immediately, but I am sure I didn’t hit my head. The dizziness has come and gone since then, several times it was quite bad, but it didn’t last. All my friends said I needed to go to the dr. After 3 weeks, I decided to go. So last Monday, I went. My bp was over 160 and the dr had a cow. They took it again 15 minutes later and it was down around 150. She still wanted me to get a bp cuff and take my own bp. She didn’t seem too worried about my fall.
Sorry, that was a bit of a ramble. But if I were you, and it is possible, if you are in pain, you should go.

[rockymouse]

So back in April I managed to get tangled up with the dogs while on a walk, and I fell quite awkwardly. Everything still worked, and I could walk, so I figured rest, elevation, yadda yadda.

Three weeks later, it’s not a whole lot better, so I went to the doc. I had been walking around for three weeks on a broken leg.

In your moccasins, I would go to the doctor. Don’t be like me.

[4horses]

Definitely go to the doctor and let them do some testing.

Residual pain can last for months. I broke my foot- minor fracture supposedly. I insisted on an MRI. I have had fractures before that did not hurt nearly as bad as my foot. I couldn’t even touch my toe on the ground. Thankfully it wasn’t a lisfranc injury but I had bruised multiple bones and had tendonitis. It took 3-4 months to be able to touch the ground and over a year for my foot to fully heal.

Last summer I took a fall and just shook it off and kept going. Finally went for an MRI this spring for lingering pain (results was normal.) The doctor suggested I get injected as my symptoms were strongly indicative of bursitis even if the MRI was normal. This was 8 months later from the fall! And may I mention I still had bruising!

Now I’m joining the back pain club. Going to the orthopedic next in addition to message therapy as physical therapy did not help. Pain is right over the vertebrae. Last MRI was completely normal so no idea what this is.

[RedHorses]

Somewhere around 22 years ago, in the morning warmup at a show, my horse stopped at an oxer and changed his mind, jumping from a not quite standstill. I got launched. I did go to the ER and was told bruised, but not broken. I took two weeks off riding, tried riding for a week, then took another week off.

I had occasional bouts of back pain that were manageable and short lived. In 2020 I started getting mid/upper back pain when I was riding - no injury or precipitating event.

In 2021 my lower back got very bad after I tweaked it working pandemic hours. Nothing I did made it worse, or better. After I got to the point of not being able to stand, sit or walk for more than 15 minutes ay a time, I found a chiropractor and discovered my lower spine was offset from my upper spine (with several vertebrae following the diagonal line between the two vertical sections).

I’d been compensating for that fall for almost 20 years. I wish I’d had chiropractic care at the time.

[2DogsFarm]

If I had your history & wasn’t feeling a lot better in a week, I’d go see your back doc.
Why let an issue get worse if you can rule out something treatable?
If it does turn out to be soft tissue that needs to heal, at least you can get RX meds (methocarbamol?) in the meantime.
No sense hurting if you don’t have to

Here’s a Jingle for a diagnosis with a good outcome

[Jo]

@shadesofbay3

i feel like two weeks out tho it should be feeling better…

If your horse was lame for two weeks, you would’ve called the vet. GO TO THE DOCTOR!

[Jackie_Cochran]

I rarely make it two weeks with new pain. Usually on day two after an incident I get DH to call for an appointment.

[Bonnie2]

I won’t go to the doctor as long as there is improvement. Worse? Go to the doctor! Good luck and I hope you are feeling better soon!

[AllSport]

ME TOO! Mine wasn’t from riding but I really wasn’t getting the help I needed from Drs and they just kept telling me–too bad, don’t do anything anymore (because that’s realistic!). I finally decided to try chiro and life isn’t perfect but is so much better. I feel like it was 20 yrs wasted in constant pain.

To the OP’s question: honestly I find it so hard to even get proper care so…I rarely go in no matter how bad it is. When I do go in it’s because I know I need help, but then they turn me away …and I end up in the ER or urgent care and then they finally realize something is actually wrong. So you can either be like me and never go, or you have to go so often that they automatically send you to specialists to get you out of their hair! I don’t have time for that. Sorry, I’m not bitter or anything…

[paw]

When the pain gets worse, I go to the doctor and get it imaged. Especially with a spinal injury history, it’s important to know if anything has changed.

[fanfayre]

Well…
It’s been 13 months since my ankle rolled in the paddock that I fell down and had to crawl on hands and knees to a fence post to help me stand up again after 5 minutes of thinking I was going to pass out. It got big and purple but I just iced it and put some K-tape on it once the swelling dropped a bit.

Just this last weekend this ankle stopped bending and flexing on me, so that, with other pains that have shown up in many other spots in my body may mean scheduling an appointment with my Dr…

[candyappy]

I am not one to go seek medical help immediately. Unless it is unmistakable I am a wait and see what happens person.

If after 2 weeks the pain is still there or worse I think you should go find out what it is… There is nothing worse than being 2 weeks in and finding it is something that won’t heal on it’s own. I have been there and done that and really wish I went right away.

[LCDR]

You all who have doctors you can get in to see on short notice likely do not realize how lucky you are.

[WavyRider]

Typically for an injury like this - painful but not life threatening - I will head to urgent care. Is that not an option for you?

[happilyretired]

As others have said, the wise decision is to go get checked. About 8 weeks ago I injured my wrist (not horse related this time – I tried something unwise in the gym and fell backwards). As usual, I was hoping it wasn’t serious but since my bones aren’t what they used to be (3 months shy of 70 and DEXA shows thinning bones) and at the urging of DH we went to urgent care. They did X-rays and determined I did have a fracture. Happily a not too serious non displaced distal radius fracture (aka broken wrist). I could have easily convinced myself it “wasn’t bad” as I could move everything and the swelling wasn’t terrible … but it would have been risky to have had a fracture and not known about it. As it is I didn’t have to have cast – did wear a velcro brace thing for about 7 weeks – and got back in the saddle about a week ago. Happily my Lusitano is a trustworthy guy so even though I know the wrist is still fragile I feel safe riding and am happy to be back in the saddle.

[Larksmom]

I was able to get in the day I called, but that was to a PA, but that was a fluke. I had no idea I could get in that quickly. The Dr would have been months. I have my yearly check up scheduled in November, when it comes up, it just gets immediately rescheduled for the next year.

[fanfayre]

If I do decide to make an appointment, I don’t expect to get one for at least a week, perhaps 2. IF the pain is horrible or gets worse, I’ll likely go to a walk in clinic or as a last resort, the hospital emergency

[2DogsFarm]

Are there no Urgent Care places where you live?
“Short Notice” may be kind of an oxymoron for these places, but you will be seen & assessed. Treatment is administered & generally you’re referred to your in PCP for follow-up.