How long can you wait before setting a broken bone?

[ULEWZ]

My wife had a getoff this Saturday, and went to the doctor who had us go to the X-ray place as a precaution. After 2 days, we still hadn't heard if it was broken or not. Well my wife raised holy ....... with the Doctors office and they said it is acceptable to wait up to 7 days to hear if the bone is broken or not because we have an HMO. Does this sound right to you guys? I thought you needed to have a broken bone set within a couple of days otherwise it may not heal right. The wife is changing Doctors as I am typing this.

Oh, luckily it is not broken.

[ScottyJFZ1]

Well what bone are we talking about? I mean I broke my collar bone and I waited 4 1/2 months and it still did not heal...then Dr Mark plated it and all is better than new?

If its wrist, hand, or foot...where there are lots of little bones then do not wait get an answer asap. really not sure why they did not tell you right away...I mean an xray takes a few mins to develop...does not make sense to me..

Scotty J.

[GP]

If you went to a radiology clinic for the XRay, independent of the doctor, you should have walked out with the XRay, film or CD (digital). They are your property. Even if your doc did it in his office you should still be able to sign a paper and take them away. I have a huge collection. At least thats the way in works here in NJ.

[ULEWZ]

It was the outside bone just below the knee on her right side, but it is not broken. I was just wondering about the 7 day thing. Maybe Dr. Mark will chime in.

[KJ790]

Every bone I've ever broken, I was told it was broken either minutes after having the x-ray, or within an hour of having the x-ray. If it was an obvious break they told me right then, for hairline fractures they sometimes have to wait for a specialist to look at it, but for me it has always been within that same day. 7 days just to hear if it is broken or not seems ridiculous. I doubt you have to worry about it starting the heal in the wrong spot in that time, but I would think there could be other issues you would want to be aware of before 7 days pass.

[schrode]

if there is alot of swelling the xrays don't work as well i've been told to come back in 4-5 days for a second one to get a clearer view. i've also been taken in to get and mri or ct scan on the spot when the possibility of a more serious break or tear was on the table. but then again at this point i have a quiver of surgeons' and receive a little more immediate attention.

[slagburn666]

I waited a week with my ankle. It didn't hurt that bad but was healing pretty twisted in. They had to re-break it !!!!!!!!!! Damn divingboard!!!

[ScottyJFZ1]

get the Xray and post it here...then Dr Mark will chime in...

[Gatewaystorage]

"It was the outside bone just below the knee on her right side, but it is not broken."

If you're talking about your fibula, I cracked mine several years ago while snowboarding....I slammed into a tree. My doc told me there was nothing they could do for it since it wasn't actually broken, just cracked. No cast or anything. Just told me to walk gently on it and it would heal on it's own. Took a little over twelve weeks to heal. No issues with it now.

[motomanmike26]

They probably can't to anything about it like said before.

I cracked my heel casing a BMX jump with the middle of my bike an it took 4 years to completely heal it 100%. It only hurt the day i did it and when i ran. And me as a lacrosse player, well all you do is run. So thats why it took so long.

[kxrider93]

depending on what bone she might have hurt it could vary. but when i broke my leg and all my other bones we found out that day if somthing was wrong. i would imagine that 7 days is a little bit to long because the body will start healing and it might heal the wrong way. i have never had to deal with that tho but i would call another doctor and ask them what they thik. but thats good its not broke. broken bones suck :X