SIA for long post;

I’ve just spent the week Snowboarding which was ace, however I took a nasty tumble off-piste on some rocks and landed approx. 6-8 foot down and onto my lower back (just below the small of the back, kind of pelvis level). It was the most single painful thing I’ve felt (2 x dislocated shoulders, hairline crack to Pelvis, broken wrist, few finger breakages and some deep cuts didn’t have anything on this), there was lots of screaming and I thought I wasn’t getting back up. However I did after about half an hour and gingerly got myself back onto piste and into resort. Now, I know you’re all thinking, what a prize c0ck, why didn’t I just ask for help, I appreciate this it’s not one of my finest moments, however I was quite far off the piste and the insurance company probably would have had a fit and not paid out for any type of rescue(there is some wooly wording in there that was supposed to cover, but not convinced). I took myself to a pharmacy and asked for the strongest anti-inflammatories and pain killers and they gave me Naproxene (bit like Ibuprofen I believe), so I munched on these for the rest of the week. I took the following day off, had a hot bath and just tried to keep moving by walking around resort, this combination seemed to work, so I got back on it.

However, it’s now almost a fall week after the fall and the swelling hasn’t reduced and if I stop on the Naproxene it hurts like hell (the car heated seats this morning were a god send). I can’t lie on my back and oddly enough it feels as though something is digging into my coccyx. I’ve not told the missus, I’m doing well hiding it so far, but my god the pain is not good so may have to do something about it. So, my question; what’s the worst I could potentially have done and is going to the GP the right thing or is it trip to A&E? Also to add, I’m feeling really lethargic, though I can’t tell if that’s due to the couch I picked up on the plane or not..

Thanks Sui.

Good grief!

A and E ….soon!!

What does A and E stand for?

Really??

Accident and Emergency!!!

I’m feeling really lethargic, though I can’t tell if that’s due to the couch I picked up on the plane or not..

If your back was hurting, lifting a sofa wouldn’t help. Were you flying with DFS airways?

I’ve not told the missus, I’m doing well hiding it so far, but my god the pain is not good

😯

sorry i meant to say Cough – auto corrected wrong!.

Yeah i appreciate it’s not a great situation, but i’m still walking and i did manage to carry on boarding after a day-off.

Ref the missus, she worries, rightly or wrongly sometimes and i did say nothing major happened, just a few little off’s, if explained exactly what happened it may cause a meltdown.

unMTFU and go see a medical professional.

I took the following day off, had a hot bath and just tried to keep moving by walking around resort, this combination seemed to work, so I got back on it.

You would imagine if you managed that then you haven’t broken your spine! 😉

Sympathy to you, no medical advice. This is how I would handle it, try to ignore it away until forced to deal with it. Blokes eh?

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0bmwNx6PP4[/video]

maxray – Member
I took the following day off, had a hot bath and just tried to keep moving by walking around resort, this combination seemed to work, so I got back on it.
You would imagine if you managed that then you haven’t broken your spine!

that, although tongue in cheek, is kind of my point, i’m hoping it’s just a big old bruise (internal, luckily nothing shows externally, albeit slight swelling which is being hidden by my recent gut expansion)

Really??

Accident and Emergency!!!
It was a question, hint, for the OP.

go and see a GP.They will refert you to other medical services if required.

A&E, get an xray if nothing else, esp if you have any tingling in your extremities ?

I’m no doctor but I would say A&E straight away. If there’s any chance at all that something broke or splintered then there’s presumably also a chance it could move and poke your spinal cord or some major nerve.

I imagine this would be A VERY BAD THING

A&E won’t mind you turning up for something that has the potential to be very serious.

My mum fell off a horse, St. John’s ambulance scooped her up clumsily and took her to the first aid tent. It turned out that she’d broken her neck and it was sheer luck that nothing moved and paralysed her. Six months in hospital, six in a wheelchair but then thankfully ok. Sorry to be a doom monger but you can’t take chances with your back or neck imo.

I am not a doctor but I reckon you’ve broken your tailbone, which is very painful.
Get theee to a doctor and ask for a referral for an x-ray. A&E will only refer you for an x-ray anyway?

No conjugal action then 😉 get yourself to a doctor, how old are you, now I am an old fart crashing really takes it out of me, used to just jump up and get back on these days it hurts like hell for ages.

go and see a GP.They will refert you to other medical services if required.

Except your GP doesn’t have access to Xray or are spinal experts.

A&E.

And yes don’t be a c@ck in future, get proper insurance. Plus sounds like you are accident prone 🙂

I’ll look into a quick trip to A&E on the way home i think.

Accident prone – not really, that’s injuries sustained over my 35 years, yes the majority in my twenties and this the latest, is the worst I’ve had for a very long time.

Given that it happened over a week ago it’s neither an accident or an emergency… go to your GP and get referred

How about a trip to your local, friendly walk in centre this afternoon? They often have x-Ray on site or can refer quickly.

If your GP is anything like mine you will be waiting a week for a non-urgent appointment

Given that it happened over a week ago it’s neither an accident or an emergency… go to your GP and get referred

That is the ‘correct’ answer. However as above GP can not Xray, are not spine experts.

If they refer, referrals take days. Turning up at A&E takes minutes. Unless the OP is having us on about his level of pain, and the type of injury, then he has every justification for going to A&E, although yes he is bloody stupid for not getting medical attention in the resort.

Honestly. Why they hell haven’t you already been?!

Some people!

(Re Darc – surely a drop-in centre? Some of which are also A&E?)

A&E! I fell down some steps two weeks ago (wet feet / tiled floors / idiocy) and the pain was quite impressive. Quick trip up A&E after a few days of barely being able to walk and they confirmed that it’s “just” bruising and muscle damage. Still hurt like a bastard but I stopped worrying about it.

If you’ve got a Minor Injuries unit closer than A&E, try that first – they’ll likely be able to whisk you away for an x-ray if required but should be less busy. That said it took me five minutes between walking into the A&E and seeing a consultant here…

Maniac!

I was kind of thinking that – one time I went to Minor Injuries they commented that they shouldn’t be treating me without a referral as the injury was a couple of days earlier (though they were prepared to ignore it on that occasion and thought I wasn’t being that unreasonable – I went to them on a Monday having injured myself on a Saturday and didn’t want to go to A&E when MI were closed on the Sunday given something non life threatening I thought might not need treatment).

It’s tricky though with the current waiting times on the NHS – as mentioned a referral might take a while, though I presume it might still be possible to get an instant referral to A&E for x-ray as I got 25 years ago when I went to my GP with a painful wrist a little while after injuring it. As mentioned a non-urgent GP appointment would be a while – I’d argue that in this instance it is urgent, but it seems a waste of GPs urgent appointments. Hence walk in centre if there is one available, though ISTM that despite my comments above it’s the sort of thing Minor Injuries should be able to deal with.

Just to go off at a bit of a tangent, given current waiting times for normal appointments (it’s almost 2 weeks at my GP – I’m now booking in advance with a plan to cancel for things which might sort themselves out in that time!) I feel a bit awkward when I really need to see a medical professional in less than that timeframe but could wait a couple of days. It appears the only option is to take an “emergency” appointment, as I have a couple of times with a post-op infection. It feels like an intermediate option is needed.

Currently looking at 2 weeks for an appointment at my GP!

and the pain is quite real, too much MTFU you see, that and not wanted to loose out on an expensive holiday.

Sui, get it checked with x-ray at Minors or an A+E, today.
I am definitely qualified to comment here and while I’m hopeful that healing will be under way by now, you need to be certain what has happened and what you now need to do about it..
And don’t be such a numpty next time.

Maybe wear back & coccyx protection?

highlandman – Member
Sui, get it checked with x-ray at Minors or an A+E, today.
I am definitely qualified to comment here and while I’m hopeful that healing will be under way by now, you need to be certain what has happened and what you now need to do about it..
And don’t be such a numpty next time.

Maybe wear back & coccyx protection?

Cheers, i have always had a camel back or back protector when doing thesekind of things, for some reason i decided that i wouldn;t do that anymore.. 😳

As a gp, I’d say go to a&e. I could see you today but if I want an X-ray of anything other than a chest my local hospital requires 2 working days notice to book an appointment and the report comes in the post 7-10 days later. So I’d still be telling you to go to a&e. The difference isn’t about getting the X-ray done today tomorrow whenever, it’s about it being looked at and correlated with your clinical signs by a dr who is trained to deal with trauma, in an environment where it can be properly managed.
From the mechanism of injury it is quite possible that you have a featured vertebra or worse. This needs seeing to today.

You wouldn’t want a phone call in 2 weeks from your gp to tell you you’d got a broken neck (happened once a few years ago in my practice)

featured vertebra or worse.

😯

Have just called 3 WIC’s/UCC’s, all need to be booked and those that don’t wont have x-ray availble after 16:00. So Epsom A&E it is on my way home. Not sure how i explain this to the missus, she’ll hear A&E + X-Ray = certain death and no more snowboarding, cycling, aggressive walking…..

given current waiting times for normal appointments (it’s almost 2 weeks at my GP – I’m now booking in advance with a plan to cancel for things which might sort themselves out in that time!)

My last experience was ok at GP – on-line booking meant I could get an app’t in a couple of days & then referral to a ‘walk-in X-Ray’ dep’t at my local hospital. I went the next day was in & out in an hour.

Have just called 3 WIC’s/UCC’s

You would have been wasting your time too.

They potentially could have done an xray, and then a nurse may have reviewed your Xray, IF they thought something was up they MAY have then called the on Call orthopod at the local hospital to review the x ray, which would have taken more time.

So your banking on a nurse being able to interpret an x ray and possible spinal injury at a MINOR injuries unit, and or wait for a 3rd opinion over the telephone, or you could just save time and effort and go and see the expert in the first place.

on-line booking meant I could get an app’t in a couple of days & then referral to a ‘walk-in X-Ray’ dep’t at my local hospital. I went the next day was in & out in an hour.

Again ok for a ‘condition that’s happened over time, but not Trauma.

referred to local cottage hospital for xray. Xray then gets put bottom of pile for review by hospital doc, hospital doc then contacts GP with results, GP contacts patient with outcome.

Again all time. Just go and see the person who can help 🙂

Theres a time and place for following correct procedures, and a time for knowing when to bypass them…

Theres a time and place for following correct procedures, and a time for knowing when to bypass them…

No need to bypass the correct procedure, the correct procedure is attend a&e. or ED as its now known.

Works well when your walk-in centre is also your big A&E dept. You don’t have to worry about the injury severity threshold yourself, and how long ago it happened; also they have whatever kit they need to escalate should it be required.

OP – how did you get on? 4 hrs in you should either be on your way home, or on the way to getting banned from sport for life 😆

Still sitting in a and e, couldn’t get out of work until gone 6, then have an hour drive! More painkillers provided by Triage nurse pending the poking of doom.. Will update when they take me to the big boys room..

I hope the wait isn’t too long! Post a photo of the X-ray when you get it…

Still sitting in a and e, couldn’t get out of work until gone 6, then have an hour drive!

Finally….