To go to minor injuries tomorrow?

[KerfuffleShuffle]

A classic A&E thread 😂
Gave my lower shin a good whack last Sunday. Initially eye watering splitting pain but no immediate bruise. Lower leg has been extremely tender all week to the point of a brushing touch is painful. Dull pain and stiffness whilst walking until mid week and I could tell ankle had swollen through socks being tight to put on. Pain switches between dull and brief stabbing periods. Bruise on shin appeared mid week but today my inker ankle has turned like this!

I thought I'd just bruised my shin but could it be something more? Id rather not wait in minor injuries to be told it's a bruise and to rest it but don't want to store up problems for later either.

I'd go really early, once they've cleared the drunks and before the day patients arrive. You'll be waiting hours to be seen if you're not careful.

I'd get that checked too, being able to walk on it doesn't mean there isn't a fracture.

@Seawolves really? Even if my shin itself seems to be improving? What would they do to treat it if that's the case?

Possibly a soft boot for when you are up and about on it.

I’d go for that as others said get there early morning around 7am

Yes! Husband had a fracture on his foot and still walked on it as he couldn’t possibly miss work (insert eye roll here). He ended up going several weeks later (as my mum who is a nurse made him) and did physio but he’s foot has never been the same.

Find out what the policy is at your local MIU. Ours requires you to call 111 and they you get an appointment - it is a faff but actually works well. Some you just have to wait, many don't have X ray at the weekend so find that out as well.

Also some only see injuries that are less than three days old, so make sure it is clear that it is because of what has come up today that you are seeking help, not because of what you did last week.

That's a bruise . What the flip - don't waste A and e time.

@utterexasperation I'm aware that its a bruise and that's why I'm hesitant. But....some bruises point to something more serious and I have zero of the medical training to determine whether this is one of these cases. Also I'm pretty sure its not usual for a large bruise to appear 6 days after the injury occured and not in the original location of the injury. I wouldn't be wasting A&E time as it's a minor injuries unit I'd be going to....literally designed for these sorts of situations. However I could be wasting my own time and risk looking a little silly if it turns out to be simple bruising.

Last time I went to minor injuries (for a suspected fracture), I rang 111 and they arranged an appointment for the minor injuries unit.

It was a bit of a faff ringing up, but getting an appointment really sped things up and meant that there was very little waiting around once we got to the minor injuries unit. So it might be worth seeing if your local minor injuries unit has a similar appointment system.

And sometimes you can still walk if there’s a fracture so it is possible that it’s more than just bruising.

Incidentally, when my DC broke his upper arm he got bad bruising a while later down near his elbow. I was told that the bruising was a result of the fracture, but it was very confusing for me that the worst bruising was near his elbow rather than at the fracture site.

When in primary school my daughter walked (slight limp) on a fractured ankle. After school I took her to a local clinic, she was x-rayed straight away and put into a boot for 6 weeks. Her poor teacher was absolutely mortified when she arrived at school the next day. He looked after her so well in class and she was quite the celebrity for a while. She handled it so well so it is possible to have done some damage but not to be in too much pain.
Get it checked early as an earlier poster said. All the best and good luck!

I whacked my shin very similarly, and it was similarly painful to yours. The bruising came out in the ankle about five or six days later too. I saw a physio who confirmed he didn’t think it was broken, and also that delayed bruising at the ankle just like you have is classic for this type of injury where you’ve whacked the knee or shin very hard. He did tell me why, but I can’t recall the reason.

It did hurt horribly but I could weight bear. Took a long time to heal and eventually (months later) I had a MRI on it, which revealed it had not been broken. The specialist said bruises at kneecap and just below can take a long time to stop hurting

Can you walk on it? If it’s still very tender to touch I would definitely go and get it looked at in your local minor injuries unit /A&E.

Btw we aren’t usually awash with drunks these days in A&E like we were 20-30 years ago, more usually lots of complex medical problems in elderly people.

In any case minor injuries are usually streamed separately to majors so a different queue.
It might be ligaments / soft tissue, might be a small fracture but difficult to tell just from the pic

early Sunday is usually a good plan, handover to day staff is likely 7.30-8am

I went to minor injuries for a suspected foot fracture - they xrayed and said was ok but private ultrasound and mri said 3 fractures and torn fascia. Minor injuries also missed my son’s broken wrist. If you think they are wrong ask. Them to double check

I broke my ankle and shin in 4 places and it looked like that, defo get it checked out

I suspect this is not very serious, and the swelling and bruising in a different location is because bruises do move under gravity. Shins hurt a lot when you bash them, and also take quite a long time to heal completely, because there's not much padding between the skin and the bone and also not much blood flow in that area. (I know because I once went to the doctor about a bruise that still hurt long after it wasn't visible any more.) Minor injuries sounds like a very good call to me. The two nearest hospitals to me that have minor injuries have the wait time on their websites so you should be able to monitor it and go when it looks as if the wait will be short.