Need a doctor recommendation for my wonky ankle!
June 9, 2010 7:18 AM   Subscribe

I need a doctor to look at my poor, sprained ankle! He or she has to be in nyc and has to see me before 9am or after 5pm. Help!

I sprained my ankle a couple days ago. I went to see my general doctor the day I sprained it and he said I should see an orthopedic specialist to get x-rays, and maybe a prescription for physical therapy.

HOWEVER, the two specialists he suggested both have 9-5 office hours. I work 9-5 and literally cannot miss a minute of work right now.

Can anyone suggest an orthopedic specialist in the nyc area (I'd prefer downtown Manhattan but will go anywhere in nyc, really) that has night hours or really, really early morning hours? Please! It hurts and I'm worried I'm doing serious damage to my already weak ankle by not getting it properly treated.

If there is no other choice, then I guess I will have to miss work to see someone, but I'm hoping someone can suggest a better option!
posted by silverstatue to Health & Fitness (7 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Call your doctor's office back and ask them for another referral that meets your constraints. Of course he wants you to see his first choice specialists, but second choice is far better than not being seen at all.
posted by shiny blue object at 8:03 AM on June 9, 2010


Was it a very severe sprain? I sprained mine pretty badly in April (Grade 2 - you can see how bad it looked here) It actually got increasingly more bruised and swollen for a few days after the initial injury. That photo is just a few hours post-sprain. It was really an ugly sprain!

I went to the emergency room for my x-rays, because the injury happened on a Saturday afternoon and my normal doctor's office was closed. They gave me a brace (which I hardly used) and a list of stretches/exercises to do when the swelling came down. I'm really surprised your general doctor has recommended an orthopedic specialist and possible physical therapy. That seems like much ado for a sprain. Unless your sprain was very severe, you'll heal on your own. (I kind of wish I'd skipped the x-rays and ER visit - they were expensive and just verified what I already knew - but my husband was worried my ankle was broken.)

I followed the H.E.M. method of rehab, instead of R.I.C.E., and had very good luck with healing quickly. I was back to my normal workouts within about a week and have been doing some long hikes/backpacking over the past month.
posted by MorningPerson at 8:19 AM on June 9, 2010


Response by poster: Well, i sprained the same ankle five years ago, and just let it heal on its own and it never really healed correctly (was weak, re-sprained easily etc). Finally I went to the specialist and did physical therapy for a couple months and it really, really helped.

until last weekend when i hurt it all over again! this time i want to nip it in the bud and take care of it right away.

its not a horrible sprain... i mean, i'm walking around on it... but it hurts :(
posted by silverstatue at 8:35 AM on June 9, 2010


Best answer: I've had good luck using an online service, ZocDoc, to get MD appointments in NYC. You put in your insurance type and what kind of MD you want to see and they give you a list of MDs with available times. Since you can look at lots of people at once it will likely make it easier to find someone who can see you outside of standard work hours. I can't tell you if any of the people they list are any good though.

I've used it twice, once to find a psychiatrist and once to find a GP. It was easy to use and worked out well in terms of medical care.
posted by sciencegeek at 9:39 AM on June 9, 2010 [2 favorites]


Response by poster: Sciencegeek I love you! I found a doctor right near my office who can see me tomorrow night! She is highly rated and exactly what I"m looking for. WOOHOO!

Man, zocdoc.com is awesome. Thank you so much for the suggestion!
posted by silverstatue at 9:57 AM on June 9, 2010


I hope she works out for you. Zocdoc has pretty much has solved my "procrastinating about medical issues" problem. I wish that I felt more trustful about the ratings, but that's my only beef.

Your AskMe reminded me of a Times article on people with ankles that sprain a lot. I don't know if you really fall into this category, but the finding, that people with weak ankles are actually people with not great senses of balance, is interesting and the fix is easy.

I hope that your ankle gets better soon and that your work gets less crazy.
posted by sciencegeek at 10:24 AM on June 9, 2010 [1 favorite]


If the doc you go to doesn't work out, Dr. Chien is downtown and a solid guy. His hours are until 8 on Tues and Thurs. Definitely helped me with my ankle that refused to heal for 3 months.
posted by jng at 11:35 AM on June 9, 2010


« Older Replacing Comcast in Baltimore   |   landscapers for photoshoots in nyc? Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.