Injury - how do I get it sorted?

[Dan B]

Being relatively new to the UK, I'm not exactly sure how to go about treating an injury that requires more than a plaster or a bag of frozen peas.

Most of the record club runners saw me on the side of the roundabout near Horley last Saturday doing deep knee bends. What I was doing was trying to get my knee to pop.

Ordinarily, there are occasions where pressure will build up on my kneecap and then relieve itself with a satisfactory POP, like cracking a knuckle. Only this time the pressure kept building and every revolution, sitting or standing, became torture. I must have been quite a sight with my enforced one-leg drills to the train station.

Now it's a few days on, I haven't been on a bike even though I really want to, and the knee still feels the same way on stairs and when I'm stooping to feed the cats. As I can't stand not knowing what's wrong, what is the process for checking out my injury? Do I:

a. book an appointment with my GP and he refers me to a physio;
b. go to casualty with a copy of War And Peace and eventually have them refer me to a physio;
c. go straight to the physio;
d. see Mr Ungutu, the local Ugandan witch doctor - the one whose business card mentions cycling biomechanic juju.

I'm going stir crazy so HAAAALP!!! (says my wife)

[Jon H]

Your GP would normally be the first port of call, although for something like this which isn't life threatening it could be a long drawn out process before it gets sorted. If your GP's not up to much the conversation could go along the lines of:
Dan "Hello doctor, my knee gives me a lot of pain."
Doc "When does it hurt?"
Dan "When I go cycling or running."
Doc "Don't go cycling or running, come back when your ill."

Your best bet to get it sorted quickly, or at least get a sympathetic ear would be to go to a physio or sports injury clinic. Someone in the club should be able to recommend one, or have a look at [url]http://www.sportsinjuryclinic.net[/url]

[Dan B]

Thanks. That helps.

Marco has mentioned [color=red]Metis [/color]before, which is across from the Mayday A&E and local to me - I think ACC has a 10% deal there, thanks to him!