Knee pain and doctor

[tidesong]

So I hurt my knee falling on a jump and it has been wierd since, basically ok on the streets and even in ballet and hiphop class but for skating sessions since that fall, after doing multiple double jumps it starts hurting with a sharp pain in the front when i use it.

Coach recommended that I see the sports doctor and so off I went, he said that it was probably runners knee and then off I went to the physio that said that my muscle outside was pulling the knee out and then gave me stretches for the outside muscle and strengthening exercises for the inside ones as well as the hip in general.

Then the thing is that in two weeks I'm supposed to have an x-ray taken before the follow up consultation with the doc. I am wondering if that's a huge waste of money, does the doctor suspect any fracture in the bone or are x-rays useful for anything else?

[kiwibabe]

They might be able to tell you if you have bruised your bone, but normally they need an mri to show that.

[southernsk8er]

when i hurt my knee skating, they took an x-ray even though i didn't fall on the knee - i just twisted it really bad. then after wasting money on that they said i would need an mri instead. if he thinks it's a muscle problem, i don't understand why he's having you get an x-ray (any doctors on this board?). maybe you could call the office and ask him for clarification about it first.

[jenlyon60]

Xray is often the first level of imaging in the diagnosis. Then based on the physical examination and the xray results, the orthopod may request an MRI.

[Isk8NYC]

My insurance company required the xray before they would authorize the knee MRI. The xray pinpointed the problem and the MRI just 'ruled out' any tendon/ligament damage. In my case, the back of my kneecap is getting rough, probably from too many falls on ice years ago. The ligaments are getting snagged on the rough spots, not enough to damage them, but enough to hurt me when I skate. Especially when holding forward crossovers.

[tidesong]

I'm not covered by any thing so personally I wouldn't mind if they went straight to an mri, but I talked to my friend who is a doctor albeit specializing in a different field but x rays are the base from where they work things up and she also listed a couple things that could go wrong that could be picked up by x ray so well so

I guess I'll just suck it up and go for this one.

She said its unlikely they will need to take further xrays after the initial one (I really hope she isn't too wrong about that) and I also hope its not anything major... thanks guys for the comments... and for basically saying the same thing as my friend did so I guess its pretty much useful and standard procedure ya.

One thing is I could have the xray done for cheaper at a public facility than private, but it would be complicated, I would have to go to a public doctor and the waiting list is months... so... maybe not.