If you fall down, hear a crack coming from your foot, and end up in the emergency room, you might wonder what's going to happen now. 

Physical Examination

The first thing that is going to happen is that the medical professionals are going to physically examine the affected foot. They will twist your foot around, move it up and down, poke it, and prod it. None of it will be a whole lot of fun, and the whole time they will probably ask you if it hurts, but it's important that they know what range of motion your foot has, where the injury is, and other such information. 

X-Ray

After the physical examination, it's time to get some pretty pictures taken. The doctors are going to need to see what's going on in your foot before they can do anything with it. That's because they need to know if your foot needs surgery at a place like Surgery Center of Kenai, if it's even a break, or if it can just be left alone. The tech is going to have you put your foot at some weird angles, but the reason for that is so that the doctors can get the best look at everything going on in your foot as possible. Yes, it may be awkward, but you will only need to stay in that position for a moment or two. If you ask the tech nicely, they may even let you see the x-rays. These days the images are all digital, so they will show up immediately on a computer screen. The tech won't offer an opinion, but they may let you see them. 

Cast/Splint/Boot

Depending on how bad the break is, if it is a break, and where on the foot the break is, your doctor is going to have a whole lot of choices to make sure your foot is stabilized. Your foot needs to stay stabilized so that the bones in the foot will heal correctly. So, that may mean they give you a cast, a boot, or a splint. If your foot is really swollen, they may give you a splint to let the swelling go down before you get a cast on your foot. If that happens, you will go see an orthopedic surgeon to get that done. That doctor will also be able to further evaluate your foot, as necessary. 

If you hurt your foot and end up at the ER, you may want to know what's going to happen before it happens. 

Share