[fatdoc]

i appreciate the NHs workoad..... and the *precious* mind set of sports people; and the huge swathe of really disabled folk that also need physio just to carry out activities of daily living. with such a diverse group of presenting complaints one can fully understand the relative lack of empathy over a finger sprain.

one could agrue many facets here ; self inflicted, the NHS is about whole population fitness and ability to work (= then be a functioning taxpayer in society), but what about the smokers / piss heads twated in a fight / morbidly obese...... do they warrent = care to others??.......not easy to draw lines in the sand

The blair govment will effectively destroy the NHS for all with the free poimts of care concept already going fast... it's fatal blow was with the introduction of payment by results and agenda for change has devalued the staff to a level that is horrendous.

end of the day my ethos is: pay for prompt service for sports injuries - lets face it - it's your recreation time, climbing is p8ss cheap, you want back into the climbing and could get there faster by spending not a great deal.... just go get treatment!!

Monolith mate: by some new video games... it's a prolonged rest period i'm afraid

[Timatron]

That's a very good point fatdoc, bouldering is seriously cheap, so why not pay for private treatment?

I'm one of these old fashioned people who still believes in some socialist NHS principles, but hey, maybe in 5 years you might see my private practice opening up at the bottom of Stanage.

[Simon S]

 

Plus Its often worth paying for a more expensive physio rather than the cheapest. I spent £85 on a 45 minute session and was correctly diagnosed and sorted. That was after 4 x £25 with another physio, plus 2 GP appointments and 1 hospital visit-all resulting in SFA. Sometimes spending more works out cheaper in the long run!

[Turboman]

Just to add to the general advice on here....

I found Dave Mcleods site a massive help with my recent injury. 

http://www.davemacleod.com/articles/pullyinjuries.html

Dave explains in detail the ice water therapy some have mentioned earlier on here. 

Very Cold Water = Reduced Inflammation
Moderately Cold water = increased blood flow to fingers aiding the healing process. 

The following is pulled from the above site.

"Ice therapy

Increasing the blood flow to the area helps to speed healing greatly. Gentle climbing or exercise is an obvious way of achieving this. A little used, but massively effective method of increasing blood flow is ice therapy. If significant cold is applied to the skin, the blood vessels in the nearby area (in this case the hand) constrict to reduce blood flow and prevent cooling of the blood. However, when moderate cold is applied there is an initial reduction in blood flow followed by significant dilation of the blood vessels and subsequent increase in blood flow of up to 500%. This is called the ‘Lewis reaction’. The cycle of blood vessel constriction and dilation takes around 30 minutes and thus the cold application should last this long. Place your injured hand in a pot or small bucket of cold water with a few (roughly 5) ice cubes added. Leave your hand in the water for the length of the treatment. If your hand hasn’t gone pink and feels flushed with blood after ten minutes, the water is too icy. Try to use the ice at least once or twice a day. Don’t use this treatment on a freshly injured finger where there is significant inflammation!

Get the water temp just right and this works a treat!