Most acute injuries can be attended to using R.I.C.E., but some injuries need to be seen and treated by a physician. You should call your doctor if you experience any of the following:
- severe pain or if pain persists for more than two weeks in a joint or bone.
- pain radiates to another area of the body
- you have 'point tenderness.' That is, you can cause pain by pressing on a specific area, but pain is not produced at the same point on the other side of the body.
- you have any injury to a joint that produces significant swelling. If left untreated, joint injuries can become permanent.
- you cannot move the injured part.
- there is persistent numbness, tingling or weakness in the injured area.
- your injury doesn't heal in three weeks.
- you have an infection with pus, red streaks, a fever, or swollen lymph nodes.
