Sports Medicine Community

Thanks for taking the time to read. During a football game 3 weeks ago I was injured during a tackle. The EMT assigned to the game decided my injury was related to cramping in my leg muscles, and proceeded to try to stretch me out and use a chiropractic tool on my leg. After about 10 minutes of no relief and further pain, she stopped (to attend another injured player), implying the pain was "in my head." Ultimately, I wound up taking an ambulance to the ER. There, an x-ray was performed with no conclusive results. The ER physician recommended I see an ortho and prescribed something for the swelling.

The next week I managed to get an appointment, and was told I'd get a call with approval to schedule an MRI. Many, many days later (probably a full week) I got the "we messed up, you never needed approval, go ahead and schedule." (My fault for not being on top of it. Lesson learned.) I had the MRI, and finally a follow up visit. The ortho advised me, after waiting over an hour for my appointment that I had a torn ACL. He didn't show me the MRI (is that normal?) and told me that he wanted to wait 3 weeks before deciding if I needed surgery. No orders of physical therapy, just another prescription for the swelling. My appointment lasted less than 5 minutes. When I asked about the pain, he was walking out the door and didn't bother to answer. Needless to say, I'm getting a second opinion, but want to ask in the meantime:

Is it normal to not be shown the MRI?

Should we be waiting a full 3 weeks before deciding about surgery?

Is physical therapy in order regardless of the decision on surgery?

Thanks!