Whilst in the US I snapped the tendon on my little finger. When you do this the little finger just hangs there and you can´t do anything with it.
US hospital did a terrible job of splinting it, told me to come back following day to see a surgeon. (Cost $1000+, high copay since I didn´t yet have my work insurance which didn´t kick in for another month etc.)
Went back home and googled it. NHS treatment, splint for 6 weeks do not disturb splint under any circumstances, followed by simple physiotherapy. I re-splinted using a plastic spoon handle (which is perfect for this btw.) and today the finger is completely recovered.
A year after all this, I ran into a guy at a rental place in the US who had a little finger sticking out at right angles, and which was functionally immobile. He´d had the operation - several years previously, you could see the stiches. Finger had never recovered properly.
But you can see where the profit incentive would lie for the American hospital.
How is that related to what I was asking about by the OP comment? Which was:
> Without tackling the obesity/sedentary/nutrition problems the healthcare issue will persist.
> Similarly the opioid/meth epidemics of the last 2 decades are not (just) healthcare problems
US hospital did a terrible job of splinting it, told me to come back following day to see a surgeon. (Cost $1000+, high copay since I didn´t yet have my work insurance which didn´t kick in for another month etc.)
Went back home and googled it. NHS treatment, splint for 6 weeks do not disturb splint under any circumstances, followed by simple physiotherapy. I re-splinted using a plastic spoon handle (which is perfect for this btw.) and today the finger is completely recovered.
A year after all this, I ran into a guy at a rental place in the US who had a little finger sticking out at right angles, and which was functionally immobile. He´d had the operation - several years previously, you could see the stiches. Finger had never recovered properly.
But you can see where the profit incentive would lie for the American hospital.