Philadelphia 76ers facing Joel Embiid’s facial injury

Philadelphia 76ers have lost the play of center Joel Embiid for an indefinite amount of time. What are the Philadelphia 76ers facing with Joel Embiid’s facial contusion

The Philadelphia 76ers lost the play of center Joel Embiid Wednesday night. He fell to injury when facing the New York Knicks after colliding with rookie Markelle Fultz. Fultz remained in the game, while Embiid left the court with a facial contusion. He stayed overnight at a local hospital for precautionary sake. And yes, an injured Embiid elevated everyone’s fears once more.

No worries, mate

Not much from the initial report to worry about, right? After all, Joel Embiid passed initial concussion testing. And the overnight hospital stay simply placed Embiid in the care of medical expertise. Purely precaution.

But this is Joel Embiid folks. The offense and the defense of the Philadelphia 76ers, particularly playoffs, depends on his play. Can the Philadelphia 76ers advance without him in the lineup? Can the team come up with alternate strategies?  We’ll find out now.

Caution precaution

Joel Embiid’s injury could not come at a worse time for the team. In the midst of an unprecedented winning streak, the team is sitting at the 4-seed and competing hard for the 3-seed currently held by the Cleveland Cavaliers. But a freak accident changed all that. And that led to precautionary follow up at a local hospital

But precaution can mean different things to different people. His initial X-Rays proved no fractures. But X-rays are not the ideal diagnostic tool. It takes the right orientation for the image, plus the right physician, plus knowing what to look for. And even then, it’s not always conclusive.

The Philadelphia 76ers will be in the playoffs.

Center of this playoff team

Joel Embiid is a major contributor to the Philadelphia 76ers. And no doubt the team wanted him back on the court as quickly as possible. Whenever a patient enters a acute care provider, physicians are obligated to reach a conclusive diagnosis. To do that, they will continue to run tests  until all possibilities have been ruled out. With initial tests showing no damage, but with persisting pain, medical technicians had the equivalent of a search warrant.

Testing testing …1…2…3

Testing confirms original test results. But testing also is performed to diagnose unresolved issue. Persistant pain and swelling for example. And that led the medical staff to order a CT Scan.

Tests provide a diagnosis. That diagnosis now leads to a plan of care. That leads to a fully healed Embiid. So what did they learn?

CT scan confirms fears

More definitive tests to confirm initial tests. Unlike the “50 shades of gray” from X-rays, CT Scans are more definitive. And the follow up for any injuries with imaging generally involves higher resolution imaging. This one confirmed our fears.

An orbital fracture is a broken eye socket. That is a common outcome with the type of impact Embiid experienced on the basketball court. Now, what will it take to restore him to full health? And how long with that take?

Face it, this is tough

Facial feature injuries are easily misdiagnosed. The orbital fracture is particularly tough to diagnose without higher resolution, and once diagnosed, often involves surgery. The reasons for the surgery are too varied to list, but the outcomes are quite effective. Unlike major limb surgery, there is no “training time” to consider after medical clearance.

The outcome of 2-4 weeks is a fair estimate, but lean more to the 3-4 week time frame. And there is the possibility of vision effects after healing, which occurs in 28 percent of the cases in studies.

The Process trusts The Process

So what is the outlook for this team? On one hand, the timing of the surgery starts the clock. Some injuries require up to two weeks for swelling to subside. On the other hand, once surgery is performed, the recovery of two to three weeks to allow the small bones to heal kicks in.

The team is now in a race against time to get Embiid back onto the basketball court.

Return? Perhaps

If Joel Embiid needs vision correction, he may sport  some glasses as well.

Look for the team to place great emphasis upon protective gear. Clear face masks or goggles help prevent re-injury, and a number of NBA players have elected to use such equipment in the past.

Next: Philadelphia 76ers aim at playoffs and 2018 NBA Draft

The bottom line is that the team hopes to get Joel Embiid back as quickly as possible. But vision is nothing to trifle with, and the estimated timeline go longer without being a situation where something went wrong. In the end, Embiid’s advice is truly the right path to take here folks. Trust the Process. We know that the Philadelphia 76ers are “that good” now. In any scenario, the team may need to accept the 2018-2019 as the year to compete for the NBA Championship.