That sucks Dags, I hope you feel better. But that being said the X-ray is not a waste. The X-ray is like 20 times cheaper than an MRI, if you have broken bone/bone infection and not a ligament tear and it picked it up, then there is massive savings rather than going directly to an MRI
I can relate to what you're saying here. However, my doctor told me I'd probably need a MRI to see any damage. Maybe it's not as serious as it feels, but this MF has been killing me since I injured it (12/24/14). I found out this morning that the Liberty Mutual doctor denied any MRI's on me. That also includes my shoulder I hurt.
I'm no doctor. I'm a electronics technician by trade. I know when I go to troubleshoot a PC board, I need a scope, logic probe, DMM, spectrum analyzer, and etc to diagnose the problem of that board. Now, individual boards all have their own characteristics. It's usually a manufacturing (wave solder), design, or component (vendor) defect. I get to know a certain board and the problems are usually pretty much the same.. Not always though.
My question to you is in the medical field, would this be true too with something like the knee? Are these doctors smart enough, and have the familiarity with the knee not to do an MRI and just do physical therapy? it kind of concerns me that they're proceeding with PT without actually seeing what's wrong with the knee is all. Put my fears to rest here my friend.