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Oh God, my knee!
kilroydos
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
That was me, a few years ago. I hurt my knee badly playing indoor soccer, but never had it corrected or examined beyond a cursory check. I can walk on it, but twisting or cutting sideways is not an option. I'm almost certain there's permanent ligament damage in there for that reason.
I'm getting to the point where I need to get this fixed permanently, because it's affecting my health. I'm not as active as I want to be, and I'm gaining weight because of it. I also have a young daughter and I want to be able to run and play sports with her in a few years. However, I feel like I have to wait a year, maybe two to have any surgery done, because the recovery time will be particularly hard on my wife and daughter with me not being as mobile for several months.
Here are my questions:
Have I caused any non-reparable damage by waiting this long?
Is there any point in having it checked out now versus waiting until I'm ready to have surgery?
What might change between now and then that could affect my decision?
What's the recovery/rehab time typically like for reconstructive knee surgery of that type (repairing ligaments, removing scar tissue, etc.)?
Thanks all.
I'm getting to the point where I need to get this fixed permanently, because it's affecting my health. I'm not as active as I want to be, and I'm gaining weight because of it. I also have a young daughter and I want to be able to run and play sports with her in a few years. However, I feel like I have to wait a year, maybe two to have any surgery done, because the recovery time will be particularly hard on my wife and daughter with me not being as mobile for several months.
Here are my questions:
Have I caused any non-reparable damage by waiting this long?
Is there any point in having it checked out now versus waiting until I'm ready to have surgery?
What might change between now and then that could affect my decision?
What's the recovery/rehab time typically like for reconstructive knee surgery of that type (repairing ligaments, removing scar tissue, etc.)?
Thanks all.
kilroydos on
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The doctor will be able to fill in the rest, because those are all things that need x-rays and such to determine. For all we know, you're wolverine and the knee problem healed itself and you just have bad arthritis in your knee.
I am not a doctor, but I'm pretty sure the answers to your questions are (1) maybe, (2) yes if 1 is yes, (3) it could get worse/cause permanent damage, and (4) up to a year according to wikipedia.
It should be fairly inexpensive to go to a doctor and at least get the knee checked out. They can do a couple simple tests to see if there is ligament damage - they basically pull on your knee in different directions to see how much resistance your ligaments provide. After the test the doctor should talk to you about your options and answer all of your above questions better than any of us could.
If there is damage, the next step is probably an MRI (can be expensive, depends on your insurance), which would tell them exactly what is going on in there. You'd need an MRI before surgery anyway. Some surgery is relatively simple (arthroscopic knee surgery, some is more complex (acl replacement, knee replacement). Wikipedia any of those for more info and timelines for recovery.
If there isn't damage, if the damage isn't bad, or if it isn't going to get worse or cause any structural damage, they might recommend physical therapy. You can do most of this at home, on your own, once you learn the proper exercises.
I'm sure people will have lots of anecdotal evidence about / experience with knee injuries, but it should be a relatively cheap and easy appointment to just have a doctor answer all of these questions. Because it is affecting your health, the choice should be even easier.
My guess, which is irrelevant, is that you have a torn ACL which is allowing your joint to twist in such a way that damages your meniscus, this is the classic case. If your joint is particularly loose and your quad muscles are not very strong then continued athletic activity will destroy the buffer between your femur and tibia resulting in increased knee pain over time. The recovery time for an ACL repair varies between the two main types of surgery. If you aren't planning on a career in pro sports, then the "allograph" option should suffice and has average time of six weeks to mild athletic activity and almost immediate access to walking with crutches. You could be driving in a week.
First time post, a frequent poster on the site asked me to post because I have extensive experience with knee injuries, but I would be highly suspect of anything I or anyone else writes in here. The best advice is simply for you to seek medical attention.
If I were to give you a non medical opinion that you can not get from a doctor, seek the surgeon (if it comes to that) in your area that performs the most surgeries of the type you have chosen. You can ask any doctor how many, say allographs, they complete in a year and they have to answer.
About a year after my first surgery I went back for reconstructive surgery on my ACL. Flash forward 12 years and I feel great. I run around 3 miles every other day and my knee is fine. I'm still "aware" that it isn't exactly like it used to be but that might just be a mental thing. My recommendation (Eyeyamnotadoctor) is to go see an orthopedic doctor as soon as possible and find out what's going on in there. Also... stick with the physical therapy afterwards. I didn't finish mine and I suffered for it for years.
This is the closest to my experience so far. Particularly the part about not being stable on the knee now. I know that if I twist or cut on it, it's going to go out. I also slipped in the shower once a little over a year ago. That was a terrifying feeling, for sure.
Alright, you've all basically confirmed my thoughts on the whole thing. I need to have this checked out asap, as it's not going to get any better automatically, and me being active and trying to strengthen the muscles around it could actually be doing more damage than good.
Thanks, everyone. Let's hope the diagnosis and recovery/rehab is closer to the 6 week mark than it is to the year.
I..twisted? my knee last week, and can run/play sports fairly well on it, except that it's pretty painful when trying to turn sharply.
I know I shouldn't be playing on it, but I need to play one more match
what should I do?
A match of what?
The best thing to do is don't play. It's probably nothing more than a strain or a sprain, but doing heavy exertion on an already compromised joint really increases the odds of a serious injury or making the injury worse.
An MRI isn't cheap, but if you have insurance it's no biggie. that's the only way you will know. If it's not completely torn, i doubt there is much they can do, except cut it out and replace it. Then you can get a sweet cadaver achilles! or your own patellar tendon (there may be more options, but those were mine) if you are a real man. I did it 5 years ago i think, and my knee is good to go. i play plenty of "sports". it has been hurting, but i've been doing p90x plyometrics, and i think that may be causing it to act up.
Tlex it's probably just a mild sprain, but if you are going to play on it anyways, get a trainer or someone to tape you up. At the very least get a compression sleeve or knee brace from a sports store. Make sure it's snug, but not cutting off circulation.
I lost half the ligaments in my left knee during a rugby match, I waited over a year before I got it seriously looked at (I got fed up with it collapsing with sharp twists.)
1) Maybe but unlikely, the surgeon told me the only real issue is that some shrinking could have happened on the bits he was going to reattach making the job harder but I guess i got lucky.
2) The sooner you know whats wrong the sooner you know how bad the damage is and therefore how urgent it is, when I got my first MRI I was under the knife within 3 weeks doctors orders.
3) One wrong twist and a weakened knee could become a crippled knee.
4) My own is around 12 months, im currently sitting on month ten, i can jog/light sprint in a straight line but ive been told to give it the full 12 months before I do anything with sharp turns/bends. The real bitch is the weight gain, ive put on at least 4 stone and getting it off is a bitch.
The only perminant changes to my life is that im actively avoiding rugby and kickboxing which I used to do every day of the week and instead taken up kayaking and swimming.
If its giving you issues, get it done.
There are 4 ligaments in the knee, the MCL and LCL flank the sides while the ACL and PCL criss cross inside the knee. The meniscus is a cartilage type tissue that holds the femur in place and keeps it from rubbing against your lower leg. Parts of your meniscus are not repairable as they do not receive blood flow from the body. If anyone continues without an ACL (the most commonly injured ligament in the knee) they risk damaging the meniscus and possibly in a permanent fashion.
Also MRIs are not conclusive in ACL tears because a stretched ACL may lay flat and look fine when you are lying down in an MRI machine. The only true test requires a scope, but most experienced orthopedics can diagnose you with two simple tests performed in their office.
Everyone, go see a doctor, they can likely diagnose you in one visit even before your next match or whatever. Obviously, it is quite possible to get wrong information on any internet forum. Otherwise you misewell drink your own pee as a diagnostic tool.
Indoor soccer did this to me back in March. I had full tear of my ACL, same symptoms as you describe.
I was told by the doctors that without surgery I wouldn't be able to play any sports involving pivoting or stop start running, but am fully capable of running/jogging, cycling and swimming.
If it's a full tear the damage is done and no more harm will really come unless you continue to tweak it in which case you are likely damaging the meniscus and are more likely to have osteoarthritis later in life.
The recovery time for the surgery from the information package I recently received is 2 weeks on crutches, after 2 weeks walking is fine and physiotherapy should start. After 6 weeks of physiotherapy jogging, biking and swimming are acceptable but no pivoting. After 6 months you can slowly return to normal function, upwards of 9-12 months before you are back to pre-injury capabilities.
My doctor also told me that about 1 in 100 patients end up re-tearing the ACL.
I opted for surgery because I wasn't ready to give up playing soccer. But if you can find other means of exercise then surgery isn't necessary.
Origin: theRealElMucho
I hurt mine while backpacking, I fell down a mountain for a little ways, and twisted it up real bad, then later that week got hit and runned by a truck while riding my bike. I went to a walk in clinic, to which they said,
"Wrap it and stay off it, its probably just a sprain."
So I wrapped it, but being that I had to work.. I couldn't stay off of it, and it just hurt for, pretty much all the time. So I went back, and I got pain killers, and that helped, but it still hurt, bad, all the time, so I just kept getting painkillers. Then my stomach started to bleed, and it still hurt.
5ish years later, it still hurts, I weight 135 pounds more than when I hurt it, and I can walk slowly around places, and still have no money to fix it.
If you can, fix it. Not fixing it is horrible, and I don't recommend it.
My Dad played high school football and during his senior year, he ended up injuring his knee. It wasn't super serious, but he never did go to a doctor (mostly for a lack of money) but he has since lived almost his whole life with knee pains and aches. Playing sports with him as a kid was always different, because he wouldn't be able to run around with me, it hurt him that much.
Eventually, my Dad started getting even worse pain than usual. We took him to the doctor and found out that the cartilage between his bones had been worn away so much that his bones were basically grinding together somewhat. He had to have surgery done (expensive surgery) and many, many week so f rehabilitation.
The thing is, it's not really that much better now. He's basically not pained by it constantly, but he still has some troubles with it. I don't think he can run on it still.
I hope that you won't end up like him, but yeah, leaving an injury like that can affect your life drastically.