My Knee Injury

[kingstonn]

Hello all, scrolling through your website and thought i would give it a go...i have been reading a bit on what my injury might be and any infomation about what i should do would be greatly appreciated.

Ok, Saturday afternoon playing football and copped a very heavy blow to the outside of my knee in which it went in and my leg went out, i heard roughly around 3 cracks (Other guys in my team say they heard cracks too) and i was in immediate pain (very heavy pain) but around 5 minutes later the pain mellowed out, as soon as ice was put on the inside of my knee it really started to throb. around 2 - 3 hours later had x-rays taken but they did not show up anything becuase my knee was too swollen. The next 2 days i wasnt able to put any pressure on my knee so i have been on crutches since last saturday. Was taking pain killers for my knee on sunday & monday but after that has been no real pain. I can put pressure on it but have VERY limited movements in my knee. Sometimes i can feel it moving, wanting to give way. Other times i feel it kinda lock into position. I saw my local GP on Tuesday and he said it was either my medial ligament (to what extent of the injury to the medial i dont know) or a meniscas injury. Can someone point me in the right direction in what to do? Sometimes ill think to myself no i have defintly snapped my medial ligament, other times i think my knee will be fine, im really unsure on my next step as i have tried contacting specialists but they are booked out until last week of september. ANY help at all will be very much appreciated!

Thankyou.

[Alla]

Im not sure where you are in terms of location, but you really need to see a specialist asap I think. I went and saw a GP who happened to be the GP for one of the AFL sides, and was a sports injuries expert. I do know of people getting in to see him rather easily, I got an appointment to see him 2 days after I rang.... and he... and the other Drs that work there are fantastic. After visiting him I got to see a surgeon for my ACL reconstruction rather quickly.... but then again, I have private health cover, which I think helps.

In terms of your injury, it might actually be hard to tell for a little while with the swelling, but never the less I'd persue it as much as you can. A blow to the outer side of the leg as you have explained would suggest that there is some medial ligament damage, but I wouldnt rule out other damage either, and then again you could have damaged something else. I hyperextended my knee.... and ruptured the ACL, but wasnt aware of that for some time. Knees are funny things in my experience, mine certainly behaves differently to the expected.... even though I ruptured the ACL I had no pain or swelling.... which is apparently unusual.

So to be really sure, see if you can get in to see a sports injuries expert.... even better if you can see someone who specialises in knees.... even if it is in a few weeks.

Alla

[injuryupdate]

From the mechanism and the 3 cracks it would be almost a certainty you have torn the medial ligament at least grade 2 - therefore you are gone from football minimum of 4 weeks. The big question will be whether you also have ruptured ACL and cartilage damage. If it is just the medial, you should recover quickly without surgery. If it is ACL as well, and you want to play football again, you will need a knee reco.

Depending on your personality, you can take 2 approaches:
(1) Wait and see for 4 weeks. No chance in getting back to football in this time, and if the body heals you well, then you can possibly evade the clutches of the surgeons.
(2) Chase down a more immediate and accurate diagnosis, which means an examiner who is sure of what they are doing +/- an MRI scan if an experienced examiner can tell you that your knee is still too hard to diagnose accurately.

Advantage of (1) - less likely to be talked into unnecessary surgery and treated like a pro-football player when you are not.
Advantages of (2) - easier to sleep at night, gets on with the job earlier if you really do need surgery.

[kingstonn]

From the mechanism and the 3 cracks it would be almost a certainty you have torn the medial ligament at least grade 2 - therefore you are gone from football minimum of 4 weeks. The big question will be whether you also have ruptured ACL and cartilage damage. If it is just the medial, you should recover quickly without surgery. If it is ACL as well, and you want to play football again, you will need a knee reco.

Depending on your personality, you can take 2 approaches:
(1) Wait and see for 4 weeks. No chance in getting back to football in this time, and if the body heals you well, then you can possibly evade the clutches of the surgeons.
(2) Chase down a more immediate and accurate diagnosis, which means an examiner who is sure of what they are doing +/- an MRI scan if an experienced examiner can tell you that your knee is still too hard to diagnose accurately.

Advantage of (1) - less likely to be talked into unnecessary surgery and treated like a pro-football player when you are not.
Advantages of (2) - easier to sleep at night, gets on with the job earlier if you really do need surgery.

THANKYOU!

Well at the moment i am finding it very hard to find a specialist, i am in brisbane. My Boss told me about his old sports club doctor so i am seeing a sports injury expert you might say on wednesday. I dont have private health cover so that is something that is gonna really hurt me i think. Well hopefully i get to see a specialist soon because i think to diagnose this injury i need an MRI scan, and i pretty sure there is only 2 - 3 places in brisbane which do these. I really dont know what to expect because as i said, im feeling no pain. I hope i havent done my ACL as well, fingers crossed!

Once again cheers for the help guys!

[snaughton]

Kingstonn
I had a similar experience 12 weeks ago (see previous post). Major impact to the outside of my knee. No pain, not much swelling but unstable knee (just went sideways when physio did the medial test).
I went to a public hospital in sydney, and diagnosis from Dr was medial tear. Saw a specialist (at the same public hospital) and he said the same. I went back again, and got a referral for an MRI. This meant I got money back from Medicare (i think i was out of pocket around $180) after I had the MRI. My other option was waiting for the MRI at the public hospital, which may have taken up to 12 weeks.

Maybe you could go to the emergency department of your nearest big hospital, see the emergency doctor and then wait to see a specialist. Otherwise pay to see a knee specialist.

My MRI showed a grade 2+ tear, I was out of action for 8 weeks. In a range of movement brace for 6 weeks (hip to ankle, allowing only 30 degrees of motion). I am back playing now, but have only been running for 3 weeks and still find it hard to move as I want. I have done all the physio, and realise it is just getting extra km of running.

So i would suggest immobilising - you are only stopping it from healing if you are constantly fully extending/moving it, even if you are on crutches. It is a pain to be in the brace, but better in the long term. Then see a Dr (or good sports physio - just ring around). Have an MRI if they can't tell, or just for your peace of mind. But let it heal, do all your exercises and you should be fine. I was lucky - no other damage apart from the medial tear.
I am now looking forward to finals in 4 weeks, by which time i should be nearing previous fitness....

[kingstonn]

hey guys, well just got back from the physio and all good news, dont think its a medial tear maybe a strain but also mainly cartledge damage...so hopefully not as bad as i first thought!

[kingstonn]

well not so much good news guys, had it confirmed today that i have torn my mcl and a probable acl tear along with meniscas...

[injuryupdate]

Sounds like you probably need an MRI scan. The MCL was obvious from the mechanism. If they aren't sure about ACL and meniscus then you probably need an MRI to work out whether you need surgery. If you have ACL/MCL + meniscal tear then you are going to need surgery, but MCL plus a bone bruise is best treated without surgery.

[Alla]

Hey there

Bit of bad luck that it seems more then you hoped it was.... from an ACL tear sufferer..... dont stress too much... the surgery is ok.... and as long as you are prepared for the rehab you will be fine.......

Keep us posted

Alla

[kingstonn]

well guys saw the specialist yesterday and i have a torn acl and a grade 2 tear in my medial and quite severe bone bruising.

thankyou to the mod and alla who gave me great info when i was stressing the most...a long road to recovery before i can play footy again...cheers everyone!

[Alla]

Im sorry that it turned out to be a bigger injury then you first thought, but fear not, you will be fine. It takes a bit to get used to the idea of being out of action for a little while, but I can assure you that the time does go fast.

Im nearly 4 months down the track, and although I havent run for 9 months... Im so excited that Im nearly up to that stage now!! The time has really gone quickly, and my knee feels pretty good.

All the best with your treatment, and keep us posted as to how you are going!! If you have any questions about your surgrey... feel free to post...

Alla

[SPK]

That's a real bummer about your knee mate. I can't say I know what it's like to have to go through something like that, but I imagine it wouldn't be much fun at all, and bloody hard work.

I'm doing rehab for my knee post op from an Arthroscope and that's not easy, so I can't even begin to imagine how hard post ACL would be.

All you can really do is stay focused and motivated and not become too blaise about it. Set yourself goals to keep yourself going, or talk to others that have, or are going through the same thing. There seem to be heaps on this site, so you're very lucky that you've got plenty of people to help you out.

And who knows, in a few months I might very well be in your position and it'll be me asking for your advice.

Keep your chin up.