Suggestions on injured knee please

[Scope951]

9 months ago I had a huge impact fall on my right knee below the knee cap dead on. It swelled a lot, and I iced it and went to the doctor who said soft tissue takes a long time to heal, give it probably 4+ months. No x-ray was taken because he said it would be a long wait and he didn't think it was quite necessary.

9 months now and I still only have 90% range of motion (hurts to twist my leg inwards, or bend it ALL the way), but worst of all if i kneel on my right knee (right knee on the floor) it is very painful almost like the knee cap is "loose". Other than that I can run jump and play sports.

I would really appreciate any suggestions and insight you could share about type of knee injury, what I could do to rehab this knee, and who I should go see about this "lingering soft tissue" that seams to be the problem. If you have recommendations for specific people please let me know as well. I am a student at U of C if that helps.

Thank you for your time

[thager]

suck it up and be a man, my knees have caused me alot of pain over the years(bmx accedents,hockey and other work related stuff) some days its painfull just to kneel down and most days are good, nothing a few motrin cant fix.

[Modelexis]

If I was you I would speak to your doctor about trying a cortisone shot to help with the pain.
If he won't hear you out, try another doctor until you find one that's willing to work with you.
This is not a fix, just a bandaid, it might allow you to regain some mobility and it might help you go through rehab without so much swelling and pain.

It's worth a shot right?

[calgarygts]

This could be any number of things giving you problems, go see a physiotherapist about it. Doctors are not good at diagnosing or treating sports injuries, at least nowhere near as good as a physio.

Whatever you do don't just suck it up and 'act like a man'. That's about as good of advice as trying to get cortisone shots without knowing what's going on in your knee. If you get something like that you're liable to mess it up even more because you can't feel anything.

[rojhero]

Originally posted by calgarygts
This could be any number of things giving you problems, go see a physiotherapist about it. Doctors are not good at diagnosing or treating sports injuries, at least nowhere near as good as a physio.

Whatever you do don't just suck it up and 'act like a man'. That's about as good of advice as trying to get cortisone shots without knowing what's going on in your knee. If you get something like that you're liable to mess it up even more because you can't feel anything.

:werd:

Couldn't have said it better. Two doctors (GPs) misdignosed my ACL tear. I went to a physiotherapist who recommended I get a MRI. The MRI results came back as a full ACL tear. Many physiotherapists (along with GPs) can also refer you to a specialized sports medicine physician.

Most GPs don't have enough experience with knee injuries to develop the touch needed to diagnose properly. The two doctors must have spent 5 minutes each trying to do the Lachman's test while the physiotherapist knew within 30 seconds.

UC also has a knee clinic, but it sounds like it's only for injuries within a month.

https://smc1.sportmed.ucalgary.ca/smcWeb/Acute_Knee_Patient_Entry.aspx

Good luck. Knee injuries are not fun.

[scboss]

Originally posted by calgarygts
This could be any number of things giving you problems, go see a physiotherapist about it. Doctors are not good at diagnosing or treating sports injuries, at least nowhere near as good as a physio.

Whatever you do don't just suck it up and 'act like a man'. That's about as good of advice as trying to get cortisone shots without knowing what's going on in your knee. If you get something like that you're liable to mess it up even more because you can't feel anything.

Yeah man be a man if you want to have major knee surgery. Best bet go to a physiotherapist or a sports med doctor. They can usually tell by doing muscle testing without a MRI. Rule of thumb dont mess around with knees, lower back and rotator cuff or you will feel it for the rest of your life.
If you have a torn acl or mcl a cortisone shot would be the dumbest advice ive ever heard in my life. Do you play in the NFL or something LMAO.

[shynepho]

Thats what im worried about also that my knee will never be the same. I hurt my knee about 6 days ago as I fell off my bicycle and does it ever hurt. My doctor told me it will heal on its own as no x-rays are needed. Walking and going up stairs has been very challenging. It now takes me 3x as long.

Must look into a physiotherapist asap!

[AndyL]

So much bad info...

Get your GP to refer you to the u of c sports med clinic - you'll have to get an mri and lots of xrays first... dr wiley is the gatekeeper - see him first then you see the surgeons (if needed). Hands down best place to get fixed up - there's also a world renown ortho guy out in canmore - developed some of the repair techniques that are now standard practice.haven't used him - but my bro/sis did.

Don't do what I did - grin and bear it... typically causes more damage. And you build up tollerances to pain killers - and the nsaids rip your gut to shreds; and put you at higher risk of heart problems down the road...

[ricosuave]

"suck it up and be a man"

LOL

That's why you have to take Motrin?

[craigcd]

I blew my knee out last year- do like everyone else has said and see a specialist. Aside from that the stationary bike was the best rehab before and after surgery. Made a huge difference in range of motion and had me walking and running faster.

[Afrodeziak]

+1 for U of C sports med clinic. They have seen an awful lot of me lately, as I'm doing better with my knee (after a negative MRI result).

[ercchry]

Originally posted by thager
suck it up and be a man, my knees have caused me alot of pain over the years(bmx accedents,hockey and other work related stuff) some days its painfull just to kneel down and most days are good, nothing a few motrin cant fix.

so you "sucked it up" and now have chronic pain... yeah, you are a wealth of knowledge :rofl:

[cmodem]

+1 on seeing a physiotherapist and specialist.

You seem like being active is a high priority and GP's don't care about particularly getting you back to 100% range and strength.

Physiotherapists will usually work with you to get you as much range of mobility as possible (100% is not always attainable) and to strengthen what you need to compensate or recover from your accident.

Hurt many things over the years including back, broken foot (lis franc fracture and dislocation... read about it... this one is serious), arms, wrist everything. Physiotherapists rock, they're expensive though which sucks but it's better than living in pain. Usually i go as soon as i am physically able to based on a doctors ok (because i usually have broken bones).

The longer you wait the worst it is, i started going to physio when i dislocated my elbow 6 years ago, it didn't heal straight doctors said it was fine but it surely wasn't. Took 4 times as long to rehab (and is still not where it should be) because they had to break up alot of scar tissue from the improper healing. Ever since then anything i broke i go to pt's ASAP and don't look back.

Good luck.

Oops forgot to mention:

For my foot i went to talisman center for physio (lifemark) cuz it's close, but i used to go to blair schachterle at nosecreeksportpt.com in the nw for the longest time.

I wouldn't take rehab suggestions from ppl online because it's different for each injury and you could end up strengthening muscles that are already out of balance and cause you more pain. You only got two knees in your life right? It's worth it to pay some money to get assessed and get some exercises specific to your case.

[lasimmon]

Not sure if I understand your injury. Did you take an impact to below the knee or you landed off something and hurt just below the knee?

I was wakeboarding a few years ago and when I landed my knee gave out and was in severe pain just below the kneecap kinda like you describe. Went to the doc and all and was essentially told to stay off it.. stayed off for 3 months and it was finally better :dunno:

[TorqueDog]

Originally posted by AndyL
So much bad info...

Get your GP to refer you to the u of c sports med clinic - you'll have to get an mri and lots of xrays first... dr wiley is the gatekeeper - see him first then you see the surgeons (if needed). Hands down best place to get fixed up - there's also a world renown ortho guy out in canmore - developed some of the repair techniques that are now standard practice.haven't used him - but my bro/sis did.

Don't do what I did - grin and bear it... typically causes more damage. And you build up tollerances to pain killers - and the nsaids rip your gut to shreds; and put you at higher risk of heart problems down the road... THIS THIS THIS.

When I tore the ACL in my right knee, the doctors at the hospital immobilized my knee and gave me crutches. As soon as I spoke to the sports physiotherapist at the U of C, her first words were "cease use of the leg brace, and use the crutches only for absolutely minimal support".

Fortunately, it was a partial tear and I didn't require surgery. I recovered in a matter of weeks, not months. I used a cane for support, I walked whenever the chance arose, and I swapped my office chair for an exercise ball, and would roll back and forth with my right foot firmly planted on the ground to exercise the joint. I played hockey about two and half months after I sustained the injury.

Had I listened to the hospital doctors, I would have had a much rougher road to recovery by immobilizing the joint and losing too much muscle mass in my calf. A sports medicine specialist will be able to provide far better direction than a GP.

[gyu]

Disagree with Suck it up and be a man, find out what's wrong before doing anything that might make it worse. I 'sucked it up' when I first got a few shoulder dislocations, brushed it off and now I have a really bad shoulder that dislocates easily, and doctors have been telling me to get surgery for it (something physio could have fixed if I knew about it much earlier on).

Send an e-mail to Conrad Tang [email protected] or call him 403-220-7119"

He's doing knee pain research at UofC and if you qualify, he'll treat it for free (if I recall correctly)

[dimi]

Originally posted by gyu
Disagree with Suck it up and be a man, find out what's wrong before doing anything that might make it worse. I 'sucked it up' when I first got a few shoulder dislocations, brushed it off and now I have a really bad shoulder that dislocates easily, and doctors have been telling me to get surgery for it (something physio could have fixed if I knew about it much earlier on).

Send an e-mail to Conrad Tang [email protected] or call him 403-220-7119"

He's doing knee pain research at UofC and if you qualify, he'll treat it for free (if I recall correctly)

I met Conrad @ the fitness centre one day and he helped me out on some knee stiffness that was bothering me. Really nice and helpful guy.

I would recommend putting some time in to strengthen your knees. There is a pdf that was going around called "Bulletproof Knees". Squats really helped me out, just make sure you know how to do them properly, I didn't at first. Spent about 3-4 months doing them before my snowboarding season. Started @ 115 reps, got to about 255. On the first day of the season I smashed knee into a log that was sticking out. So much pain and swelling for 2 weeks, but now its 100%. I think things would have been different had I not been working on my legs.

Definately check for damage first though.

[Z_Fan]

Three letters.

M R I

Get one. At least then you'll know what you've got going on in there. So many things can go wrong. You need to get it checked.

Don't wait either. Get an MRI in the next few days. Will cost you some money, but you sure as hell don't need to wait in the public health line-up for 6 more months.

Several private MRI clinics in Calgary.

[AndyL]

:banghead:

Ok so whats the timeframe on being off crutches after a straight acl tear on an otherwise healthy knee?

(Yeah I'm used to my left, this time it's the right)

Seriously not impressed with being down for a week, let alone weeks...

[ddduke]

Originally posted by ricosuave
"suck it up and be a man"

LOL

That's why you have to take Motrin?

Didn't you know? thager is a rigger, that makes him the manliest and strongest of men (not the smartest).

Sorry I don't have anything really productive to add, I just think thager is a moron.

I have tons of shoulder problems though, physio and tons of stretching regularily helps a ton.