Knee Injury Questions

[MrLuckey]

I hurt my knee this past weekend, I haven't been to a Dr. (I won't go unless I absolutely HAVE to). I plan to wait at least 4-5 days before making the decision to go or not. My question is for people who have had various knee injuries - describe the damage you did, what it felt/looked like etc.

nothing on the back side hurts at all or seems to be in question. My quads are sore as heck along with the muscle that runs down the outside portion of my leg (knee down). They all feel like the were stratched/bruised but not too much more than that. Knee area and about 6" down has some swelling but no real visible bruising. The bones (in front) just below the knee hurt like you know what. My knee joint seems to be solid (no play in any direction). My initial feeling was a bad hyper-extension along with bad sprain (maybe class 2 but definitely not 3). I can't put hardly ANY weight on the leg though and I can't even come close to straightening it out all the way. I also can't really bend at the knee, just barely enough to reach all the way down to put on a sock (its a struggle).

FYI - Its been 2 days and I have been icing, compression and trying to keep it elevated as much as possible.

So what do various knee injuries feel like? ACL MCL joint problems, fractures. I doubt I did any ligament damage but am wondering if I have a fracture below the knee.

 

[WoodsRider]

Eddie - If you have insurance, go see a doctor. Everytime I've sustained an injury that I decided to shake off it took twice as long to heal and didn't heal properly. My four broken toes is a perfect example (see photo gallery). I still cannot bend my big toe and all four healed crooked.

 

[KiwiBird]

Go to a doc.

I'll second Woods - if you tough it out, it'll take longer to heal.

 

[MrLuckey]

Sarge and I went over to KC to ride with BigLou and Thunder33. Jamie and I were kinda play racing until the first turn, I saw his rear tire slide out a bit and dove inside of him, we swapped a little plastic in the corner and just barely got in front of him THE RACE WAS ON :) When we got to the second section of whoops he was about 3 feet behind me and we were only a few feet apart, the KTM surprised me when I let the front drop into a whoop that is deeper and longer than the others, bounced me to the left a bit and slowed me down, as that happened he was passing on my left, bars tangled a bit but his got by/through mine and we both thought we had managed to avoid a crash - next thing ya know he is going down pretty much in front of me and I am going down. Can't tell you much after that, it was bikes and body parts flying all over the place.

I have insurance - If I go in, how should I say I got injured? I am not very familiar with the particulars of my insurance, does it matter?

 

[WoodsRider]

I was riding my bicycle... I was coming down the ladder... I slipped on the ice (don't use this one if you live in a warm climate)... My dog tripped me while I was walking down the stairs... I went out drinking and woke up the next day with this terrible pain in my ???... I finally decided to try rollerblading and...

 

[KiwiBird]

Stairs and dog or just stairs.

 

[23jayhawk]

I'm not in the med profession, but my own experience with a couple broken wrists and recently a few metatarsals is first real heavy swelling within about 12 hours of the injury. Then pretty bad bruising within about 48 hours. I think the body begins the healing process by flooding the area around the injury with blood.

Definitely would suggest going to the doc if you don't know. Especially if its bone or joint related, since time can be a big issue in how it heals.

 

[plykins]

I agree, go to the Dr. I have fractured my left tibia at the knee twice. It was many years ago, but as I recall there was a lot of swelling & I definitly could not straighten it. Both times it had to be drained before casting it. Had to have surgery on it this year to smooth it up & clean it out. So what ever you do, take care of it now!

 

[Thump]

I tell them I was excercising, riding my bike.... Call it a 1/2 truth.

 

[Excman]

I'm recovering from a Shatzker Type III Lateral Tibial Plateau fracture and a torn meniscus. (7 wks w/o weight bearing and 4 off work gave me lots of surf time!) I hit the inside of my knee (medial side) on a tree when my bike hopped down a sidehill. There was enough force to compress the "socket" of the tibia on the outside (lateral) 3/16 or more. In the process, the cusion between the Femur and tibia (meniscus) was also torn. The doc cut loose and lifted the joint surface back up, packed the void with bone "croutons" and screwed on a plate to hold everything together. He also stitched up the meniscus.

Why all the detail? Less than a week after the injury at my first doc visit, the joint was still very swollen and my leg was black from mid thigh to mid calf, but I could support full weight when the doc asked me to try and it really didn't hurt all that bad. Had I not gotten it fixed, the joint would have been unstable and the internal structures would have been damaged from the uneven surface and instability, and the meniscus would have gotten worse.

The pain is an indicator, but there's no substitute for a good orthopod! I'd try to find a good sports medicine practice. Ask a local college or high school who they use.

 

[MrLuckey]

Thanks for the advice guys, I have an appointment with an Orthopedic and Arthroscopic / sports injury specialist for Monday morning. I'll let you know what I find out.

 

[WaltCMoto]

years ago I crashed snow skiing and had similar symptoms. Mine turned out to be torn cartilage. Scope surgery, outpatiant deal, crutches 1 week, then weened of and no crutches in 2 weeks. 8-10 weeks back to normal.
Good Luck Eddie

 

[rickyd]

Definately go see a Doc, about 10 years ago i broke my arm on a saturday morning while riding my jetski.. I waited til monday morning to go see a Doc (was up camping having fun, didn't wanna see a Doc) anyways, 10 years later and i still can't properly straighten my arm out.. Good luck w/your knee..
Rick

 

[MrLuckey]

Well just got back from the Dr. and have no broken bones or fractures. He said there is most likely bad bone bruising, some cartiledge and meniscus damage. He recommended giving it a week or even two to see if it improves. If its still bothering me after that he will do an MRI and said they'd most likely scope it to clean everything up.

 

[Rooster]

Very cool! Sounds like you'll be okay soon! Glad to hear it. :cool:

 

[yz250-effer]

Hmmm let me think - the tib fib were turned in about 15 degrees towards the other leg and part of the femur was trying to come out the inside of the knee. And of course it felt like someone jammed a railroad spike into the knee joint. Other than that it felt fine.
GOOD that you went to see the doc. - always the smartest thing to do regardless. Even a true ortho doc would have an impossible time tying to diagnose something over the web. Good luck with a speedy recovery!:)

 

[oldguy]

Eddie that is good news- glad it came out this way. Keep it elevated and iced when you can and Motrine or Alieve are great for relieving the inflamation.

 

[AndrewAdkins]

Hi, A little over 8 weeks ago I crashed going over a tabletop and dislocated my left knee tearing 3 ligaments (MCL, PCL, ACL), the menisucus (cartiliage) and dislocating my petella. It is 8 weeks out of surgery this coming friday. It was a doozy. All the doctors here locally (Huntington Wv.) all looked at me like I was a work of art. They all said "Never seen one that bad" I dread those words. So the recomended me to Cinnccinatti. I had one of the top 3 Orthopedic Surgeons in the country. Dr. Noyes. (He told me he raced pro-am in his other lifetime) I'm not kidding and I am so greatful. By the way I'm 17 and ride A class here locally (B AMA districts) Should be getting off crutches in a week or so. The Doc said it would be about 9-12 months before I could ride again. I know Doctors exaggerate but even the therapists tell me that. Since I had the best work done to my leg I guess I'd better listen. I do not want to go through 9 1/2 hours of surgery again :(. At first I said I was never going to ride again but its my motivation in life, to get better and everything. Oh also the Doc's (I had 4 Orthopedic Surgeons work on me) had to take a piece out of my left leg tendon for a graft. So I got 2 bothed up legs. Any ways I want to say this, for you guys with minor injuries thank your lucky stars, I look back and I do. Always ride and don't have fear of getting hurt so you will enjoy it to the fullest. By the way I was in 2nd place last lap and it was muddy and I kept on overshooting the tabletop so I let off at the face to shorten the distance but ended up whipping a 180 and couldn't bring it back. My bike is a 02 yz 250f and the bars, clamps, and forks are bent. I plan on getting a 03' KTM 125 to get more agressive when I get back to riding. Ride hard, Andrew

 

[WaltCMoto]

Ill keep my fingers crossed for ya Eddie. Is GSR laughing or pissed at ya?

 

[MrLuckey]

Originally posted by WaltCMoto
Ill keep my fingers crossed for ya Eddie. Is GSR laughing or pissed at ya?

:) Neither really, but she shook her head when I told her about Lou, Jamie and Sarges plan to care for me Sat night after it happened. For some reason she thought a visit to the hospital would have been more beneficial than beer, whiskey, an ice pack and Alieve.

 

[oldguy]

Since when did she get a medical degree. ;)

I think their treatment was as good as the ER saying elevate it, ice it, take alieve, and see your Dr on Monday- same reason I waited til I was home from DW before going in.

 

[MrLuckey]

Originally posted by oldguy
Since when did she get a medical degree. ;)

I think their treatment was as good as the ER saying elevate it, ice it, take alieve, and see your Dr on Monday- same reason I waited til I was home from DW before going in.

It was actually the 'second' Monday when I finally went to see the Doc :) Don't wanna just rush into things ya know.

 

[CR Swade]

Hey Eddie, hope all is healing well. I took a grade 2 MCL tear in October about 2 weeks after DW. I gave it an honest six weeks before any serious riding. The trip? Whiterock. With a knee brace on and what I thought was a tight knee came a painful, swollen mess that gave back out the second day of riding only 3.5 miles into the trail.

The lesson here? Give it plenty of time before going at it hard again and make sure to do the rehab exercises that they prescribe. I guess the docs and therapists do know a thing or two... :confused:

Hopefully teh knee will be ready for the WUDI ride and the enduro down @ Whiterock in March

 

[AnneBrooks]

OH NO, Eddie!!! That sucks! Ok, you and GSR know I got hurt--but here is how it felt----like a water balloon breaking inside my leg. Then immediate swelling and bruising. ABSOLUTELY no weight bearing. In fact, one night after my MRI, but before surgery I could not get my leg under the covers and thought if I swing my leg out and then throw the covers up, I could get it under the covers. Well, the femur stayed in place, but the bottom 1/2 of my leg swung out loose from the rest. I had severed my MCL (the largest and most broad of the ligaments) and there was nothing to hold it. Talk about PAIN!! I screamed and woke Bob up and scared the crap out of him!! LOL....Anyhow, it is possible you tore a ligament or two but only an MRI will be able to tell that. If you cannot put any weight on it, there is definitely something wrong. Get in for an MRI and make sure your Ortho is VERY GOOD at what he does. Also, pray for a scope. Invasive is no fun. Let me know what happens!

P.S. Looks like I will have to make a trip down there so that GSR has someone to ride with now!!! Or better yet,,,she can come to Oklahoma with me!!

 

[MrLuckey]

Thanks for the info Anne, I remember you tore your knee up pretty bad. The doc said the ACL/MCL was all good. There isn't any extra movement or looseness in the knee. I am putting weight on it and walking close to normal now. I can't walk very much though and there is pain in and below the knee ALL the time. X-Rays were all neg but he sounded almost certain that there was meniscus/catriledge damage. I have found recently that my kneecap seems to be kinda loose and even makes grinding noises/sensations even when just driving down the road and hitting small bumps. Its looking more and more like arthroscopy is going to be a must, I think now its just going to be a matter of when I decide to do it. I was really wanting to do a few rides in late Feb but I am not sure if I will be able to ride at all without the surgery but I'm also unsure if I had the surgery next week if it'd be healed by then :(
Doc recommend waiting a week or two before MRI ....its been a week now since the doc visit, two weeks since injury.