I know this IS NOT the place to really go asking advice/treatment for a knee injury, but hey, what the heck. Early this year I tore my MCL completely in half, although it didn't need any surgery, it took a while to heal. The entire football season in fact ( grumble grumble ). It's been about 10-12 weeks since the injury, about 8 from the point I started working out on it. Now, for those three weeks I've worked out it's been a little off an on, but fine most of the time. I seem to have bad knees as it is, or I could just be growing, I am still only 17. But today, playing a little with a basketball my knee started hurting. I'm thinking it could be two things: 1.) My foot was hurting in the morning,probably from running the track the other day, and the way I was walking all day threw the alignment out of my knee just enough to make it hurt whenever I cut or moved quickly off of the right foot. In this case I'm thinking rest this weekend and see what's up on Monday.or..... 2.) My legs have been getting really strong since I have been working out, but I haven't tested my knee in anything but lateral movement. The strength I've gained in my legs the past three weeks has made it too difficult for my knee to take the force I can output through my legs moving from side to side. Or, I just haven't been doing a lot of lateral movement ( other then in martial arts ) and my knee still needs more strengthning, which I plan to do anyways. Anyone out there with a professional opinion ( blessed samurai ? ) about what is going on and what I should do. Take not that I will not listen to you if you tell me to stay off of it and not do any more, lol, I'm a thick headed teenager who wants to mess himself up for life. Any help is appreciated. Sparkle, sparkle
I'm curious...you tore your MCL but you didn't tear anything else? Did you have an Xrays done? I take it you saw a physician? Did you rehab it under the guidance of an athletic trainer or physical therapist? If you're having pain again, it's not completely healed. You could possibly have bursitis or capsulitis. It's even possible that you might have a slight fracture that's getting worse with usage. Have you tried icing and compressing the injury site when it aggrivates up? The problem could be inflammation due to proliferation of connective tissue or tissue degeneration or repeated microtrauma. A full healing of any ligament (specially the collaterals) may require up to 12 months. The difficult part is knowing when and how to progress relative to the injury. Are you using a knee brace to protect the MCL? Anytime that you have pain after activity, you need to rest, ice, compress, and elevate.
Yes I saw a physician, with the catscan and everything, and yes I did physical therapy and everything. We stopped going towards the last two weeks because it was more like a recreational workout then anything, even the therapist said that I probably didn't need it. We never made it to the last visit to the physician because of my dad's work schedule that day, and they never rescheduled us. I was seeing the knee physician dude for the University of Florida, and he checks out all the athletes problems and whatnot. My knee has been fine, and it has felt a lot better after a night of rest. I think I will start wearing my knee brace again though, just to be safe. That and chill out with trying to play any basketball : P. How I tore my MCL all the way and didn't need surgery . . . this is what the guy told me " about ten years ago they would have performed surgery, but it doesn't need it, it'll heal on it's own. " I think I may have just tore it in a place where it didn't need surgery? I'm not a knee physician so I don't really know. I'm glad I didn't need surgery though! I didn't tear anything else because I'm just a lucky fellow I guess. My injury was funny though, it never got swollen, even at the start, and it doesn't seem to hurt right where the MCL is at, it's more of the area between the MCL and the front of the knee. I haven't iced it and elevated it because there has been no sswelling. Is there any exercises that I should be doing regardless for both legs to strengthen my knees. I think the problem may be just that I'm growing, because both knees are bothering me ( just the right one the other day though, and it was a little worse then what the left would be ) and when they bother me like that I usually sprout up an inch or two. That's how it's been in the past anyways. I don't really know what to do or say, I guess I'll just rest it up a couple days and see how things turn out.
