I have a knee injury from high school. It happened when I was 17 I am 25 now. I tore my meniscus and partially tore my anterior cruciate ligament after I fell on my knee playing soccer. It was quite painful. I stopped playing sports on a regular basis as my knee was *$#@ed up. I tried playing soccer again about a year later but my knee would get swollen and start to hurt. I opted out of surgery mostly because I didn't have the money and maybe I'm ignorant and stubborn but I didn't think then and I still don't think now that I should let someone cut my knee open as long as I am able to walk. Even if a surgeon does have a P.H.D., they have to pay the bills too. About 2 years or so ago my knee started to ache on a regular basis and sometimes my knee would just flat out start hurting or I could feel it shifting out of place while walking up stairs. About 1 year ago I realized I could take martial arts classes at U.W.Milwaukee and get credit for them. I had always wanted to do this and also felt I needed to be in better shape. I was also concerned about my knee and had read that building muscle in my leg could help stabilize my knee as well I started taking supplements (glucosamine) to try and help fix things even though it was almost 8 years later. I started practicing Taekwondo then tried Capoeira, Wing Chun, Karate and now Kenpo. At this point this is the best decision I have ever made, other than going back to school, in my entire life. I have almost but eliminated any substantial pain in my knee and attribute this to increase of flexibility from stretching and muscle gain from exercise (kicking & weight training). Sometimes I can even run up to 8 miles or so on a cool day. My knee rarely bothers me other than the following: I can still feel it shift in and out of place sometimes specifically when I am running. It seems as though if I stretch (lotus style) first, this does not happen but not always. It usually stops shifting after I have been running for a few minutes but I can't help but wonder the consequences of the shifting even if for a short time? I intend to use a brace but was wondering if anyone had other suggestions?
Stubborn is one word... I can think of a few others that you've no doubt heard from others. But honestly It doesn't sound like your keen to listen to anyone that's going to tell you what you need to hear. If you can't listen to doctors/surgeons then why would listen to anyone on an internet forum? Anyhow... moving beyond that... You do realize that because you opted out of surgery that there is a very good chance that your knee will have problems for the rest of your life... that's got nothing to do with surgeons making money and everything to do with the reality of the injury your knee sustained. When something like the ACL goes (even partially) and you have a torn meniscus... there is some serious damage in the knee. Most of which will scar over in one form or another and will force your muscles in the region to compensate for any weakness you have because of the torn ACL. So essentially it sets in motion a chain reaction of imbalances. Some of which may or may not be affecting you now... but from the sounds of it... your knee still has some real problems because you didn't take care of the original problems when they happened. Your fears about it shifting when stressed in certain directions are well founded. This all too common with ACL injuries. That shifting is often a sign that will eventually lead to more meniscus tears and arthritis in the knee joint. You also run the risk of damaging more of the connective tissue in the knee. I'm guessing if it was an ACL tear, even partial, than your ability to decelerate laterally has probably gone way down. That knee is always going to be a weak link in the chain. Having built it up with weights etc. is a good thing... but it's only ever going to do so much as long as the original damage isn't looked. Whether or not anything can be done about that now I'm not sure.... sometimes scar tissue if left too long does funny things and makes correcting problems very difficult. The knee is one of the more complex joints we have and the ACL does a whole lot in terms of limiting range of motion (again back to the deceleration issue) . It doesn't sound like your keen to have anyone look at it let alone go to surgery or for that matter even a physio therapist. So your options are limited. I'd stay away from any sort of rapid deceleration or loaded deceleration on the knee... I would also stay away from any sort of rotational or sudden pivotal movement that places stress on the knee. All of which you can find in martial arts... but again... it's going to be up to you to judge just how far you can push it. Misjudge and you'll blow your knee... that's the reality of it. It's not functioning at 100% no matter how much you want to believe that and how far your running. Good luck and at least go see a physio and have the do an assessment. They will most likely be able to show you very clearly in a visual manner just how much weaker you knee is than the stable one. They can recommend a course of strengthening that will get you closest to 100%. But really... try some new reasoning... that whole bit about the surgeon having bills to pay isn't really the best logic ever when it comes to a knee injury.
No money = No surgery! I didn't really want to turn this into an argument about modern medical science. However, I wasn't trying to imply that I have some overbearing mistrust for doctors. The main reason is MONEY. I don't have it and I don't have health insurance. So, how much does knee surgery cost $20,000? More than that? Knee surgery even therapy isn't a practical option for someone who has no money. And no if someone on this forum told me eating shark poop would fix my knee I wouldn't go out and eat shark poop just because they said so just like I wouldn't let a doctor slice open my knee without a second doctors opinion. And if the surgeon cares so damn much about how I take care of myself then how come he failed to mention something like weight training and stretching can help stabilize it and literally stop it from hurting? I also realize that even after surgery I still shouldn't be running but since I am stubborn and a few other suggestions you can think of I would probably run anyways. I was kind of leaning towards if anyone wraps their knee, uses a brace etc.. what do they do?
acl reconstruction hello there. i had a similar problem,eventually had the knee op .takes about 6 months to get fit again. if you have damaged/streached ligaments ,they may settle down.but will never be 100 % ,my only advice is to keep ypur ham strings in good order and avoid sharp turns .good luck whatever you decide
took me 2-3 months...but i'm like a natural wolverine. woohoo for genetics. so, here's the deal. i had torn miniscus and acl tear about 2 yrs and 4 months ago. i had knee surgery 2 years ago this month. surgery is the best option for a tear, ask any doctor or exercise science person and they'll agree, main reason=ligaments don't heal on their own. even w/ the surgery it still won't be 100% again(i reinjured my knee about a month ago, and it was my quad this time). it can lead to possible injuries of other ligaments or muscles. now, as you were saying, if you don't have the money or health insurance, there's basically no way to have surgery. you just need to avoid exercises that put a strain on your knee(like leg extensions, they told me i'll never be able to safely do that again, but i can get back into powercleans and such). work on squats, leg presses, balancing, lots of stretching. i'm not gonna recommend running, altho that can be the best thing, but if you are anything like me, you play alot of sports. if you do run, avoid cutting and watch for potholes as it is easier to hyperextend your knee. basically strengthen the knee and specifically vastus mediallus. read this thread: http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=71901 oh, and btw, i forgot to add, the way i reinjured my knee is making a cut in a football game, and i was wearing a brace, so just because you have surgery and wear a brace, doesn't mean you can do whatever you want. yeah, i keep thinking of something else. go to a local orthopedic place and get a brace that supports the ACL. its gonna be alot more expensive than a brace @ walmart or academy, but you'll get alot more support.
I did my ACL in my right knee 8 years ago and am yet to have it operated on. I went to my own doctor who's a sport specialist and he refered me to a specialist for an evaluation. Came back total tear in ACL with only very minor damage to meniscus which they though would heel without help. I was advised that surgery was not required as the knee was stable and I was able to do all tkd kicks with pain after about 8 months. I was told by both to keep fit and keep good muscle balance around the knee joint. I will likely to need to have the knee operated on as I get older but current medicals give no indication to any weakness in knee joint. (Can do pistol squats with that leg on the stability ball at physio's!) I think I am lucky and take more care of what I do now. I was 25 when the injury occurred still recovered well. For you, it is best if you understand exactly what is damaged which may take a MRI scan and then you can work out what to do. If your are in pain running and moving around after a few years you should at least consider surgery and save towards it. The operation for the ACL is about $12k Australia and I don't see why it should be much more expensive in the any western country. This covers the op & immediate post op stuff. Physio and follow on treatment may come out more on top but not any significant amount unless something bad happens. Good luck with it anyway. Angry
I did get the MRI. I have a torn meniscus and a partialy torn ACL/super extended (?) something like that but the ACL is still in tact but damaged. The doctor said the meniscus wouldn't heal all the way do to lack of blood vessels. He said they could put something in there to try and stabilize it with a couple of surgeries. My insurance wouldn't cover it. I no longer have insurance anyways. The biggest part is that I can feel it shift slightly while moving around in general but typically when it gets pressure from the sides because the meniscus isn't there to hold it in place. I have been using a brace and it has all but stopped the shifting, excellent! Hopefully the brace works for a long time but you never know.
if its a good quality brace you should be fine. just let your body tell you how far you can take it. if you don't feel comfortable or if its unstable doing something, just stop and try to figure out how you can get around it.
if i were u i would try anything i could to try and get the money for surgery to fix it properly because otherwise ull probably just have it feeling ok with a brace or something then hurt it again and damage it much worse then possibly not be able to fix it properly, if surgery is not even an option no matter what then i would just not put alot of strain on it i would rather give up sports and just find other hobbies then push through pain and ruin my knee to the point that i may not be able to walk when i get a little older
Man, you sound like me, three-fours years ago So, speaking as someone who now has a fully torn ACL, if you arent going to take the route your surgeon suggested due to a lack of cash then at least do what others here suggested and see a good physio, it will help.
