Knee Injury Options

statto25

I reinjured my knee yesterday and it is in a worse condition today.
I will obviously need some medical intervention. Most people have recommend a&e but I am more inclined to go to a physio that was recommended to me. If I do go to a&e it will be xray, diffene and come back if it doesn't get better. Whereas I feel the physio would take more notice to the injury and be able to diagnose much better.
I am trying to be a vague here without falling into the medical advice route.

Hanley

statto25 wrote: »

I reinjured my knee yesterday and it is in a worse condition today.
I will obviously need some medical intervention. Most people have recommend a&e but I am more inclined to go to a physio that was recommended to me. If I do go to a&e it will be xray, diffene and come back if it doesn't get better. Whereas I feel the physio would take more notice to the injury and be able to diagnose much better.
I am trying to be a vague here without falling into the medical advice route.

GP > MRI referral > Consultant

If the damage is done, physio intervention is probably going to do very little.

My biggest issue with physios is that they seem to think everything can be solved with physio. If something's torn, prodding it ain't gonna reattach it.

statto25

Hanley wrote: »

statto25 wrote: »

I reinjured my knee yesterday and it is in a worse condition today.
I will obviously need some medical intervention. Most people have recommend a&e but I am more inclined to go to a physio that was recommended to me. If I do go to a&e it will be xray, diffene and come back if it doesn't get better. Whereas I feel the physio would take more notice to the injury and be able to diagnose much better.
I am trying to be a vague here without falling into the medical advice route.

GP > MRI referral > Consultant

If the damage is done, physio intervention is probably going to do very little.

My biggest issue with physios is that they seem to think everything can be solved with physio. If something's torn, prodding it ain't gonna reattach it.

I cannot put any weight on my leg at the minute so something is not right. I am visiting my gp shortly so hopefully he will understand the situation. Too many times have I been in a&e with someone or for myself and they go through the xray and painkillers, come back again route.

Hanley

statto25 wrote: »

I cannot put any weight on my leg at the minute so something is not right. I am visiting my gp shortly so hopefully he will understand the situation. Too many times have I been in a&e with someone or for myself and they go through the xray and painkillers, come back again route.

If it's a recurring injury, presenting the same way each time, and severly limits your ability to do stuff - something is definitely wrong. Don't just accept what your GP says, TELL them you want a referral.

There's very little they can do in a&e to treat or diagnose stuff like that. Most injuries need a settling in period of 24-48+ hours before they can really be diagnosed properly. a&e is just about making sure you're not gonna die and relieving as much pain as possible.

If something is serious enough to land you in there, chances are it'll need further treatment.

Good luck with it!

calfmuscle

Sorry to hear about your leg injury, you might be best to head into a and e just to get crutches and brace to protect the injury and make sure your not making it worse. You might be able to get into an orthopaedic clinic quicker as well. Most hospitals have clinics a couple of times a week where you can be seen by a consultant or their reg.

Ant11

If its that bad tell your GP to give you a referral letter for an MRI, that's what I did. I explained that I'd previously wasted my time with all that x-ray crap n wanted an MRI as it was obvious my injury was internal in my knee. My knee was that bad I paid to get my MRI done private(within a few days) as the public waiting lists are a joke and I had my results back in no time.

statto25

Thanks for all the advice guys. I'm just back from A&E with an appointment for orthopedics on Monday. It took some arm twisting to get that appointment as they wanted me to go back to my doctor to be referred. I had a letter stating I needed to be referred but they said that they couldn't do anything with it. I also have a letter for an MRI from the doctor so if the clinic on Monday gives me the run around I have that as backup. My knee is pretty bad to be honest. Its taken some fairly major hits over the past few years and yesterday it gave up. I can't see my repair being a quick process but here goes finally.

Brewie

Sorry to hear about your injury.

Reading through this reminds me so much of my Knee injury and the constant putting off of physio/GP.

In the end I got fed up with the Physio (multiple visits with zero benifit).

Went to my GP, he stretched my knee and I nearly hit the roof with the pain. Booked me a MRI appointment (private health insurance), had it done a week later. Results back and booked into the knee specialist in the Sports Injury centre near/in Tallaght. That consultant was brillant. Had me in for surgery with 6 weeks. 18 months later and I'm nearly back 100%.

Biggest regret is not forgetting about the physio and just getting my ass to the GP. Do not hang about and push push push for that consultant appointment. Any good GP will see you are in pain and get you a referral/appointment quickly.

Best of luck!!

statto25

Brewie wrote: »

Sorry to hear about your injury.

Reading through this reminds me so much of my Knee injury and the constant putting off of physio/GP.

In the end I got fed up with the Physio (multiple visits with zero benifit).

Went to my GP, he stretched my knee and I nearly hit the roof with the pain. Booked me a MRI appointment (private health insurance), had it done a week later. Results back and booked into the knee specialist in the Sports Injury centre near/in Tallaght. That consultant was brillant. Had me in for surgery with 6 weeks. 18 months later and I'm nearly back 100%.

Biggest regret is not forgetting about the physio and just getting my ass to the GP. Do not hang about and push push push for that consultant appointment. Any good GP will see you are in pain and get you a referral/appointment quickly.

Best of luck!!

Cheers. I'm just back from the ortho clinic. MRI in a couple of weeks and then it's a waiting game. Unfortunately I don't have health insurance so my process will be a lot longer. My injury was a result of a soccer incident a few years back and has been very weak since, resulting in a complete failure last week. I am going to start swimming and cycling in the next week once the pain dies down.
You say it took 18 months before you were 100%. Was that because of the severity or was your recovery just that long?

statto25

Sorry to bump this mods, I just want to provide an update.....

I had my MRI two weeks ago and met with the trauma consultant this morning. As suspected I have torn the medial ligament on the left side of my right knee which will require surgery. The bonus prize is the fact that ACL is my right knee is also completely torn and that was done 2/3 years ago!?! I am absolutely gutted. I am being referred to the surgeon and they will look at my options. I have already started doing gym work with particular emphasis on cycling and swimming to try and build up the muscle. Anything else I can do in the meantime? Is it worth going to a physio now or just wait on the surgery consultation.

Ant11

statto25 wrote: »

Sorry to bump this mods, I just want to provide an update.....

I had my MRI two weeks ago and met with the trauma consultant this morning. As suspected I have torn the medial ligament on the left side of my right knee which will require surgery. The bonus prize is the fact that ACL is my right knee is also completely torn and that was done 2/3 years ago!?! I am absolutely gutted. I am being referred to the surgeon and they will look at my options. I have already started doing gym work with particular emphasis on cycling and swimming to try and build up the muscle. Anything else I can do in the meantime? Is it worth going to a physio now or just wait on the surgery consultation.

If your going to have an operation there's not much a physio can do for you now. I done my ACL before, there was nothing left on the inside of my knee bar torn tissue. I had 2 tendons taken from my hamstring which made my new cruciate. My advise would be to get your legs as strong as you can before your operation (obviously without hurting yourself further). This was a huge help for me with the recovery.

statto25

If your going to have an operation there's not much a physio can do for you now. I done my ACL before, there was nothing left on the inside of my knee bar torn tissue. I had 2 tendons taken from my hamstring which made my new cruciate. My advise would be to get your legs as strong as you can before your operation (obviously without hurting yourself further). This was a huge help for me with the recovery.

Cheers for the advice Ant. I have already started by using the stationary bike and swimming. I used to cycle a lot which has also built up the strength in my legs. What did you do yourself exercise wise to build leg strength bar what I've mentioned. Would light weight exercise be a no go?

froshtyv

Sorry to heat about your knee injury's.
Youll want to make sure that your in as good a shape as you can be before your surgery. This is because of the muscle wastage that will set in after surgery. Def dont rush trying to get back to playing sports. Im just after tearing my ACL again, I would recommend weight training. Everyone is different when it comes to the severity of their injury but i never has stability problems or pain during lifting. Heavy squatting and lunging were good for me. If the surgeon is going to take a hamstring graft to fix you ACL, then do hamstring specific exercises to build your hamstring as well. After surgery you really want your quads and hamstrings to be strong for when you go back playing sports. They will help protect your knee from re injury.

statto25

froshtyv wrote: »

Sorry to heat about your knee injury's.
Youll want to make sure that your in as good a shape as you can be before your surgery. This is because of the muscle wastage that will set in after surgery. Def dont rush trying to get back to playing sports. Im just after tearing my ACL again, I would recommend weight training. Everyone is different when it comes to the severity of their injury but i never has stability problems or pain during lifting. Heavy squatting and lunging were good for me. If the surgeon is going to take a hamstring graft to fix you ACL, then do hamstring specific exercises to build your hamstring as well. After surgery you really want your quads and hamstrings to be strong for when you go back playing sports. They will help protect your knee from re injury.

I appear to be heading in the right direction so. In terms of sports, I used to play soccer and hurling but due to work and injuries they went by the wayside. I am a runner and do a bit of cycling also so my goal is maintain a level of fitness before and after surgery and then be ready for next summers racing.

Ant11

statto25 wrote: »

If your going to have an operation there's not much a physio can do for you now. I done my ACL before, there was nothing left on the inside of my knee bar torn tissue. I had 2 tendons taken from my hamstring which made my new cruciate. My advise would be to get your legs as strong as you can before your operation (obviously without hurting yourself further). This was a huge help for me with the recovery.

Cheers for the advice Ant. I have already started by using the stationary bike and swimming. I used to cycle a lot which has also built up the strength in my legs. What did you do yourself exercise wise to build leg strength bar what I've mentioned. Would light weight exercise be a no go?

I used weights, the way I saw it was my knee could hardly get any worse considering the state it was in. I couldn't squat but I used the leg extension machine. I had a knee op on my other leg years ago and I didn't build up my leg before the op, it wasn't as severe as the ACL but I was actually off crutches quicker after ACL op because I had put a lot of time before hand working my leg. The rehab after the ACL is a different story though, it does take a good bit of time. I would definitely recommend listening to the Physio after the op and do your exercises everyday, it definitely helped me to a quicker recovery.

statto25

Just a quick update on my injury....
I had an operation to rebuild my ACL and shave off torn cartiledge today. Surprisingly I have had little pain. I have been kept overnight just for observation but at the moment I am pretty comfortable. There is a morphine pump attached to my I.v if I need it overnight.
Tomorrow morning physio and then the real pain begins! Surgeon said my knee was in bad shape but was very happy with the acl build.
Thanks for all the advice I got here. I will keep updating as I progress through rehab.

Ant11

Best of luck with the rehab.

nice_guy80

best of luck mate
never think about getting back playing anything
worry more about having a decent knee for the rest of your life

statto25

Just met with Physio. Given two basic exercises to do. My movement is very good and I can walk albeit with some help from crutches pretty well. No pain at all so far. I have been taken off the morphine and I'm now on tablet pain killers. Physio was very surprised. Looks like 3 months of nothing but bike, swimming and squats have already paid off.

nice_guy80

statto25 wrote: »

Just met with Physio. Given two basic exercises to do. My movement is very good and I can walk albeit with some help from crutches pretty well. No pain at all so far. I have been taken off the morphine and I'm now on tablet pain killers. Physio was very surprised. Looks like 3 months of nothing but bike, swimming and squats have already paid off.

good man
getting yourself in good shape before the operation is as important as the rehab
I was told by my physio that once the wounds had healed up, cold water therapy help reduce inflammation and improve flexion
I basically went and stood in a lake everyday for 20 minutes for about 3 weeks. did the trick

double GG

Good to hear you're feeling well after surgery.

I had knee surgery (Half of my Lateral meniscus removed, and repair to some of it) 2 and a half months ago. I haven't done anything since it happened 4 months ago. It's tough to take,not playing and all but it has to be done.

Even watching the lads playing football is pretty hard to take but it's life. I have no idea if or when I'll be back, depends on how the next 3 months ago and how I feel myself.

As said above I'd rather be able to walk okay 25 years down the line when I'm 45 than to play again and really do it in again and need knee replacements or whatever.

best of luck with your rehab! I know your pain!

froshtyv

Glad to hear the op went well,

Who did you get to do your knee?

Hoping to get booked in for surgery again in January.

Sounds good that the work before the op paid off, Cycling and squatting at the gym is all ive been doing for the last while