Please read! I’ve fucked my knee

[Orangemare]

Has anyone ever sprained or stretched their knee before? How long did it take to feel normal again?

i posted on here about 4 weeks ago (ish) when I fell off my horse. For context- I still don’t know quite how it happened but my leg caught caught in something (I think in the stirrup leather) and I ended up dangling from my horse from my knee whilst getting dragged as he bolted. Eventually my leg become untangled and I fell off (which was actually a relief not to be dragged anymore.) I don’t know if it was the falling or the twisting of my knee that damaged it but maybe both.

my knee was so painful afterwards. I knew I hadn’t broken or dislocated it so I didn’t go for help immediately but I did after almost a week and was told I had strained or stretched it but it should resolve itself . There wasn’t much bruising or swelling

But it’s been 4 ish weeks now and it’s still so sore and stiff. It doesn’t hurt to walk on but when bending or straightening it it feels SO tight. It also gets stiff so quickly so after sitting down I can’t straighten or bend it and have to hop about until the seized feeling passes. It feels so tight and seized when I try to either bend or straighten it and it still doesn’t feel right. I’ve soo started getting the same tightness and pain and seized feeling down the calf and lower leg which is new since the injury

sorry for the long post! Has anyone ever injured their knee and have any advice? Starting to worry I’ve completely fucked up my knee and it won’t ever go back to normal!

oops- should have added the word ‘up’ in my title, I’ve accidentally made it sound like I’ve literally fucked my knee😂

I’ve never ever injured my knee until now so I have no experience and don’t know if this is normal or not with it! I sprained my ankle a few years ago and by week 4 didn’t have any significant pain with it but not sure if the knee is different

It’s starting clicking a lot now when I bend and straighten it although I’ve only realised that the uninjured knee does that too so this might not be a new thing since the fall.

Funnily enough I did last Friday. You need to see your GP. You will probably get referred to orthopedics and may need imaging such as MRI to see soft tissue damage such as ligaments or meniscus. Worst case scenario is key hole surgery I think. Physio probably needed at the very least.

My knee was never the same again after bending it sideways on a dry ski slope jump as a teenager. Sorry. But now I'm older, general degeneration has caught up to the point that the difference between my knees is unnoticeable, if that's any consolation.

Years ago I slipped and fell on a hard floor but as I fell my knee twisted and I ended up with soft tissue damage.

Twenty years later it will suddenly but not often just go, but I was only in pain for 6 weeks or so at the time- tubergrip didn't help massively but I had one. Has the hospital not given advice?

Have you seen a doctor or a physio about it? It can take 6 weeks or more for that kind of injury to heal up, but getting a physiotherapist to have a look at it could be a good idea.

I have injured both my knees in the past (skiing etc) and although they eventually settled down, now I am in my 50s I am finding they have weaknesses and can seize up after relatively minor twists and so on, but exercise really helps, and a physio could help you with targeted exercises. Worth paying for an assessment with a private physio if you can (£50-ish).

I fell really hard straight on to my last June. Hands full of stuff, couldn't break my fall and all my (quite considerable!) body weight went straight through my knee on to a tiled floor. It was very painful. I never went to a doctor, just decided to leave it. Couldn't lift my leg without pain for ages... even stuff like taking shoes and clothes on and off was difficult. You use your knee so much more than you realise! I was only able to start kneeling on it in without real pain in January. It still hurts slightly to properly bend it and isn't as 'free' as my other knee, but it's at the point I don't really notice it anymore. So to cut a long story short, 6 or 7 months recovery time. So much longer than I expected! Sorry! Having said that, walking and running was actually okay within a couple of weeks. It was the bending and lifting my leg that was awful. The knee is weird!

Did you go to the physio?

Because I think I remember your previous post and fairly sure I wasn't the only one who advised you to.

Go see a physio, it could be ligaments.

I strained my medial ligament in September. I'm only just feeling like I can walk down the stairs properly now.

Sometimes these things can take a long time to heal.

My advice is to see a physio and actually do what they recommend.

Ice it several times a day. Do the exercises from the physio. I think I did t move my knee enough and shouldn't have rested it for so long. It got better much more quickly when I started exercising again.

Yes I went to a physio (private) and a doctor (nhs). They both said it would resolve itself soon and definitely wasn’t a break/dislocation. They said after a few weeks people don’t usually feel the pain and tightness as badly

As pp have said, go to a physio.

Had one after a skiing injury - best £50 I ever spent.

The quicker you see a trained professional, the quicker you will start getting back to normal.

Sorry- xpost.

I would go back to a physio.

Ligament damage can be much more painful than a break and yes can take months to heal but you should be advised on strengthening exercises to support them and the joint.

Also, if you're not using that leg properly as a result, you could be lining up wonkiness elsewhere.

Not normal. I do two sports where knee injuries are very common. Minor injuries go away with a week or so. It sounds more like you have some kind of tear, you can look up ACL or meniscus tears as those are both very common.

The NHS waiting list to get those repaired takes forever too so best get on asap!

I would get that knee MRI'd. In the meantime, are you using Voltarol gel on it? That helped my knees after I fell on them badly. Knees are tricky buggers and can take ages to heal, and I think doing physio without actually knowing what has been inflamed or torn inside is not helpful. Hope you get answers and relief.

I'm following because I'm in the same position. Four week wait for NHS physio. I think I might go back to GP because it got better and then worse again. It's really getting me down.

I am currently 6 weeks into a quad injury that's really dragging on so I get it! I've seen two private physios and both said and did different things so I don't know what to think. I've paid for an mri which I'm having on two weeks and was not cheap but I figure it's the only way I'm going to know what's going on.

I damaged my knee by overuse climbing a very long staircase. It swelled a lot and was very painful for ages afterwards. I assumed the cartilage was damaged and that it was buggered for good.
It took years to recover, but it's now absolutely fine, apart from being bigger than my other one.
Joints take absolutely ages to mend; so much longer than you'd think possible. Just don't put any more pressure on than you absolutely have to. Repeated damage causes bone changes.

Did the physio give you exercises?

Not quite the same but when I broke my ankle the ligament damage was the slowest and most painful bit. After the bone had heeled it took a year before I could put my foot in a heeled shoe and 2 years before I could run without pain. The physio takes seemed so small and like they couldn't possibly be helping but they really were and you need to do them every day.

Go to the doctor or a and e. Get an xray. They can then decide if you need further imaging such as mri to detect ligament/ tendon damage. I work in hospital...you need to ask the professionals.

A&e?!?! Why? It's not an emergency FFS.

At this point, you need an MRI to see what is going on. I would go back to your GP and ask for a referral to a consultant. Damage to the cartilage or to one of the internal ligaments (e.g. ACL) very rarely heals due to the lack of blood supply and the locking feeling you describe makes it sound like it is more than just a simple strain.

I did my knee.
I had MRI - torn ligament and snapped ligament.
No surgery advised in my case.
Needed to have brace at bent knee shape until tear fixed then lots of physio - every week for 16 weeks until my snapped ligament, which had attached itself to something sturdy, was stretched back into normal bending range and my walk was back looking usual.
I don't feel it now but I did for a while and sometimes when it's very cold it aches.

Skip the GP. Go to a physio. They can refer for MRI if needed. But they’re the experts in fascia, ligaments etc so likely would have a very good idea of what you’ve done.

I forgot to say that I sought care from a clinic that delt with top footballer's knee injuries. They saw many knees.