Torn lateral collateral ligament...

fudgey

Has anyone done this before?

While at mountain mayhem this weekend i managed to do this, no not from a spectacular off...

I was getting out the tent to go and do another lap... Must have twisted as i stood up.
It took the medical team over an hour and a half to manipulate my knee from the locked 90 degree position and my god i have never had pain like it before!
one of the medics was also a sports therapist and she said she could feel a tear, went to GP yesterday and i have to phone an orthopaedic specialist tomorrow and go from there.

I done similar last year but no where near as bad as this and eventually had an MRI, but it was about 4 months after the injury.
I called BUPA yesterday to enquire about paying for private consultation etc and you dont get much change from £700 just for a diagnosis, and over £5k if an op is needed. I simply dont have that kind of cash so its back to the good old NHS

Has anyone torn their lateral collateral ligament before?
What is the typical recovery period and what if any procedure was needed to fix it?

My knee is quite swollen now and incredibly painful pretty much all the time.

Bugger

Cheers, Dan

KheSanh

Ouch.

I’ve snapped my cruciate ligament off of the bone which the surgeon discovered when removing torn cartilage. It’s still snapped but doesn’t cause me much grief with the cartilage fixed and I’ve done loads of strengthening/control exercises over the years. If I could turn back time I’d get surgery after the first time I did it but saying that I also did my left knee once as well but it’s been 100% fine.

If you strap the knee, elevate it and ice 20min on 20min off for the first 48hrs you can really minimise the swelling. So if you haven’t already I’d get knee properly strapped with a large compression bandage, it will also feel a lot stronger when bandaged and less sore. Get ice on it for the next couple of days and elevate it to try and get the swelling down.

Tell the NHS that you do a manual job and hopefully you will get prioritised so you can get back to work. If there is any doubt how bad it is really push for surgery otherwise this could be an ongoing issue for you by the sound of it.

Recovery really depends on what needs to be done.

Good luck…

fudgey

Thanks for the input mate.
when i done it, everything was soo tight, muscles etc that they advised not to strap or ice it.
straight after the manipulation i went into the tent next door and had a leg massage, and that guy even commented that everything around my knee was rock hard although he did give me some ice that i used until it melted.

i came to work yesterday, and am here again today - my job is a mix of manual and sitting down and i must admit i was struggling a little earlier, but sat down again now.
i was advised to keep moving, and after an hour of sitting down it takes a few steps to ease a little.

i cant fully straighten my leg yet but they did say it would take a few days, and it also now hurts to bend beyond a point as the inner part of my quad has swollen..

at home i have it raised but didnt ice at all yesterday, probably too late now but i will when i get home today.

thanks again bud, hopefully i wont need surgery but you never know. your injury sounds worse so its good to know you can recover well from things like this!

keef66

Funny how knees are often buggered by twisting in the most innocent of situations. I tore my cartilage while watching my son playing football; just turned round to retrieve a ball that had gone out of play and crunch! Felt like I had bits of Lego in the joint.

Luckily I had BUPA through work, and a bit of keyhole snipping and tidying sorted it out.

Ligaments I think are a different matter...

sungod

your knee may now be weaker/unstable, whatever you do, be careful not to cause further damage...

after the gf's ankle injury and 'recovery' there followed about a year of us commenting on how her ankle was still causing here to stumble sometimes, then she found out the true reason the hard way by having a trivial mis-step where her knee twisted, a&e sent her home saying it's sprain, rest it and come back in 6 weeks

i pushed her to go private this time (on her insurance), mri etc. showed she had massive damage to four ligaments in her knee, they said one of them was a prevous injury almost certainly missed when she'd hurt her ankle and it had made her knee unstable/vulnerable to what happened this time

now about 8 months later she has had major reconstruction to repair and graft in ligaments, months of crutches/brace and now physio, also advised the knee will be weakened/restricted the rest of her life

don't get fobbed off, push for sure investigation/diagnosis/treatment, knees are complicated

fudgey

Thanks, yes this time around i am prepared to play up and be a pain in the ass!
i first done it back in maybe 2008/2009 in a previous job, i had been squatting a while working on a machine and when i stood up un aided ie without holding on to anything it went, was working on my own and after about 15 mins was able to walk etc.

then it was fine until last year, i done it about 3 times in 2 months, the final one being the worst it had ever hurt but after going to the doctors and hospital, having x rays, mri scan etc they said they could see nothing wrong!
i deffo have a weakness so this time i will try my best to get an mri asap. at least the gp yesterday referred me straight to an orthopaedic specialist and not the hospital like last time.
fingers crossed its not serious, but knowing me and my usual run of luck it will be!

fudgey

Phoned this morning to make an appointment and the earliest i could get was the 8th july, with all treatment after at Gloucester royal. i live near swindon but they didnt have any appointments anytime soon, and they didnt find anything wrong last year.

and so it begins...

fudgey

Well seen the knee specialist this evening and good news kind of..

He thinks i have not torn any ligaments. Instead he thinks i have an abnormal knee joint allowing my femur to twist as it bends, either the meniscus is moving forwards and the joint is locking, or its twisting and locking...

Downside is that it not a 'normal' injury and will possibly need surgery.
Upside is he said i should be ok to cycle, but leave the mountain bike in the garage.

Hopefully ill have an mri within the next 7-8 weeks...

I also got him to look at my hip as that is tight and im wondering if that has anything to do with my knee problems, so once the knee is sorted he said they will look at that.

So as soon as it stop hurting ill test the water and get back on the bike

fudgey

Well, the MRI appointment has come through for the 3rd of August, and the follow up appointment for the 2nd of September.

So a few more weeks of waiting to see what is actually wrong...

fudgey

A little update on this is if anyone is interested.
Had the results of the MRI this week and they showed no tears in and ligaments or the meniscus, no bone abnormality or damage or anything that requires surgery. It is still a bit swollen, and there is some fluid in the joint in various places however.

So that was good news at least.

The next step to look at is my hip and the lack of movement with it. Had an xray while i was there and have been referred for another MRI but this time it requires a dye injection into the joint, not pleasant at all apparently.

So as my knee shows no signs of anything wrong, but it keeps dislocating under certain conditions its possible that my knee is overcompensating for the lack of hip movement until it gives.

The specialist rotated my hip joint etc and it moved less than 20degrees when he tried outwards, so something is clearly wrong. The other side is all ok...