Knee Injury

pheasask

About a month ago I injured my knee playing Soccer. I am not sure exactly what is wrong with it, got x-rays, and an MRI. I go back to the doctor in about a week to see the results of the MRI and exactly what is wrong with it.

Now my question is going to be since its painful to run, walk long distances, pivot on it at all, go up/down stairs, and really pretty much any movement is painful and I dont want to injure myself more. Does anyone know of any good exercises I can do to keep me active. I have not tried riding a bike yet planning to try that in the next day or so. Any information will be greatly appriciated.

Thanks,
Scott

mittencat77

A number of years ago I had a devastating knee injury from running long distance. I was running downhill at the end of a 22 kilometer run and suddenly 'ouch.' Two days later, tried to run and it felt weird. A year of costly physio and 'learn to run' groups. Was not getting better and it hurt so much at night I had trouble sleeping. Also took lots of Advil and ended up developing an allergy to it that almost killed me....fortunately, I live across the street from a hospital. My throat was closing. Finally mri said torn meniscus and doctor said we will do the surgery and you will be running again within a month of surgery. I was thrilled. Running was my life. When I woke from the surgery they told me that I would never, ever be able to run again. I have something called a chondral lesion right at the knee joint. Bone was just chipping away with impact. No cure.

The injury was in 2007, surgery in 2008. After I was determined to lose the weight I had gained. But no impact. So....stationary bike, rowing, elliptical, weights, swimming...though strangely that can hurt, sometimes spinning but that can annoy it, hiking uphill....no down...I live in Vancouver...we have the grouse grind...brutal up, gondola down.

I wish you luck. I thought my knee injury would ruin my life. It is still a bit of a drag not to be able to run. I see elderly people running all the time and wonder why my body could not hold out. But I have learned to find other things. Take care!

pbrinnm

How about running in water. Will help keep your running muscles strong, but the water minimizes the pounding on the joints. Either run in place or run across the width of the pool. The deeper the water the more cardio benefit because more of your arms will be under water. I've used this alternative to running twice because not running makes me grouchy. Wear water proof shoes (e.g., Tevas or some type of shoe that is used in water) if you need some foot support.

I've had two knee injuries and both times the pain I've had walking on dirt or pavement has disappeared in the pool. The worst part was the pain of climbing the stairs to get in and out of the pool.

good luck.

kimbtaylor1

I haven't had a knee injury but I did go this with my ankle. I would recommend taking it easy on the knee especially considering you don't know what is wrong with it yet. Keep to low impact stuff for your workouts!!!

Once you know what is going on your doc should put you into therepy where you will do different things to regain your strength and range of movement. But it is best not to try to do too much right now as you don't want to hurt it worse.

GiddyupTim

Why not just wait for a week, find out what you have, and follow that prescription?
The doctors tend to be pretty liberal in what they allow. But you can hurt yourself, and your knee, worse if you have a meniscus tear or a cartilage problem and you do the wrong thing.
I am a former soccer player. Tore my ACL. Had it repaired, and they repaired my cartilage and meniscus (a bit) at the same time.
I am a bit surprised that they did not tell you what kind of an injury you have based on the physical exam, and your description of the injury. They usually have a pretty good idea, before the MRI.
I did not have much pain from the ACL rupture. I had a lot of swelling. I did, however, have much pain going up and down stairs do to the cartilage defect.
Good luck.

pen2u

Good luck to you. I hope you can resolve this w/o any loss of the activities you love. I agree you should take it easy until you find out what you're dealing with.

According to my MRI I'm dealing with a torn meniscus right now, and apparently my age is a factor in determining treatment (they want to alleviate my pain and teach me how to adjust to my injuries rather than fix the problem.) I ride bikes, take boot camp classes, lift weights and hike. No running, lunging, twisting or pounding. Physical therapy starts in a couple of days. When the pain flares and my knee swells I use rest, ice and an anti-inflammatory herbal supplement called Xyflamend.

pheasask

Thank you everyone for all of the great Ideas. As I recieved a disc of my MRI and compaired it to a MRI of a non injured knee. To me it is starting to look like more of a cartilage problem. As I am not a doctor I am not positive of this. I have been taking it easy with the no impact stuff, but it seems to be making it harder for me to put pressure on it anymore. This could be due to the fact I was just used to the pain it was causing, and now that I have been resting it I am not used to that pain anymore. I really appriciate everyones ideas. I will certainly have to try the water running I have heard good things about it before.

jreckart2003

I have a meniscus injury and am currently doing physical therapy, which helps. Also, I have done water aerobics 3x/week which causes very little pain. There are a few things that I can't do (because it hurts) but otherwise I find it helpful. I am slowly recovering and looking to add more options to my workouts. Oh, and the phys. therapist said, when going up and down the stairs): Up: step with your good leg and DOWN with your bad leg. This will minimize the strain on your knee. Feel better and good luck!