Anyone a doctor?

\/\//\KE B()/\R|)ER · Criminal Joined: 12 Sep 2006 Posts: 65

Is anyone here a doctor? If not, I’m sure that quite a few others here have had similar injuries as myself.

Obviously I will not know the extent of the injury until I go to the doctor but wanted to get some advice in the interim.

Anyway so I was on the lake for the past 5 days and knowing my luck screwed up my knee on day 2. I was just planning on doing some big w2w and trying to throw a backflip or 360. Never got to that point however.

We had 3 large people in the back of the boat and the wake was uncharacteristically large. I hit the wake and got more pop than expected. I started to do a raley. I felt my board go behind my body….Obviously I did not want to do this. I tried to bring my board back under me but could not get it all the way under in time and came down on my right leg bent. It felt like a blew my knee as all my weight came down on my unprepared right (lead) leg.

I have never had knee problems before and thought for sure that I tore something. Rested and iced for the next couple days. The leg started to get better. I can put weight on it and walk normal. It only really hurts if I bend it too much (40 degrees) or straighten it out completely.

I am thinking that I just sprained it but wanted to see if anyone had any ideas.

As far as pain it hurts the most around the back of my knee and the bottom left of my patella. It gets agitated most when I sit for extended periods. I tried wakeboarding very cautiously Sunday with a knee brace and it was ok. I didn’t really do much though.

So….anyone have an speculation? I figure since I can walk normally and what not I didn’t tear anything. I most likely sprained it. If that is the case is it worth a trip to the doc’s? Or should I give it a week and see how it feels?

Thanks for the help.

ontrider · Ladies Man Joined: 30 Jul 2003 Posts: 16491 City: Russia

I'm not a doctor, but I used to play a surgeon on a Soap Opera, so I do have extensive medical knowledge. My advice would be to rest your knee and see a professional doctor that has gone to a real medical school. Not like Dr. Nick Riviera or anything, or WebMD.com. Get like a real person that knows about doctoring people.

Chattwake · Posted: Jul 09, 2007 10:47 am Post subject:

Get it checked. It's probably ok, but I had the same type of injury and rode on it for a while before getting it checked. In the meantime, I sprained it a few more times. Turns out I had torn my ACL and had been damaging the cartiledge in my knee riding without getting it fixed. I had surgery last year to have it repaired and it was a biatch - but the right decision. I just tweeked mine last wednesday and it swelled up a little and hurt around the outside of the joint. Knowing what I know now, I believe all I've done in a small sprain. There is a simply movement exercise that my ortheopedic surgeon showed me to check your acl. it's not 100 percent accurate, but if you sit with your legs resting at 90 degrees and grab the top portion of your calf muscle and push forward and pull backward, you should get some movement at the knee where your lower leg shifts forwards and backwards a few centimeters. Check your good leg first and then try the injured one. If the injured one is much looser than the other then you've probably torn your ACL. Mine was a drastic difference. My doc told me mine was torn in less than five minutes from just doing that test. Don't know if this helps but good luck!

--cresko-- · Soul Rider Joined: 03 Dec 2006 Posts: 496

Ironically theres a doctor sitting 5 feet from me.. Smile

I let him read your post and he says without taking a proper look at it he cant say much, but the fact that you iced it and were able to walk in 2 days is a good sign. Is your knee cap in the proper place? Is there an visible swelling? If so you MIGHT have ruptured your patella, but that is extremely unlikely because your walking and its getting better.

Basically the pain in your patella from sitting is a magnfication on the pain due to the mechanics of your joint. Therefore you do not have alot to worry about. Your patella might be slightly off track due to inflammation, so rest and ice is your best bet and you should be fine, as well you can try taking some asprin.

spyd4r · Addict Joined: 22 Apr 2006 Posts: 701

i had a similar injury, either from a hard landing or a wipe out i took, still not sure what did it. by the time i go back to shore I could barely walk.. (Wednesday June 27th)... I was feeling a bit better by Saturday and went riding... bad idea... aggravated it again and hurt for a few more days. its now about 2.5 weeks later and i was able to ride all weekend with minimal discomfort, I feel its coming along nicely. Time to hit the gym and maybe start strengthening my knee again.

impulse · Addict Joined: 13 Jan 2003 Posts: 807 City: Snyder,TX

Good luck with the knee.

I have decided to go to the dr. I was out over the 1st and trying to land a backroll (out in the flats, not on purpose) I came down and saw my right leg lean against my left leg, but my right knee cap was on the right side of my right leg. It looked terrible and Im still not able to put my heel all the way down. I also have a really big lump on the bottom right side of my right knee. It is really tender and I dont really know what the dr. is going to tell me.

I have a cruise set for Aug 18th that isnt looking too good.

H20orSnowLetsGo · Posted: Jul 09, 2007 5:04 pm Post subject:

///KE B()/R|)ER, It could be anything for an ACL, PCL, MCL, LCL ligament sprain, tear or at least partial tear, a torn meniscus (either torn or partially torn). Very unlikely, but always possible given the description of how it happened could be fracture of any of the four bones in the knee area, or even a chip fracture, etc on the posterior patella. Only an x-ray can rule that out.

With the only being able to straighten to about 40º, I'm leaning towards of a meniscal injury/tear (the soft cartilage part in the knee that is a cushion between the bones).

Obviously w/any injury swelling is normal. Keep on icing it, elevating the leg, and take an anti-inflammatory such as ibuprofen 800 mg three times per day or Aleve, two 220 mg pills twice a day as long as your stomach tolerates it. Can also take Tylenol at same with above for pain.

As long as there is no numbness, tingling or other neurologic symptoms, I'd say it's safe to wait things out a week or so and see if it improves. If so, then maybe it was just a bad strain/sprain on the ligaments.

QNev · Posted: Jul 09, 2007 9:42 pm Post subject:

Good luck with the knee, bro. It just sounds like a sprain if you can walk on it alright. In your downtime, just try strengthening around the knee in the gym or whatever. Just keep it moving.

A little trick I learned after a few lucky nut slaps from messed up double ups where the board went behind is to just take it into a dive if you know you're going to fall. Just bail out and don't fight it. Fighting leads to injuries.

Chattwake · Posted: Jul 10, 2007 4:24 am Post subject:

When I tore my ACL, Medial and Lateral Meniscus I could walk on my knee the next day. It was just really really swollen. I don't think that just because you can get around OK that you should rule out a serious injury. You definitly should get it checked out. What's a $30 co-pay anyway....

SeaLyon · Posted: Jul 10, 2007 4:52 am Post subject:

ontrider,

dpcj2 · Newbie Joined: 15 Sep 2006 Posts: 30 City: Burlington

There are some knee injuries that seem to heal but can leave lasting damage that can cause later problems. An example is an ACL tear. The characteristic report I have heard from patients is that they fall skiing and hear a "pop." They have some pain but expect to have more. They are able to ski down the mountain and go home. They get some major swelling and pain that goes away and then they feel ok and walk ok. However, their knee is actually much less stable. Some people who play sports at serious levels where they only go in a straight line (ie spinters, etc) sometimes choose not to have it repaired. However, anyone who needs to have more stability (basketball, soccer, skiing, etc) have repairs done using one of several methods chosen by their ortho surgeon.

I would reccomend bringing it to your doctors attention. He can do some simple physical exams to check the stability of the ligaments in your knee. (ie. anterior drawer for ACL and valgus/varus for MCL and LCL, etc) If warranted and physical exam suggested damage, he would likely order an MRI.

For something like an ACL tear, the risk of leaving it be are that you will have a less stable knee and risk further injury in a situation that normally wouldn't result in damage. MCL and LCL would likely be more noticable injuries. For something like a torn meniscus, leaving it to be could result in osteoarthritis after many years.

Always best to bring injuries to your doctor's attention...

Hope this helps.

\/\//\KE B()/\R|)ER · Criminal Joined: 12 Sep 2006 Posts: 65

appreciate all the help.

The knee is starting to feel a little better but obviously not normal.

There is moderate pain when i sit down and when i bend it completely back or extend it completely.

I will make an apptmt for the doc and at the least have him do their stability tests. I play basketball regularly and the last thing i want is bad knees.

jpminter · Posted: Jul 10, 2007 11:05 am Post subject:

Sounds like it MIGHT be a torn meniscus. You're showing some of the same symptoms that I did.

H20orSnowLetsGo · Posted: Jul 12, 2007 9:41 pm Post subject:

///KE B()/R|)ER, What did the doc say? Update us.

Chattwake · Posted: Jul 13, 2007 4:20 am Post subject:

Diagnosis: Puss-itis, it's terminal.

Bambamski · Posted: Jul 13, 2007 4:57 am Post subject:

ontrider,

I thought you were going to say, however I did stay at a holiday in last night

impulse · Addict Joined: 13 Jan 2003 Posts: 807 City: Snyder,TX

Well I got my mri results in and I tore my ACL and my MCL. I am having surgery on thursday and hope to be on the board soon. Good luck with you guys, and I hope no one else gets injured.

jpminter · Posted: Jul 17, 2007 11:16 am Post subject:

Chattwake · Posted: Jul 17, 2007 11:17 am Post subject:

Ack! Welcome to the club. Hate it for you man. I tore mine in May last year and had surgury in July. I was about 50% after two months and 75% after 3. Even now though, I'm only about 95%. Do you know what graft you're going to use? I had the hamstring graft instead of the patella tendon graft and I recovered much quicker than my friend did. We had our surgeries on the same day so we could lay around and eat pain pills together.

impulse · Addict Joined: 13 Jan 2003 Posts: 807 City: Snyder,TX

I had the surgery yesterday. They used my hamstring as well. I am pretty sore today but its good to have medicine. After I tore it before I had it fixed, I was surfing.
The worst part of surgery for me is the anistesia, it always makes me sick. I puked all day yesterday and now Im feeling better. Again I pray you guys dont go through this.

\/\//\KE B()/\R|)ER · Criminal Joined: 12 Sep 2006 Posts: 65

vette74 · Posted: Aug 28, 2007 1:02 pm Post subject:

I have been there and done that. I took 9 months off of wakeboarding because it was misdiagnosed and I kept refracturing it.