Knee Injury Quiz: Everyone Can Play!

[montanarose]

OK, all you amateur medical sleuths out there (or, even better, professional ones!). I recently sustained a knee injury which, although not skating-related, certainly could have been, so perhaps someone else has been through something like this and can offer some insight.

While on vacation in London last month, I turned my ankle and took a tumble face-forward onto the pavement. My left knee took the brunt of the fall and, within 24 hours, had swollen to the size of a grapefruit (as Dave Barry would say, I am not making this up!). It also began turning astonishing shades of black, blue and purple and, as the next week progressed, the bruising traveled from the immediate area to the back of my knee, down my calf and, eventually, into my ankle. Since I could bear weight on it, I assumed I hadn't broken a bone or torn a ligament so I continued to walk for the duration of my vacation and elected not to seek medical attention -- figuring, for one thing, that dealing with the UK health system as a foreigner might be difficult. I actually walked quite a lot: since I was wearing my pedometer, I know that I was logging 4-5 miles per day.

For the first couple of weeks, I had a lot of pain around my knee and, in particular, my kneecap was excruciatingly painful to even the slightest touch. Now, a month later, the technicolor bruising has finally faded, the swelling is almost gone, and my kneecap is much less tender: I can even kneel on it without experiencing scream-out-loud pain. The main sensation I still have is that my skin is "too tight" (I assume that means I still have some swelling) but I seem to have a normal range of motion.

I'm wondering if I might have fractured my kneecap and, if so, what could have been done anyway? And what, if anything, might that imply for future functioning? I haven't tried skating since the injury, only because I'm having one of those summers that doesn't allow me to take advantage of the limited ice time available.

Thanks, in advance, for any knee knowledge!

Ellen

[Hannah]

I would say if your knee has been hurting for a month you might want to see a doc about it. On the other hand, if it is getting better (and you've waited a month) a doctor might not be able to see anything or help much.

The moving bruise is strange sounding- that would freak me out! Too many horror movies, I guess. :roll:

[Chico]

If I was you I would go the doctor! I fell on my knee once and it swelled to the size of a grapefruit too, really, but I didn't have swelling down my leg or the type of bruising you describe. My injury took forever to heal and I can't even imagine how long yours might. Go to the doctor! You don't want to do permanent damage or something.

Chico

[shutterbug]

Might be this:

http://kneepaininfo.com/kneePrepatellarBursitis.html

If it doesn't resolve completely very soon, you probably should get to the doc.

[samba]

I continued to walk for the duration of my vacation and elected not to seek medical attention -- figuring, for one thing, that dealing with the UK health system as a foreigner might be difficult.

I doubt you would have had any problem as an emergency at all, but that's all I dare say, without people jumping on me.

This sounds pretty serious, as Chico says you really do need to see a doctor.

I know it probably costs where you are but hey you only have one pair of legs and you could probably balance it out a little with the amount of lost ice and lessons, because I certainly wouldnt skate with my leg looking like that.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

[AndreaUK]

HI

Personally I wouldnt have thought that you had broken anything. If you were still able to weight bare and walk on the affected leg then a break is unlikely. You also state that you can now kneel on it and that some of the bruising is going, I would probably suggest that you had a real brad fall and sustained pretty bad brusing but probably nothing more than that.

After injury you are likely to have swelling which can take quite a while to subside, this will make your skin feel too tight and is quite common with this sort of injury. I would try not to worry too much but to be on the safe side its probably always best to go get it checked out.

I went over on my knee two weeks ago, like you, it swelled to a rediculous size and within 12 hours had turned to a fabulous black and dark purple colour. It was very painful but thankfully the bruising has almost gone now and the tenderness is much less than before. Knees hurt like hell so I really do sympathise with you.

Andrea xx

[jp1andOnly]

its probably still swollen a bit, as the body protects it while it heals. Keep icing it and hopefully that will help

[sk8pics]

I'm not a doctor but I used to be an EMT and sometimes people break/crack bones and can still walk. In fact, I had a patient once who had cracked a couple of vertebrae (it turned out) and he had walked across campus with it.

I suggest you should see a doctor. If there was a break, it may not be healing correctly. And if it has healed or is healing right, you may still need some physical therapy or even anti-inflammatories. When I broke my finger recently, I didn't go to the doc for 6 weeks and it turned out to have been broken. The treatment he prescribed at that point did help but I still have some pain, in spite of the fact that it had healed well and in the right position.

Good luck!

[flippet]

The moving bruise is strange sounding- that would freak me out! Too many horror movies, I guess. :roll:

Nah. That's just the blood finding its own way back into the system. It will naturally 'drain' down through the tissues. (I tore my hamstring once, and you could see the horizontal 'line' of the tear, and vertical lines of bruising/blood draining down from there. Ugggly, let me tell you, but nothing to worry about.)

I'd definitely get it looked at now, although I agree that you were probably ok not getting it looked at immediately, being in a foreign country and all. My hubby twisted his ankle doing gymnastics once, and never got it looked at, and it's never been quite the same since, so perhaps you can avoid mis-healing from here on out.

[LilJen]

DEFINITELY go to the dr! If it was a bone break, then as someone else said, it might not have healed right. But those soft tissue injuries (muscle, ligament, cartilage, etc)--they can be really pernicious, hard to detect, and very slow to heal. They can stick around forever if you don't treat them right.

(About 15 years ago, I went to a Dr's office in the UK--no problem at all, no issues--and I'm American. They took me right away.)

[icedancer2]

Nah. That's just the blood finding its own way back into the system. It will naturally 'drain' down through the tissues. (I tore my hamstring once, and you could see the horizontal 'line' of the tear, and vertical lines of bruising/blood draining down from there. Ugggly, let me tell you, but nothing to worry about.)


Basically it is draining downwards because of gravity, hence the travelling bruising.

[ouijaouija]

Hi, I owuld see adoctor, because you don't want to aggravate the injury, maybe there are anti inflamatories you can take to speed it up.

I got a knee injury no way near as bad as yours, I fell right on the right knee so it hurts when I lift my heel up, and its still not healed up, I fell on it again this week so it made it worse.

[iceskaterdawn]

I was able to skate on a fractured knee cap (albeit breifly), and also walked around that day and drove myself home (using the inujured leg for the gas and brake pedal). I honestly thought it was just a bad bruise, until I went into shock later that day and was taken to the ER. I would say that getting it checked out by a doctor would be a wise idea, just to make sure that everything is healing properly.

[skateflo]

Ellen,

I assume you are now back home in the USA. Yes, you do need to see a doctor and get the knee x-rayed and make sure they do a 'sunrise' film. It sounds like you 'may' have fractured your patella, just that the fragments did not break apart. The bruising means that blood vessels broke in the fall and may have ruptured the capsule around the knee allowing the blood to flow downward due to gravity. A torn capsule could have been there prior to this fall - very common with torn meniscus, symptomatic or not.

While it is weeks later, you want this investigated to avoid any further healing in poor position. A fall like you sustained could have partially torn other structures in and around the knee. And yes, swelling does continue for many months afterward. As the months go on and you are walking etc, you make begin to notice other symptoms of the injury - knee cap starts mistracking, pain below (patella tendonitis), or to the side (meniscus tear.)

As you may recall, I did fracture my patella 2 years ago. I was put in a leg brace for one month so I could not bend my knee and let the cracks heal. Four months later I still had pain and another doctor explained that when you have some arthritis in the knee, it reacts differently to trauma than a normal knee. One shot of cortisone and the low grade inflammation totally subsided and I could skate again! But last year the knee cap apparently wasn't tracking right and a whole new set of symptoms took me off the ice again. Apparently the patella developed a bone spur (osteophyte) along the side and this caused the patella to go off its tracking groove. A knee arthorscopy came next to trim the bone, trim the further torn cartilage, and clean out the 'crab meat' (misnomer called chrondomalacia) and put me back on the ice in 2 weeks.

It is not unheard of to sustain a non-displaced fractured patella and still be able to do all that you are able to do at this time. So my recommendation is to get it all checked out now rather than have to deal with un-resolved problems down the road. All, of course, IMHO. Let us know what you decide to do about it.

[ouijaouija]

well my knee isn't seirous but i keep falling on it say once a sessino i go to and it never heals, its annoying. does anyone have anything like this?

other thna that my ankles are constantly aching because i am going maybe 5 times a week but hsould thye are aching? aching like i've over used them, not an actual pain due to injury

[skateflo]

Ellen,

Did you have your knee checked out? Are you better?

[jwrnsktr]

First of all, yes, go to a doctor. You have already waited too long. Second, I did hurt my knee during a very bad fall on the ice and did not go to the doctor, just toughed it out, as you have. Nearly two years later, I had an MRI of that knee for an injury sustained on the ice, and that showed that I had "eggshell" fractures of that knee cap from the first fall. So, it wasn't a bad break, but did show up later and I'm none the worse for wear today. I, however, had very little bruising and swelling, so.......yes, go get some medical advice. You don't want something to plague you later on because you didn't get care now.

[montanarose]

Many thanks to all of you who replied to my original question. No, I haven't yet seen a doc (I know, I know: I should :oops: ) but between my life being even more hectic than usual and my knee appearing to heal so well, I haven't yet gotten around to it. But then, I haven't tried skating yet either so who knows how that will go . . . I'll post an update if and when I finally do get back on the ice.

Cheers,
Ellen

[sk8_4fun]

hope your knee gets better soon, I did mine back in april and I'm still having physio, so you have my sympathy. I really would get that checked out though or you could pay for it in later life! good luck:mrgreen: