Name That Injury!!! (please)

[passtheblizz]

My knee isn't working right... Anybody know what a good meniscus tear feels like? I basically stuck my toe behind the ball while the other guy, who was huge and an oaf, kicked it as hard as he could. My foot went about 180 degrees the wrong way (to the outside) and my knee bent sideways. I could care less about my ankle, which was already destroyed and will never be any good, but I still need my knees.

My knee will straighten all the way, but it is clicking and binding. When it gets there, it feels hyperextended. The pain is mostly to the lower inside below my patella and also inside the knee somewhere near the front.

I don't think I heard a pop or anything, and there is no real swelling. I can walk but it hurts. I actually played the last ten minutes of the game after it happenned. I am a goalie. If I had to guess based on web research I would say I have a level 2 MCL sprain (streching and some tearing), and maybe some meniscus damage. Do I need surgery for this? I have insurance, but don't like knives.

What does an ACL tear feel like? What movement makes your knee hurt? I am a tough SOB so I have a hard time knowing if I am really hurt. Something similar happenned to me last year too, and I am worried because my knee didn't feel right for months. I think I might have torn my ACL last year and not known it. I took a week off and then I just kicked with my left foot for a while and didn't leave the goal mouth much, and after a while it felt OK. I used to speedskate, so I have real good muscle development in my legs. I almost feel like I was holding my knee in place by sheer will for a while, but I couldn't make certain movements or my knee would give out totally. This ceased after a while. Could I have no ACL and be practically fully mobile?

I am putting this in here because I figure there are a lot of you out there who have messed up their knees. Can anyone give me their thoughts? If I go to the doctor I guess will find out, but that won't happen for at least a while because I hate going to the doctor.

[Grinners89]

Easy way to find out...get a scan from radiology clinic

you couldve just hurt, in lamens terms, your 'fat pad' which is the cartiledge under the patella. if so your knee will hurt whenever you kick a ball with full extension of the knee joint. you can test it by doing a lunge and holding it on your sore knee. If you alter your weight from your toes to your heels you can tell as with an injured 'fat pad', you will feel pain when you hold the lunge with the weight on your toes. Going up stairs would also be a problem with that angle of the knee.

[bufan]

Probably an acl. I waited about a year and a half before I finally had an MRI. Because I waited so long and keep reinjuring it I did some serious damage to my meniscus. And for the last nine years I have had knee problems. The sooner you get it looked at the better you are in the long run. I learned an important lesson on this.

[NHRef]

I've had torn medial meniscus in both knees. The excercise they did to me that basically put me on the floor in pain, during the exam was this:

- Take the "bad" leg and lunge forward onto it so the knee is bent at 90 degrees.

- move your knee in and out.

When I moved my knee in I immediately hit the floor in pain. Felt like someone shoved a knife into my knee just inside and low next to the kneecap.

Pain immediately went away when I didn't do the above.

[passtheblizz]

Yeah that last one hurts bad... I think my fat pad is OK though. I am going to wait another day and see if it gets any better, but it sure is stiff. I am thinking I just streched (tore a little?) my MCL because it hurts when I touch it. Thanks for the ideas. I think I will be going to a Radiologist.

[gmonn]

What does an ACL tear feel like? What movement makes your knee hurt? Could I have no ACL and be practically fully mobile?

I've had two ACL tears. I had pretty good swelling and the knee giving out completely. The doctor confirmed the ACL tear by sticking a needle into my knee and drawing out the fluid. When it was blood he said that confirmed the ACL tear. There's also a stability test they do by pulling on your calf as you lie back with your knee bent. If you have a lot of muscle on your leg you might have more stability than most even without the ACL.
If it's not an ACL you can often have an easy arthroscopic surgery where you go home the same day and recover quickly.