Dislocated Knee - Bad diagnosis?

[stozzaz]

4 days ago i dislocated my knee playing football, i was travelling sideways and when i placed my foot down travelling at speed my knee popped out moving away from my body. by the time i hit the floor it had popped back in, i went to hospital and they said soft tissue damage, i was reading these forums and it sounds as though it could be ligament and medial cartlidge damage. i have pain in the inside of my knee and can't bend it towards my self without being in severe sharp pain at the back of the knee.

any ideas?

p.s. the docs said i would be off crutches in 10 days, is this normal for this type of injury?

[Heidi]

Knee dislocation usually refers to the patella (knee cap) moving out of position, in a sideways direction.

Injury to surrounding structures is not uncommon and may require an MRI scan to determine the extent of the damage. If pain and movement does not improve over the next 2 weeks, push for further investigation into what other damage has occurred.

Use of crutches will vary from person to person but you should try to phase out their use as soon as possible to prevent the knee weakening further.

A rehab program should then focus on preventing the injury from happening again. Strengthening the surrounding muscles and improving balance and proprioception should help.

[stozzaz]

thank you, i have recently seen another doctor for there opinion and they have referred me to a surgeon and a physio for rehabilitation.
my friend is a physio and he thinks it may be a partial tear of my MCL,

do you know how long it will take for a repair of the MCL and what ways can it be repeaired?

[Heidi]

Thats good news!

A meniscal tear can either be treated conservatively (without surgery, focusing on rehabilitation) or can be surgically repaired.

Surgery is usually performed on larger tears, tears which have failed to respond to conservative treatment or in particularly active people. More info on surgery can be found here:

http://www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/cybertherapist/front/knee/medialmeniscus.htm

Good luck!

[stozzaz]

sorry but i meant the medial collateral ligament, just my doc has it worte down as MCL, ligament tear.
got physio tomorrow i will let you know how it goes
thanks

[stozzaz]

i had an MRI scan done on my injured knee and the docs found that my MCL was partially torn and my ACL had ruptured.
i have had an ACL reconstruction done last week and am recoveringg fine so far.
thought ad let you no.

[Heidi]

Hi again!

Just read through the post to remind myself and noticed I misread it when you said MCL (not meniscus).

Make sure you get a lot of rehab on your knee. If the NHS don't offer much it can really pay to see someone privately to get your knee back to full function.

Good luck!

[stozzaz]

the NHS have been really good so far with the rehabillitation, the only thing i am worried about is tht no knee brace was provided as they said i didnt need one. I feel like this could provide extra support just as precaution. would you be able to recommend a suitable knee support?

Thanks