Knee problem still after 5 months

[Westwood85]

I posted a few months ago regarding my knee and the 'Medial Ligament' injury I sustained. Too cut a long story short,I was playing football,Knee popped followed by excruciating pain when turning,went to A&E and they did some tests and diagnosed the above injury.
Toward the end of November I went to the doctors as I was suffering from slight knee pain or apin around my quad muscle where it meets the knee, after getting up from kneeling or from driving for long periods,also suffering from my knee buckling from time to time.
It has now been 5 months and Ive only just started trying to run again although the knee was still feeling like it was going to give way from time to time,any ideas if the injury was more than a Medial ligament injury?
Any help will be much appreciated,also im looking to go to the doctors in feb to see what they think or if i may need an MRI scan.

[Heidi]

Hi

The knee feeling as though it will give way can be a sign of the medial ligament injury you have described, although only on very serious cases, e.g. full if not close to a rupture. With this severity of injury there would be considerable bruising and sweling at the time.

If not, then a cartilage tear should be investigated. This will take an MRI to confirm, although there should be certain tests that your Doctor can do to indicate if this is the case.

You can find out a bit more about it here:
http://www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/cybertherapist/front/knee/medialmeniscus.htm

It could have even been both injuries together, this is not uncommon

[Westwood85]

Hi,
As posted I said i would go to the doctors in feb, this I did,He referred me to see a specialist at my local hospital. After being assessed, well instantly while doing one of the standard tests infact, the doctor said I have a damaged ACL and recommended that I get reconstruction surgery due to my age, or that I may aswell look to change jobs and give up hope of playing football again.
Altough Im not to fussed about the changing of jobs I would like to play football again so i agreed to the surgery, Trouble is although I have been told what to expect im still not sure about things like the recovery times and stuff?! If anyone could tell me their experiences that would be great.
Thanks

[grinder]

That's what Tiger Woods had, look into what he went through. He was out for a season I think, and seems to be back up to full speed now.

[Heidi]

Hi
ACL reconstruction usually puts people out of action for between 6 and 9 months.
Following the operation it is now encouraged to get the knee back to normal as soon as possible, so there is no longer a period of immobilisation. Usually you will be partial weight bearing in a couple of days (crutches etc) and full weight bearing within 2 weeks. Then you have a rehab program to get you back to full strength.

You can find out some more here, we have recently added an interview with top surgeon Richard Villar about ACL reconstruction, well worth a look!

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