medial ligament injury

On sunday i ran the spartan race and i lost my grip whilst climbing a wall as i fell i was going to one side and ended up landing on one leg and my knee twisted and seemed to pop out and back in with a crunch as i fell to the floor in agonising pain i was sure i broke my leg ! medics treated me a packed my knee in ice and told me to go A&E by the time i got there about 4 hours after the incident there was a slight swelling and it was painfull to walk on or touch the inside of the knee, a nurse done a few checks and i was told it was my medial ligament and to rest for 24hrs, ice every 2 hours and take ibuprofen.

monday was very painfull to put any pressure on the leg and i continued with the ice and ibuprofen all day, tuesday still no improvement so i took another day off work to rest still using ice and ibuprofen but knee was swelling up and was quite a size in the afternoon, taking advice from a physio i put on a sports support bandage and elevated the leg during the night. yesterday and another day off work, i kept the support on all night and day and keep taking the ibuprofen i could walk a bit more freely but stairs cause pain to the inner knee, swelling reduced slightly. today yep decided not to risk work and have another days rest, used support on knee all night and kept it elevated, can walk a lot better but still tender to put full weight on leg and stairs still hurt a bit.

ive read all about the 3 stages of the injury from the slight damage to the fibres to a tear and worst of all a break in the medial ligament, i am booked in to see a very good physio next tuesday which i hope will reveal the damage i am guessing on a tear but i would like to hear from anyone who has had the same injury or anyone that can tell me how long will i be out for ? how long before i can run ? how long before i can do light training such as cross trainer/cycle ? what can i do to maintain my fitness ? what can i do to stop me going crazy

Hi Mark

I injured my left knee in a ski fall in April. I badly ruptured my medial ligament and snapped my anterior cruciate....doh! As long as you haven't snapped it completely then the medial ligament will get better on its own, but may be painful for 6 months. Lots of ice and keep it moving.

If your fall had a twisting component, and especially if your weight was backwards, then you may need to get the ACL looked at. Did you hear a popping sound as you fell? A good physio should be able to tell by doing a Lachman test. hopefully it's in one piece as unfortunately surgery is the only solution if you want to do sports like footie or skiing! I'm now 6 weeks post-op!

Best wishes

Ade

Hi Ade, i have delayed replying until i saw my physio yesterday (she has been sally gunnell's physio for 20 years so she knows her stuff) firstly that must have been one hell of a fall you had ! i hope your are ok and the recovery is going well.

My big worry was i snapped my ACL when i was younger playing football and had major reconstruction as this was the knee that i fell on i was worried that it had snapped again ! but i am pleased to say i have been a lucky boy, it seems i have a grade 1 sprain of the medial ligament in short several tiny tears. it appears the knee went in to shock mode and that is why there was a delay in the swelling likewise only yesterday did a bruise start to show !! with a bit of treatment and ultrasound it already feels a bit better, i have been told to wear a hinged knee brace at work to stop any lateral movement.

I need a few more ultra sound sessions, i have already lost muscle at the back of the thigh ! all being well i could be back on the cross trainer in a couple of weeks and then progress to some cycling. however all being well it will be 8 - 12 weeks before i will be running again although this is going to kill me i know it could have been a lot worse.

Take care and kind regards

Mark

Hi Mark, really pleased you've not done the acl (again!).

My surgeon and physio are both great advocates of cycling for knee rehab. I ended up buying a turbo trainer and setting up my mountain bike in front of the telly!

Hope it all goes well.

Ade