Wellsy's knee recovery thread

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This might be of use, especially the bits about sewing, and painting toy soldiers ::)
 
Day 3 - feels better today though still unstable and weak. Swelling is almost gone. Keen at this point to know whether I'll need surgery, hopefully not. But definitely hurts a lot less and feels stronger than before.
 
Just on the MRI thing, you will need one for sure, and it should be quite quick in NHS. I’m almost 6 weeks down from dislocated patella and had one within 4 weeks if injury, which is quite good considering that any surgery for me would be to prevent recurrence, and would have nothing to do with regaining functionality short term.
 
I've got an appointment with the knee clinic at Northern General in 3 weeks so hopefully that'll include a scan.
 
They'll probably refer you for a scan after that appointment so you might be able to get in touch with whoever you're supposed to see ahead of time and get a referral early.
 
Moo said:
They'll probably refer you for a scan after that appointment so you might be able to get in touch with whoever you're supposed to see ahead of time and get a referral early.

I'll probably look into that. Thanks!

Day 4 - leg use is much better. I can walk around at home without crutches, and with increasing confidence. Definitely still pain if the knee tries to bend too much and valgus pressure pushing the knee in feels like it would be very unstable. I'll avoid trying to diagnose through Google anyway, but feels like if I could have confidence that won't happen then I would be way more functional. Knee brace here we come! Although I'll wait until seeing the SCC, see what they say.

In line with the advice given I've been trying to use it and ice it regularly. I also did some upper body training today, I'll be fingerboarding too, and I'll try to work out safe core exercises soon too.
 
Man it's so good. Best FS game ever. I think its a bit more forgiving than Bloodbourne cos you can just run the fuck awayyyyy if you get in too much trouble. Just dicking around in Limgrave.
 
Day 6

Went to the Sheffield Climbing Clinic to see James. He was really good, turns out the LCL diagnosis was duff as expected (not that I blame them hard to look at in A&E) and that what I definitely have is a grade 2 MCL tear and a very slightly possibly impinged ACL.

MCL no surgery just loads of rehab, no climbing for about a month post injury, probably about 12 weeks to get it nicely rehabbed up apparently. The ACL seems very minor and could just be inherent laxity as my left knee is also very loose. The plan is to rehab the MCL and see if any ACL symptoms pop up. If they don't cool, if they do that would need surgery but won't get any worse in the meantime and we can get to that when we get to it. It is the view of James that he would be surprised if I do need any surgical treatment.

So yeah a serious MCL injury but fixable and far from the worst case scenario. All in all somewhat positive, could be way worse and much longer out.
 
How the fuck did the hospital mis-diagnose that given that LCL and MCL are pretty much polar opposite injuries and the tests are polar opposite movement tests (and really easy to do)?? :???:

I feel that I healed better from my MCL injury than from the LCL, even though the MCL seems to be stressed in a wider range of movements. I could certainly do "front-pointing" along the lower part of a circuit board fairly quickly (i.e. far too quickly for my then golfer's elbow).
 
Lord knows. I guess it is hard to diagnosis stuff in A&E.

Also yes I'm comforted in having the most basic bitch of ligament injuries.
 
Fiend said:
How the fuck did the hospital mis-diagnose that given that LCL and MCL are pretty much polar opposite injuries and the tests are polar opposite movement tests (and really easy to do)?? :???:

When someone's knee is acutely painful and swollen every movement hurts. Diagnosing is not easy. It's maybe better not to try but everyone expects to walk out of A+E with a name.

Wellsy, this is all sounding promising. I'm not sure an MRI will be needed, it's mainly a surgeon's tool and as you seem to be improving fast you'll hopefully avoid this. Function should be your guide: if your knee feels stable it doesn't hugely matter what scans show. Usual caveats on the worth of free advice over the internet...
 
Wellsy said:
Lord knows. I guess it is hard to diagnosis stuff in A&E.

Often those working in A&E (Dr's & nurses) have only a basic understanding of MSK non-bone injuries. Always take A&E findings with a pinch of salt in this regard.
 
Wellsy said:
Lord knows. I guess it is hard to diagnosis stuff in A&E.

Also yes I'm comforted in having the most basic bitch of ligament injuries.

It seems hard to diagnose stuff even at leisure. 15 days after I smashed my wrist, I had follow-up X-rays and was told by the radiologist (and later by my GP) that they showed nothing. Weeks later, after continued pain encouraged me to go private, a consultant saw the same X-rays and told me they clearly showed an avulsion fracture and implied a torn ligament, which was confirmed by MRI. I didn't really lose a great deal to be honest - the injury wasn't exacerbated, I just lost a month I could have spent re-habbing - but a bit annoying!
 
Okay that's fair enough about the difficulty and vagueness of A & E. I was speaking from experience with my physio diagnosis that was so easy: Bend the knee inwards, no increase in pain -vs- bend the knee outwards, immediate increase in pain and too much flexing in the knee (and I assume this would have been directly the opposite with the MCL).
 
I went to Bradford A and E after crashing a Go Kart and they said the pain in my back was whiplash and take some paracetamol. The next day I went to Leeds A and E and they said the same thing. The next day I went to a chiro who took an x ray and told me what the problem was.

When he saw the x ray of a massive wedge compression fracture in my thoracic vertebra the consultant at least had the decency to go pale.

So no, A and E don’t always pick things up.
 


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