Son injured his knee in football....

[Jim Oaks]

Anyone here ever had a knee injury?

Monday September 8th my son was at football practice when someone fell against his right knee. He was hit from the side. He came off the field in tears.

Took him to the emergency room Wednesday and they did an x-ray and said he sprained it. He was on crutches until Saturday night. Friday he went to his regular doctor who wanted him resting it but didn't feel a MRI was needed yet. My son is 11 and the doctor says kids his age are resilient. It concerns me though because I've heard of kids his age having physical therapy for knee injuries.

It's not swollen and my son says sometimes it pops when he moves it. Doctor says it's just from some fluid.

Sometimes if my son trys to walk on it and bend it, he says he gets a stabbing pain.

It sucks because he can't practice and can't play in the upcoming game.

My biggest concern is what could be wrong with it, how long it's going to take to recover, and what exercises he'll be able to start doing for therapy.

 

[crawlin91]

I completely tore my acl once, which obviously needed surgery and lots of therapy. hyperextended it on a landing while riding my dirtbike....ouch I also broke that same knee above the kneecap when I was in 2nd grade. Both injuries I would consider pretty major but I have no problems with the knee today....besides a little pop and click from time to time. Ive had plenty of sprains and broken bones in addition to that. Im not accident prone just active. Follow the docs orders carefully, and when he is able the best thing to do is stretching and strenghtening exercises. Start with low impact stuff and gradually increase the workload or intensity of things. But the doc and therapist should tell you everything you need to know. If they dont, ask! and it never hurts to get a second opinion

 

[ns_red7]

I've smashed both of my knees up pretty good in my 27 years. Biking, motorbiking, dirtbiking, rugby, skiing, wrestling, falling off stuff, getting burned doing dumb things etc. Never broke my legs but did sprain my right knee once, which was verified by a doctor... but there's been numerous times when medical attention would have been a good idea but never happened and my knees are a little stiff at times but still work good lol. Stretching is the key to recovery he'll be sore for a while but he'll be ok in the end is my bet.

Get some ace bandage and google how to tape a knee up. Ibuprofen will help with the swelling and pain. If it's not feeling better in 2 weeks or if it gets significantly worse, or if that stabbing feeling starts being more frequent he should see the doc.

Hope he's up and running, on the field again soon.

 

[kevinsranger]

i have busted up my knees plenty of times, motocross racing, skateboarding and bmx jumping, but the pain went away, lots of noises even still years later when bending them, but a few weeks ago i went white water rafting, fell out of the boat and hit my knee on a rock and that pain wont go away at all, if i move it wrong the pain comes right back.

 

[keith0486]

i used to hit my knees all the time when i rode my bike and every now and then ill hear it crack but i haven't had any major problems besides it hurting when i try and get up if im crouched down for a while.

 

[motohead771]

Jim, get your son the MRI. When I shattered my ankle riding motocross, the first doctor that saw me said it was a sprain. I got a second opinion, and sent my x-rays to a radiologist, even I could tell it was obviosly broken. The first docter was an idiot. Point is when it comes to health always get a second opinion. Your sons Knee, if not treated properly could potentially affect him for the rest of his life.


Took me over a year, and three surgeries to fully recover, but my ankle was demolished. acl, mcl, knee realated injuries usually take about six weeks. My moms knee took 3 months to get back to 100%

 

[canyoncritter]

its possible he has some floating carlidge, and that wont show up on x ray.

stabing pains and knee locking up are the sighns....

 

[Jim Oaks]

Doc told us Friday that if he's still hurting by this Thursday to get him back in and he'll do the MRI.

He told me the only thing the MRI is going to tell you is if there is a tear, and whether it's torn or just a sprain, he'll still need to do exercise, physical therapy. It sounded like the treatment was going to be the same whether it was a sprain or tear.

 

[kennykenny]

I would definately get the MRI. I dealt with a knee injury that over time got worse, it would pop and lock up while walking felt like being stabbed in the side of the knee at times. Had it checked out and sure enough there was a piece of cartilage that had torn and grown into a ball of near the size of a golf ball behind my knee cap causing those problems. Orthoscopic surgery fixed that right and in just a few days I was walking around toughing it out because I couldn't stand the crutches.

 

[Twizzler09]

As has been stated a few times already, GET THE MRI!!

When it comes to knee injuries, dont screw around. Or any joint injury for that matter.

Both of my knees are bad, my left more so than my right. If I bend them just right, say crouching on the cement floor at work to setup the 2-post lift, or sit cross-legged etc, my left knee will dislocate itself. Wont even notice until I try to stand on it, or move it into a "normal" position. Then it hurts like noone's business.

My right knee doesn't foul up often, but it always causes problems at the dumbest times. Sometimes all it takes is standing up after sitting on the floor, or sliding a tire off the balancer and go to turn around, etc. Not sure what it is, but I get real bad stabbing pains, burning sensation, and I can barely walk for the next two or three weeks.

All of this caused by very poor diagnosis when I was younger. They called it "osgood sladers" (sp?). But now they want to do a $19,000 surgery on it to re-arrange my muscle tissue on both knees. Supposed to be out of work for five months or so if I were to actually do it.

Morale of the story: Check, Double Check, and Check again to be sure. Miss something now and it'll bite your kid's rear later in life.

 

[ZMan]

Definitely go for an MRI. I dislocated my knee cap and sprained my MCL my junior year, still bothers me 5 years later, and will probably only get worse as I get older. I went to physical therapy, was on crutches for a month, and had a $300 knee brace I had to wear.

 

[skinner]

Side impacts are pretty good about busting up the ACL. Tore mine when i was 13 or so. Doctor said shouldn't do surgery until I quit growing or at least close. Best thing I ever could have done...but neither knee is like it should be at someone my age. By the time they did surgery on my right knee, he said it had been dislocated so many times that he had to remove most of the cartiledge as it was tore.

 

[TGEORGE4]

i am a junior and have tore both of my mcl multiple times
mcl injuries are from impacts from the outside bowing the knee in
cartlidge is what makes mine pop
go to a specialist for knees an orthopedic who specializes in knees
if it swells about a week after it is most likely a acl injury due to the size of the ligament
mcl and pcl sprains will swell most of the time immediatly
bone bruising is another thing that hurts but is to no concern just blood in the bone pretty much
but a sprain is dealing with ligaments it was a precautionary xray to make sure the bones are ok ligaments dont show up they recommend them for all knee injuries
fyi i am a athletic trainer at my highschool have been through 2 classes on atheletic training but i know im wrong alot so if i said something letme know.

 

[jobar]

Get the MRI Jim,

I tore my ligaments in my shoulder senior year during baseball practice. It took 3 MRI's to find where the tears were. My shoulder poops from time to time because I have 2 screws in there but I dont notice it anymore.

Get the MRI to make sure its fine. Even doctors make mistakes.

 

[maitee1]

Echoing others in here and tell them to go ahead and do the MRI. XRays are good for bones but they won't show the soft tissue. My mother and I found that out the hard way.

My mother tore her ACL while in the Army, they took XRays and told her it was a sprain and gaver her good ole Vitamin "M". I am not sure how long after but it was pretty long, she got an MRI on both knees. Since her torn ACL was misdiagnosed she overused her right knee and damaged that one as well.

Mine is about the same story.

Get that MRI.