Can't straighten my knee after a month

[conno11y]

Hi Capricity,

I don't want to make your decision more difficult, but I wouldn't do surgery until you know that you must.  My OS said that I had surgery too soon.  He said that surgery on a stiff knee increases the risk of arthrofibrosis and establishing ROM before surgery is very important.  He wrote an article about this based on ACL patients (J Orthop Sci, 2006 11:318) that I will send you if you want.  If you have a meniscus tear, then you do need surgery.  But no tear showed up on your MRI.  I know MRIs aren't 100%, but normally tears do show up. 

I had surgery after my MCL sprain because my pain symptoms suggested a meniscus tear, despite my MRI not showing a tear.  Guess what?  There was no tear and I have yet to recover from my surgery.  In fact, I am having another surgery to fix what happened during the first surgery.

Has your MCL sprain healed yet?  I knew when mine healed because when the OS twisted my leg in a certain direction, it no longer hurt.  My ROM did not come back despite 2 months of PT, but my current OS says we should have kept trying.

Keep us updated!  And hang in there...

[Capricity]

Woohoo! I'm doing pretty well. At least I'm walking, and that is a big excitement for me.

The therapy and the stretches the PT gave me seem to be helping a lot. I can't quite get my leg all the way straight yet, but it's just about there. Also, still can't bend my knee much, especially not with weight on it. But just yesterday I was finally able to go down stairs 99% normally. (Instead of doing them one by one as I had been.)

I'm hoping that for once the doctors were right and I just have to wait it out until the MCL heals completely before I'll be completely normal again.

I just can't get enough of how amazing it feels to walk unaided and even be able to *carry* things while I walk!

Oh! conno11y, that sounds horrible. Yeah, I'm really glad I gave the therapy a shot, now I'm just hoping things keep improving at the same steady rate. Keeping my fingers crossed! I hope your next surgery goes well and gets you back on the road to where you should be!

[TeitgeORPrincess]

Hey!
I'm still in the process of reading all two pages of this thread, but hopefully you have things sorted out by now....I can't straighten mine all the way, either. I just had a tibial rotational osteotomy w/ Dr. Teitge and I have so much swelling in my knee it's very painful to straighten it the whole way It's so sad....anyways, good luck with everything!

Cheers

Amberle

[conno11y]

Hi Capricity,

I'm interested to know how you are progressing.  Any improvement?

Sarah.

[bella287]

hi all,
 i was oppisite of connaly my mri was also clear but i had a torn meniscus and 6 cm lesion on rt fm chrondyle. I think a lot of it is luck of the draw on what dr you get. if you get unlucky you wind up with 5 surgeries in 2 years with the 5th being a mua even though you are told by os that mua,s are not for bad extension. then 6 weeks later same os says he is going to do another mua because you still dont have ext. at this point you get out your ins book and start calling dr after dr who all refuse to work on another dr,s implant. then you get the most caring os, his whole staff who so unlike so many dr,s you,ve seen they care. they see you. dx 3 mechical blocks. patalla too big, prothesis loose, lots of scar tissue removed. I was feeling like a failure and like i wasnt working hard enough because i couldnt straighten my leg for 2 yrs 5 surgeries. even knowing inflamation caused scar tissue i would but weights on ankles and hang my legs of chair for hours in pain trying to get straight not knowing it wasnt going to happen. so what i am saying is ask everyone research do all you can to make sure you got a great os. i just went to who my pcp sent me too and found out too late he had a rep. i hope everything goes well for you all bella

[gunner.aj]

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hi all,
its yet another sad story here...
well i tore my acl and also medial meinscus..  the degree of tear was really intese but i was lucky to have it stiched back..
i had an acl recon and a meniscus repair on may 14th 2008.I was non weight bearing on my legs for 6 weeks(as this would allow the repair on my meniscus to heal)!!!around 8th week i started walking with a stick.. have been doing physio regulary.. my knee was 15 degree bent and stayed there.. slowly  worked my way and now its 7 degrees off.I have been pushing hard and trying my best to straigthen it but with no luck.. i ask my physio and doc what should i do regarding this as its been 4 months past surgery.I get no clear answer he says keep doing the things and it will straigthen.
I can walk,run,swim and been able to work for long hours without trouble actually.But my knee does not straigthen.I googled and did everything to see if someone has similar problem but i cant find any resource.. so i thought i best would be to speak in here..
i really want to get back to playing soccer but i cant do it with bent knee..i am confused,i am frustrated and i really do not know what i am doing wrong..should i change physio?? or doc?? well that would be my last option.. as they have been good so far.. well having said everything any suggestions??? all they say is its a big surgery what u had ,so u gotta wait and watch?? i am wondering for how long i should wait and watch???or is it going to remain like this forever thats my biggest fear...
all inputs are welcome and appriciated..(gunner.aj@gmail.com)
thanks people... and i think this is the only way of getting help for me as i cannot find anything on the net relating this or know anyone who has had the same..
cheers mate,
AJ

[gunner.aj]

oops this should have come first...
capricity... looks like you are doing fine.. good to hear that!!!

well i had a knee locked for 2 weeks,i had same scenario like yours but i got injured while playing soccer...
my ligament tore and got stuck in my knee which resulted in a bucket handle tear of the meniscus!!so knee lock scenario had to be addressed..
there was no point just opening the meniscus as i had no acls which were lost in a soccer match 2 years ago...so i got both fixed...acl recon and meniscus repair

well sharp severe pain is definately the MCL,i think u should massage ur ligaments outside the knee ... see if that works.. i use a tennis ball and this helps me heaps...caution... use some greassy lotion or some moisturiser before u massage else you would have red knee...

good luck and yes keep fighting...

someone earlier said if u have $$$ throw it and get it fixed asap.. i totally agree with that.. else it would slow ur healing...
cheers mate,
AJ

[bella287]

hi, for 1 look up on the arthrofibrosis page and see if your symptoms fit. for if they do look for a dr in your area who specializes in it. you would be surprised how many orth dr,s dont know about it. you can ask on the arthrofibrosis page for good doctors. with that bad of extension if left untreated it can eventually cause damaga to your hips and back.  good luck   bella

[Capricity]

Update! I have now been walking normally (after a successful therapy) for about a month and a half. Being able to move off the couch and actually go places has left me quite busy and haven't had much time to come back and update.

I still have some pain in my knee every once in a while, but it is getting better. Starting 3 weeks ago, I was finally able to squat and bend my knee completely to the point where I can sit on it while its bent under me. There is still a lot of stretching pain when I sit with it bent like that, though. Also, if I try to raise myself from a squatting position with more than 30-40% of my weight on my bad knee I feel a very sharp pain in the joint. (I'm assuming that it is possibly the remnants of the bone bruise I received, which the therapist said would take a few months or so to heal.)

Thank you all for your suggestions and support! And good luck to you as well!

[TwoBadKneesUSA]

YEA!!!!

Glad you are doing so much better now.

Milly