So I went skiing....

[3tsb]

I went down on some ice and rolled. My ski did not unclip. It twisted my knee to the outside. There was no "pop", but I heard some crackling as if I were cracking knuckles. After about 1 min. of excruciating pain it subsided. I stood and felt my knee give slightly to the outside. I was still on the hill with a pretty good slope still. I then limped down and went to the ER. The xray revealed no break and good spacing in the joint. They wanted to do an MRI, but my insurance wanted me to pay $2000.00 up front, so I declined. The swelling was minimal and the pain tolerable. I put in a neoprene brace and popped some Advil. The next day my knee is stiffer and sore, but I can walk on it. I've had no other slipping issues. I have my doubts that I tore anything. Anyone else have similar or insight?

[Snowy]

My ski did not unclip. It twisted my knee to the outside...After about 1 min. of excruciating pain it subsided. I stood and felt my knee give slightly to the outside.

Only you can decide the best way to proceed, but based on your description above I'd be going for the MRI. You might be lucky - the fact that you don't have much swelling or ongoing pain is a good sign - but you've got some pretty classic signs of an ACL tear there as well.

If you don't want to pay for the MRI right away, go to your family doctor for a checkup. They can carry out manual tests that will show whether there's laxity in the knee. If there is laxity, most likely you do have ligament damage and you should follow up accordingly. It really is best to get the knee examined, even if it feels stable; ligament damage isn't something you want to have uncertainty about.

Good luck! Fingers crossed it was just a bad twist.

[wek]

WITHOUT A LOT OF SWELLING WHICH IS THE INABILITY TO BEND THE KNEE, YOU PROBABLY DIDN'T HURT IT TOO BAD. TIME WILL TELL

[Rennschnecke]

I'm with Snowy, get your knee checked out by an OS or a PT who specialises in lower limb stuff.  They'll put your through the full range of tests to determine the stability of your knee and discuss options available to you.