Hello,
I hurt my knee a couple of days ago & I'm trying to figure out what is most likely to be wrong with it.
I was skiing this Saturday (3 days ago) when I fell on my right side, and my left ski caught the snow pulling my left leg to the left & back of me. I heard/felt a popping in my knee & had immediate and intense pain. I sat for about 4-5 min catching my breath & waiting out the pain. When I tried to stand my knee hurt REALLY bad & I fell back to the ground (not sure if my knee gave out or I just flopped back down because it hurt). When I stood on my good leg & tried to put weight on my left leg - again extremely painful & it just felt "off" (a poor description I know, but it hurt so much that I didn't really pay attention to whether or not there was any lack of support). I went to the ER and while I was waiting my knee didn't hurt much - just a slight throb of pain. I could (and still can) put a bit of weight through my toes & it didn't hurt, but when weight is through my heel it really hurts.
During my X-rays they had to rotate my knee and extend/bend my leg - this hurt. The Dr said that she didn't see any breaks and that her gut said that it is just a sprain but that she didn't know for certain. She put me in a full leg brace/crutches and set me up with an orthopedic surgeon to check-up in a week. Usually my knee still doesn't hurt just sitting there (there's a sharp pain every once in a while, for no apparent reason), both my knee and foot are still fairly swollen, but sometimes I think it must be getting much better. Having said that, sometimes I start to trip up with the crutches I'll end up putting weight on it through my heel, or accidentally twist/rotate my knee and it is extremely painful - but it's internal, not external. I can poke all around my knee & it doesn't hurt - it is just a bit tender in a couple of places. Also, it is painful to bend/extend my leg much at all.
My question is, does this sound typical for a sprain, or something that could require surgery. I know you can't diagnose at all, I just would like to know what might be most likely. I work a full-time & part-time job, and go to college full-time - so I have a really tight budget, and really need to plan on any additional medical expenses.
Thanks for any help you can give - I greatly appreciate it!
