SYMPTOMS
A pop, followed by intense pain, swelling, and a feeling of instability. Your knee may also buckle and give way. Chances are, you won’t be able to continue whatever it was that you were doing.
DIAGNOSIS
Sprained or torn ligament
There are four ligaments in the knee — two run alongside the knee joint, while the other two crisscross inside the joint holding it in place. (Ligaments are the ropelike tissues that connect the femur, or thighbone, to the tibia, or lower-leg bone.) The two most commonly injured are the medial collateral ligament (MCL) and the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).
TREATMENT
Assuming you haven’t injured your ACL, you’ll probably do fine with a little rehab, which usually involves icing the knee and doing exercises to regain strength and stability in the muscles surrounding the joint. Many people can start walking and jogging within a month.
If you’ve torn your ACL, however, more aggressive treatment might be in order. “Once it’s torn, the ACL doesn’t tighten and heal the way the other ligaments do,” says Edward Laskowski, M.D., codirector of the Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine Center. “There will be a risk of knee instability, especially with high-demand sports that really challenge that ligament, such as basketball, volleyball, and soccer.” If you want to continue playing high-impact sports, you’ll likely benefit from arthroscopic ligament reconstruction, says Laskowski. Afterward, it will take about 6 to 9 months to get back to aggressive activities.
If you do opt for surgery, don’t rush into it. “We like to have people coming in for the surgery looking like they don’t need it,” says Laskowski. “Studies have shown that if you do the surgery too early, when the joint doesn’t have much motion and there’s a lot of swelling, there is an increased risk of joint stiffness, and the rehab afterward is tougher.”
Reference: http://www.bestlifeonline.com/cda/article/printer_friendly/0,5508,s1-2-0-0-1939,00.html
6-9 months to recover. *GROANS* I want to play during the interhall matches next year. T.T I don’t want to wait till my final year damn it. Of all the times I could have hurt my knee (as in all those vigorous training during high school), WHY NOW? Argh! !@$!%@!#!#%#$@%!@#
I dread going to the doctor’s in August when I’m back in KL. I’ll really cry if I need surgery. Seriously.
