Knee Advice

Hello, everyone. I know I've been MIA lately, but I've been working long hours at work and Shelby messed up her knee. For those of you that don't know, she's my 12 year old daughter.

We brought her to the doctor two weeks ago and (after x-rays, examinations) they said she had just bruised it, they wrapped it, and told her to stay off of it. I kept her home for a week and a half with STRICT instructions to keep it elevated and to stay off of it. I knew it wasn't just bruised, it was a possible sprain due to the amount of pain she was in. She was actually crying due to the pain, which she didn't do when she sprained her ankle.

She went back to the YMCA for the first time since she hurt her knee yesterday and had to leave around noon because it was hurting her badly. She was back at the doctor today and she's been given crutches and told to stay off of it again, apply heat 3 times a day, blah, blah, blah. I plan on keeping her home for the rest of this week and all of next week. I want her back to normal so she can enjoy what's left of her summer.

A few months ago, she sprained her ankle, and within two weeks it was back to normal after wrapping it, keeping it elevated, blah, blah, blah.

Does anyone have any pointers, tips, reasoning, etc on how to get her knee better? I've heard the knee is more delicate than the ankle, but two weeks later, I'd expect it to be doing much better than it is.

 

have they done an MRI to check for pulled tendons or ligaments, or damage ACL, becoming more common with girls especially during sports activities and not trying to be blunt but studies are also showing knee injuries such as with ACL to be more likely during the girls menstrual period. I am a high school science teacher and just two years ago we had 3 diff girls injure their ACLs all while playing sports on their periods needless to say the P.Ts here have been doing studies on such injuries and how to avoid them
hope she gets to feeling b etter

 

Hey bolivian sorry to hear that. before I got sick I was a surgical technologist, so I will tell you knee injuries can take a while, sometimes a bad sprain can take up to a month. But I agree with the above, she needs to have a mri, to make sure she does not have a torn acl, pcl, or a meniscus tear. Give it time and if she is not feeling well push the doc to do the mri. Tell her were all thinking about her, and hope she feels better soon.

 

BB you know I had 2 surgeries on my knees. Do you know how She got injured? Let me ask you this: Did She jump and landed with all the weight on it? or Did She fell or her knee fail at any point? My knees kept failing constantly and the NAVY Med Dept. always told me put ice you be ok and 4 years I spent doing that and using Knee braces with hinges on the sides to support my knee sideways until I got tired and asked for an MRI to one the Docs. and my meniscus looked like Swiss Cheese from so many years rubbing on each other it actually broke it even more. To the point that I have terminal damage on my left knee. So if I was you I keep okey: Till they do it. Sometimes they don't want to spent the resources unless they are a 100% sure that the patient needs it. Hope She gets well soon.

 

Thanks you all for your wonderful wishes and advice.

Navy-she was playing some game at the YMCA and she was told to "hit the deck", which in this game means to land facedown flat on the floor. She says her weight came down on her knee and that's when it started hurting.

She has to go back to the doctor a week from Thursday, so I'll bring up the MRI then. I really don't feel comfortable with her hurting this long after it happened and I never thought of an MRI until all of your responses.

I'd hate for her to have permanent knee damage because of this. I'd also love to get her back where she can enjoy her summer. I know it has to be stressful for her to not be able to run and play and just be goofy

 

I ripped a ligament in half on the back of my knee once and it took forever with a knee immobilizer(like an ace bandage the size of your leg with steel bars in it) to heal. After keeping it in there for a couple weeks though(only took it off for showers) it healed up nice and haven't had a problem with it in over 15 years.

I would go for the MRI though.....hope she feels better

 

I injured my knee fairly bad back in November and then had knee surgery (as a result of the injury) about 6 weeks ago. I literally JUST got back from the doctor and am finally out of my full leg brace into a smaller brace. This is to say that knee injuries just take a very long time to heal. I also support the idea of an MRI, I got one on my knee and that was the only way they knew I had torn a ligament and needed surgery. I hope your daughter doesn't need surgery, but better safe than sorry I say.

 

Thanks, BD.

Navy and BD-you gentlemen are tough. Hats off to ya both! I'm not sure they make strong enough painkillers for me to be able to deal with those situations.

She said to tell everyone "hi" and thanks for all the good wishes. We also "googled" MRI so I could show her what it is.

 

Thanks, BD.

Navy and BD-you gentlemen are tough. Hats off to ya both! I'm not sure they make strong enough painkillers for me to be able to deal with those situations.

She said to tell everyone "hi" and thanks for all the good wishes. We also "googled" MRI so I could show her what it is.

They aren't as bad as they sound. I even got music during mine!

 

aww I have no advice other than I hope princess gets better!!!!!! stinks being hurt in the summer! all my prayers !!!!!

 

They aren't as bad as they sound. I even got music during mine!

Sweet!!! Nothing like some to take the pain away;D

aww I have no advice other than I hope princess gets better!!!!!! stinks being hurt in the summer! all my prayers !!!!!

Thanks, Shawnie I'll let her know. It'll mean a lot to her! :-*

 

Knee injuries can take a while. Complete ligament tears will manifest with instability on initial examination but sometimes the pain can make it hard to demonstrate. As klosea said MRI is the best test to rule out ligamentous injury but not all injured knees need it. If there is still pain after 6 weeks an MRI is much more likely to be useful. Partial tears will usually settle within that time.

The MRI machine is noisy, so it is good to be prepared for that. It is not fun but you get through it.

 

All her weight coming down on it doesn't sound like a sprain in the twisting sense that you can walk it off. Sounds like there is some other damage to hurt that much there could be minor damage to other ligaments and tendons. I agree she should have an MRI which really should have been done the second time when she went back with knee pain. Hope she is back at it soon.