Knee injury questions

[doublebase]

My son hurt his knee back in late November playing football. Trainer said everything looked stable, he was walking on it without a limp after about a week. Ever since then it occasionally “goes out” on him. Just kind of pops (I guess). Never took him to the doctor, probably should have, regardless of him telling us he was fine. Well, it popped again Saturday night while he was just shooting basketball in the yard. No running no jumping, just popped. He hasn’t been able to bend it since. Took him to the ER, then ortho yesterday...MRI on the way. Orthopedic said possible meniscus tear, possible tendon damage. When he moved the knee during the tests I nearly passed out watching it MOVE like THAT.

I was so mad at myself (and him) for letting it go this long. For letting him play football to begin with. He’s supposed to head off to college in a couple weeks, don’t know how that is going to work now. We’re leaving for a family vacation to Jamaica Friday...his a big kid. Doctor said he could enjoy his vacation, relax, swim. Gave him walking direction with crutches and a brace. I can’t imagine trying to move this big dude through airports, shuttles, hotels...I guess we’ll figure that out and pray nothing happens while he’s down there.

Anyone ever tear a knee tendon and meniscus? google is saying recovery is very long. And that the results aren’t very good unless you have it corrected soon after the injury. Surgery? Physical therapy? Did you have pain later in life? <<<And THIS is why I didn’t want him playing football. That is what I was worried about...happened on the last play of the game, last game of his season. I feel bad for him now.

 

[BISCUT]

I tore my meniscus at work in 2001. Surgically repaired by a qualified doctor. Felt pretty good post surgery but realistically about 10 months before I felt internally that I was back to 100%. Physically felt strong within a month of so. It is really a rather easy procedure and rehab isn't long or difficult either. I think the worst part of it all is they get you up and moving before the anesthesia wears off.

The negative is the arthritis that's coming. Most who have a meniscus repair eventually end up arthritic. Mine took 20 years but it's here now. The repair is a full knee replacement. Until then Visco gel shots help somewhat.

Good luck to your boy. Injury is not fun. Most important is finding a good ortho for the procedure.

 

[greenjp]

Don't beat yourself or your son up. Injuries are a risk in any physical endeavor, and it's not just contact sports like football. Anything involving running, jumping, cutting, etc. A life without basketball, football, baseball, soccer, lacrosse, gymnastics, cheerleading, I think you get my drift, would be pretty lame.

I tore my meniscus at work back in 2015 or so. I was about 38. I was working at something with a prybar, got it loose but then hyperextended my knee (towards the back, not in the "wrong" direction) immediately knew something was wrong. Same process - ortho, Xray, MRI. First doctor suggested waiting it out to see if it bothered me. It did, I had that same "giving out" happen when just walking around, and it completely prevented me from doing any sort of running, jumping, bike riding, or playing football which I was doing weekly at the time.

Got a second doctor who recommended surgery, like Biscut noted it's pretty quick (I was dropped off at 6 AM and got picked up between 9 and 10), you're walking immediately. My recovery time was 10 weeks to full activity. And by full I was back playing football, didn't even miss our entire winter "season". I have no lingering effects. We'll see what happens as I get older

Note there are two different types of surgery for this injury. What I had, and it sounds like Biscut had, isn't exactly a "repair", rather what they do is go in orthoscopically and remove the little loose pieces and flaps of the meniscus that resulted from the tear. With that stuff out of the joint, your knee settles into a new position and you get the stability back. From what I gather (I'm an engineer, not a doctor) this is the standard treatment for adults.

For younger people, they may go in and try to really repair the meniscus, I guess it's more able to heal when you're younger? Anyway the recovery from that procedure is much longer as you cannot bear any weight on the joint for a significant amount of time. That might be what they're talking about for your son.

Not sure about tendon/ligament damage on top of it, my understanding is that if you have an ACL or MCL tear that a meniscus tear is often part of the package. The number of elite athletes running around on repaired ACLs and MCLs is pretty high so even that I don't think is necessarily something to lose sleep over.

jeff

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

I wouldn't beat yourself up over it. It could've been a very minor tear that may have healed itself with rest but became worse as your son resumed physical activity. Trainers are looking for ACL/MCL tears. You mentioned he's a big kid. Sometimes it just depends on how the joint develops as kids grow where it becomes injury prone. I had a college teammate who was 280 lbs and had knees which looked like they hyper-extended as he walked. He had one operated on and was always getting hurt just goofing around playing basketball. Guys would get hurt playing basketball.

 

[Eddie]

Airports have wheelchair support. Just ask and you will get one. Saves much stress when hurrying. I know because I also use the wheelchair option at airports because of a bad hip. Ed

 

[doublebase]

Excellent stuff guys, thanks for the encouragement. I guess the thing I’m most worried about is him getting off to college in a few weeks. And the arthritis possibly down the road...followed by a replacement. I’m getting ahead of myself, I tend to do that.

 

[doublebase]

Don't beat yourself or your son up. Injuries are a risk in any physical endeavor, and it's not just contact sports like football. Anything involving running, jumping, cutting, etc. A life without basketball, football, baseball, soccer, lacrosse, gymnastics, cheerleading, I think you get my drift, would be pretty lame.

I tore my meniscus at work back in 2015 or so. I was about 38. I was working at something with a prybar, got it loose but then hyperextended my knee (towards the back, not in the "wrong" direction) immediately knew something was wrong. Same process - ortho, Xray, MRI. First doctor suggested waiting it out to see if it bothered me. It did, I had that same "giving out" happen when just walking around, and it completely prevented me from doing any sort of running, jumping, bike riding, or playing football which I was doing weekly at the time.

Got a second doctor who recommended surgery, like Biscut noted it's pretty quick (I was dropped off at 6 AM and got picked up between 9 and 10), you're walking immediately. My recovery time was 10 weeks to full activity. And by full I was back playing football, didn't even miss our entire winter "season". I have no lingering effects. We'll see what happens as I get older

Note there are two different types of surgery for this injury. What I had, and it sounds like Biscut had, isn't exactly a "repair", rather what they do is go in orthoscopically and remove the little loose pieces and flaps of the meniscus that resulted from the tear. With that stuff out of the joint, your knee settles into a new position and you get the stability back. From what I gather (I'm an engineer, not a doctor) this is the standard treatment for adults.

For younger people, they may go in and try to really repair the meniscus, I guess it's more able to heal when you're younger? Anyway the recovery from that procedure is much longer as you cannot bear any weight on the joint for a significant amount of time. That might be what they're talking about for your son.

Not sure about tendon/ligament damage on top of it, my understanding is that if you have an ACL or MCL tear that a meniscus tear is often part of the package. The number of elite athletes running around on repaired ACLs and MCLs is pretty high so even that I don't think is necessarily something to lose sleep over.

jeff

Well, said and I appreciate that. I didn’t want him to play but you make a good point...he experienced something special and he loves sports. He said that to me last night...it was my choice. As I’m standing there, the first thing that came to my mind was, I could have prevented it (I guess). But I guess that might have been more wrong than letting him play.

The thing I can’t stand is that this kid just doesn’t listen to me. Whether it’s a getting a job for the summer, spending money, the major he is choosing for college (marine biology), or really anything. It’s driving me nuts and when I see him in pain sitting there, I’m like...when are you going to start listening to me?? I probably need a different approach. Or I just need to step away and let him learn/screw up/grow. Heck, I screw up everyday. Like last night, my wife is a nurse and I’m yelling at her saying she should have taken him in to see someone right away. That didn’t go over well. Lucky I’m still living in the house right now.

 

[wpod]

Tore up my shoulder in a Horse crash in 2013 . My shoulder never quite recovered .

 

[Rand]

From traveling a couple times with relatives in poor condition.
you can setup for a wheelchair at the airport.. they will do everything.. works really good.
You get a wheelchair pusher who leads you around its outstanding for a free service.

I fell in feb. on some driveway ice. I walked out wasnt slippery 5min later coming back went skiing to the driveway drain and ended up with my left foot folded under my butt while flat on my back.
KNEE made popping noise/feeling.

Its been "fragile, loose, and poppy" and I couldnt get off the floor if kneeling on it for 3 months.

Just now sorta getting back to normal. I decided I'd wait until I couldnt function or a year passed.. not sure if that was the right decision but I've always had minor knee issues.. ie pop out if not careful when getting up from kneeling position etc. Occasionally it feels like pressure under my knee cap would make it go flying off when climbing stairs. I walk 12k-22k steps daily at work.

Definitely much improved but I took it easy and wasnt doing any sort of basketball etc.

Sounds like his knee wasnt stable and he reinjured/increased the severity of the injury at least its 2022 and they can usually fix it up pretty good nowadays.
IMO I dont think waiting was the wrong thing to do. Hindsight being 20/20 sometimes you beat yourself up unnecessarily.

 

[PimTac]

He can get priority boarding if the airline offers it which they should.

 

[JohnnyG]

My experience is almost exactly the same as BISCUT's in the first reply. It'll take a year to heal after the arthroscopic surgery. For whatever reason, arthritis will set in years later after the surgery, and now I have my full knee replacement.

From this point forward, he should always wear knee pads any time he has to kneel down, even though it will feel fine.

 

[FZ1]

Sorry re the injury. I think you need to find a good sports ortho doc to look at it, soon, and fix it soon. The tendon damage is concerning.

 

[FordMan59]

Injuries can happen no matter what we're doing. I received a back injury at work (construction) in Jan. 2000 that left me with chronic back pain and ended up putting me on disability. One of the things that has helped my pain is pool therapy. I started pool therapy in 2019 and have since been able to come off narcotic pain killers. If there's a gym, etc. where he can get in a pool have him make a trip to physical therapist and have them give him exercises he can do on his own at the pool of his choice. I made one trip to the therapist and told them I needed exercises that I could do in the pool at my local gym because I couldn't drive 70 miles everyday and afford to pay a $40 copay everyday. Since I've been going to the pool I've met several people who get in the water for various injuries and recovery from knee, hip replacements. Good luck to you and your son.

 

[PontiacHO]

Tore an outside tendon on my left knee playing volleyball with work guys in 1990. Had it scoped then and was determined that the tear was healing on its on. This knee still pops out at times and stays sore for a week or so but corrects itself. Wished I would have had it repaired but couldn’t afford back then to be on crutches for 6 weeks. Two kids under 5 years old and a demanding job that kept me on my feet was the deciding factor back then. Get your son squared away and he will be fine.

 

[Fitter30]

Worked with a lot of younger guys that played sports in high school. They all had knee problems and some 3 to 4 surgeries by mid 40s. Im 71 probably have my second after i see the doctor next month ( 6 weeks to him)

 

[loneryder]

Well, said and I appreciate that. I didn’t want him to play but you make a good point...he experienced something special and he loves sports. He said that to me last night...it was my choice. As I’m standing there, the first thing that came to my mind was, I could have prevented it (I guess). But I guess that might have been more wrong than letting him play.

The thing I can’t stand is that this kid just doesn’t listen to me. Whether it’s a getting a job for the summer, spending money, the major he is choosing for college (marine biology), or really anything. It’s driving me nuts and when I see him in pain sitting there, I’m like...when are you going to start listening to me?? I probably need a different approach. Or I just need to step away and let him learn/screw up/grow. Heck, I screw up everyday. Like last night, my wife is a nurse and I’m yelling at her saying she should have taken him in to see someone right away. That didn’t go over well. Lucky I’m still living in the house right now.

It's hard but you have to let him make his own decisions and learn from them. When he is at college, you will have no influence on him. Any influence you had on him was some time ago. All parents can do at this stage is hope they have prepared him to make sound decisions in his future. You lost most influence on him by the time he hit high school. The social pressure is the most influence at that time. It's tough, believe me I know. If he gets a good surgeon and does his rehab exactly like he's told, he should be fine. Young people have amazing healing powers.

 

[Jimmy_Russells]

Honestly unless his knee is destroyed (it's not) most of this stuff is pretty common medical procedure nowadays. There are guys still playing in the NFL that have had two or three acl tears and they're still going strong. One of my wife's good friends has had both MCL's surgically repaired and she's living a completely normal life. Modern medicine is pretty amazing. Hopefully it's nothing serious but even arthroscopic surgery or something is no big deal in the long term. Chicks dig scars

 

[doublebase]

From traveling a couple times with relatives in poor condition.
you can setup for a wheelchair at the airport.. they will do everything.. works really good.
You get a wheelchair pusher who leads you around its outstanding for a free service.

I fell in feb. on some driveway ice. I walked out wasnt slippery 5min later coming back went skiing to the driveway drain and ended up with my left foot folded under my butt while flat on my back.
KNEE made popping noise/feeling.

Its been "fragile, loose, and poppy" and I couldnt get off the floor if kneeling on it for 3 months.

Just now sorta getting back to normal. I decided I'd wait until I couldnt function or a year passed.. not sure if that was the right decision but I've always had minor knee issues.. ie pop out if not careful when getting up from kneeling position etc. Occasionally it feels like pressure under my knee cap would make it go flying off when climbing stairs. I walk 12k-22k steps daily at work.

Definitely much improved but I took it easy and wasnt doing any sort of basketball etc.

Sounds like his knee wasnt stable and he reinjured/increased the severity of the injury at least its 2022 and they can usually fix it up pretty good nowadays.
IMO I dont think waiting was the wrong thing to do. Hindsight being 20/20 sometimes you beat yourself up unnecessarily.

That’s a lot of steps a day on a bad knee. Wow. You muscled that out.

 

[doublebase]

It's hard but you have to let him make his own decisions and learn from them. When he is at college, you will have no influence on him. Any influence you had on him was some time ago. All parents can do at this stage is hope they have prepared him to make sound decisions in his future. You lost most influence on him by the time he hit high school. The social pressure is the most influence at that time. It's tough, believe me I know. If he gets a good surgeon and does his rehab exactly like he's told, he should be fine. Young people have amazing healing powers.

Good advice, I’ll have to remember this the next time we disagree....which will probably be in a few hours. Haha. Thanks.

 

[JTK]

@doublebase Like said above, it's all very repairable and he should make a full recovery.

I tore the meniscus twice in my left knee and tore the ACL in that leg as well. My ACL was repaired with a harvested section of my hamstring. Sounds worse than it is. It was all outpatient surgery. My hamstring is a little tight to this day, but the knee is nice and sturdy and pain free. I didn't keep up on the PT like I should have.

It really is miserable when the torn piece of meniscus folds over and gets caught up in the works.