Hyper-extension of the Knee

[cajchris]

Hi,

A couple of weeks ago I was playing 5 aside football (soccer) and my right leg straightened causing a hyper-extension of the knee. Upon doing this I felt a pop and instantly felt the pain behind my knee.

I went straight to the hospital and after waiting for 4 hours was seen by a doctor who literally took about 2 minutes to assess my injury by performing various stress/mobility tests on my knee and concluded that there was no breaks or tears. There was no swelling at this point, just stiffness and pain. I was not given an crutches or knee supports from the hospital. I had my own sports knee support anyway so would use that.

The next day I woke up and there was a fair bit of stiffness, swelling above the knee and behind the knee joint.

Since then I have been taking anti-inflammatory drugs, keeping the leg elevated as much as possible (i.e when not in work - office job so sitting down a lot) and applying an ice wrap (gel inside the lining that goes in the freezer).

However almost 2 weeks later there is still swelling above and behind the knee. Is this normal? it is possible that I do have a partial tear of the ACL or other ligament and this has not been diagnosed, as I said I was assessed very quickly by the doctor.

I can walk without crutches whilst wearing my knee support but with a slight limp.

It is at its stiffest in the morning. the afternoon and evening it is ok to walk on. I can also go up stairs fairly easily, going down is more difficult.

So does it sound like I do have a tear and is there anything else I can do to aid the recovery?

Also I am going on holiday this weekend to Las Vegas, so a 7 hour flight to Philidelphia followed by another 5 hour flight to las vegas (3 hour wait at philidelphia). Will I be ok on the flight? and is there anything I should do on the plane to ensure it is ok?

Thanks
Chris

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[redgilyn]

Hi Chris,

I hope you are feeling better. Am just wondering if you had resolved your knee problem already. If not, I almost feel like it was a hamstring strain that accompanied your knee hyperextension. Soft tissue injury could take upto 6 weeks or some even 3 months, depending on the extent of the injury, before it fully heals.

If your ACL or any other lig. was torn, it would have been easily picked up with special tests. You could have a patellofemoral syndrome as well if going down the stairs had become difficult or painful.

anyway, please let us know how you're doing....


cheers,
R

[Galen Oli]

How do you help recover fast from a Hyper-extension of the knee?

I was running and I landed while my leg was straight but my body's center was in front of my knee, pushing it past the joints capacity. Is that a hyper-extension?
Wound Dressings

[pennylucky]

I also suffer from hyper-extension of my left knee. I had a stroke to the spine 10 years ago and because of this i need a leg splint to keep my foot from dragging.I have suffered the back of knee pain off and on since then as my leg is to straight when i walk and clicks backward. is ther anything i can do to ease the pain i get from this as some days i find it very hard to walk

[iliastolos]

Pennylucky,
What you have is probably a nerve paralysis. That is different from cajchris' injury. Please give us more details about your problem. I can't make any conclusions with such little info.
ilias

[pennylucky]

Hi thank you for answering my question. It is not nerve damage as i dont have it all the time the splint i wear is to save my foot from draging the pain i get is because my leg is so straight that my knee seems to be pushed back when i walk and it i think it just streches the back of the knee all the time it goes away some time but when i have been walking a lot i suffer the pain for weeks on end.when i try to bend my knee it is very stiff. i wondered if i needed a slint to strenghten my knee so that it wont puch back all the time. hope this helps

[iliastolos]

Pennylucky,
You said that you had 'a stroke to the spine 10 years ago'. Please clarify this. A stroke is another thing.
ilias

[pennylucky]

Hi again yes i had a stroke in the lower part of the spine 10 years ago which left me unable to walk for a couple of months. I had very little feeling below the waist and reversed sensation in my legs . so my right leg whis is my good leg so to speak i dont feel hot or cold water in the bath but the slightes touch against it even a drop of water on it feels painful but my left leg which is th one i have the knee problem with the bath water always feels to hot even when its not and i am prone to tripping up as my toe often drags I do have more feeling below the waist now but its not back to normal and i dont suppose it will get any better now. Hope this information is what you want Jess

[physiobob]

Hi Chris, I'm a bit later reading this post. Sounds like a partial cruciate tear to me, or possibly a mesical tear. They are often poorly disgnosed at hospital. If you continue to have issues then go see a sports PT or sports Physician.

[iliastolos]

Pennylucky,
I insist that a neural tissue problem is your case. Sensation alterations along with inability to control your muscles indicates this. Since you had an accident and inability to walk for a while, then it's indicative of a spinal cord damage. What you might need is a therapy scheme of improving motor control of your body. It is possible to improve motor control even though prognosis is not really good for neural tissue full recovery. That means that your body can compensate for the lack of sensory and motor function by 'activating' and educating other parts of it.
ilias