Hi guys,
I am new to this forum and I have stumbled across it in the search for some advice on my damaged MCL in my right knee.
I was playing football 6 months ago when I was shoulder-barged off the ball while running at full speed. This resulted in my leg getting caught in the ground with my body still moving - hearing a large crack in my knee as the bottom half of my leg bent outwards. The pain at the time was so bad that I could not get up and an ambulance was called. I thought I had broken my leg at the time...
After going to the hospital, they didn't take any x-rays, even though I was in serious pain and couldn't bare any weight on it. They did a few of those leg tests with applying pressure in different places on the knee and they said they thought I had just damaged my MCL. My knee was very swollen and I couldn't walk on it for about 4-7 days after at all. Following this I was given exercises to try and gain full motion, which I carried out. I'd say it took me about 3-4 weeks (at least) before I could touch my foot on my buttock and straighten it, although I would only be able to hold it at these locations for a matter of seconds.
After this I attended physio, which I had 1 treatment of ultra sound- which appeared to do nothing and told some exercises to do at home. I then reported back once a week to say how i was getting on. (What I did not mention before is that in the same injury I also broke my scaphoid bone in my left wrist in the same accident and the physio mostly concentrated on this after having surgery to have a screw put in).
After about 3 months, I started to walk normally again. Before this, I was getting pain when kicking my leg out taking a forward stride with my right leg, which sometimes resulted in my physically making a noise with the sharp pain. Up until about a month ago I would occasionally get pain just standing still with the same reaction (this would happen about once a day).
Also, during the first couple of months after doing this injury I had injured my knee again - probably 2 times whilst out on a night out and once moving off a step. - my knee felt very unstable before this and i probably should have been more careful.
Last month, after going to the gym for the previous few months as instructed to build the muscles up again etc, I thought I would try and play football again. This was only a 5-a-side kick about with friends - nothing competitive. I notice that when I play, and try and run with the ball, the knee feels really unstable and almost as if it "rolls" about if I twist. I find it quite hard to describe, but it just doesn't feel tight. I damaged it slightly again a few weeks ago when I jumped for a header and just landed (not even awkwardly) which resulted in my knee giving way. I stopped playing at that moment and haven't played since. My knee seemed to be back to "normal" after a week of swelling and pain.
Also, if i stand still and twist slowly on the spot, the knee doesn't feel right. There is still some mild pain in the knee and although I can run comfortably on a treadmill for 30 mins and use the bike machine in the gym with no/little problems, performing tasks like a squat seem quite hard with pain.
I have not had anMRI scan, and the hospital I used (Chester and the later Aberystwyth) both didn't mention it to me and when I mentioned it, I was given the "it will just take time to heal" remark. I have since been to the doctor and been referred to a different hospital (Wrexham), however as I am currently at university this is proving difficult to attend as I am very busy.
What do you think could still be wrong with my knee and also what is the best way I can get them to do an MRI scan?
Thanks for your time and help.
Adam
