Knee injury from football

In February, I injured my knee playing football (soccer if your American). I hadn't played for many years and to compensate for my awful skill level I chased every ball down trying to be like Lional Messi. I ran three times a week so I was fine fitness wise, but I stupidly wore trainers which were a bit too big. I was left with tightness in my quads for days.

I then trained 2 days later on my own, then I played in a training match 2 days after that. My quads felt really tight before the game but since I was full of enthusiasm and dreamed of one day lifting the World Cup for England, I played on. My speed was pretty non existent during the game, I was pretty much reduced to jogging after the first ten minutes.

I struggled with walking after the game, and found later that night after resting that I could not put any weight onto my left knee. For a week I was house bound, hopping around on my right leg and shuffling up stairs on my bum. At the end of the following week I was able to make the 5 minute trek to the local shop - which took me about 20 minutes.

A month went by and I was walking OK. But, my left knee always felt very different from my right knee, even whilst lying in bed. Discomfort yes but I wasn't really in pain.

I thought exercise would be the key to recovery, so I pushed myself through one of my 1-2 hour jogs I had missed so dearly, which certainly was idiotic. Unfortunately, this brought me back to having trouble just walking.

In April I decided enough was enough, my knee wouldn't be getting any better on its own. So, I began seeing a physio who said I had not done any major damage and did not require surgery, but gave me strengthening exercises.

After months of this, whilst my knee did have a bit more strength, it was no different than it was after a month of rest after I incurred the injury. I was discharged though and was told to continue my strengthening exercises (things like one legged squats and small hops).

Last week I returned to my 'exercise is the key' frame of mind, and went cycling for an hour. I figured cycling would put less stress on my knee than jogging. Unfortunately, now my knee feels weaker than it did two weeks ago.

It feels odd and uncomfortable, very different from my right knee 24/7. Even whilst sitting or lying in bed. I feel like if I kicked a ball with my left leg, I would have pain and yet more knee weakness.

Since this all began back in February, I am now beginning to fear that my knee will always be like this. I have limited control over my left knee, it feels stiff and feels like the lower part of my left leg weighs twice as much as the lower part of my right leg.

My fears have been further compounded after reading about the knee problems of the ex Manchester united player Owen Hargreaves. An article written for the Daily Telegraph by a former Chelsea FC first team doctor:

Quote:

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Injury to the tendon can be caused by overuse or a specific trauma. There will
be an initial, acute inflammatory response where the tendon swells and
becomes very painful. A proliferation of cells then go in to clean up the
area and repair the damage.


Sometimes the situation becomes chronic, meaning that it never heals, which is
clearly what happened with Owen Hargreaves. Then, you have swelling and
deterioration – a vicious circle of partial repair and breakdown.



If you put too much pressure on a tendon that hasn't healed properly it will
rupture and the tissue will break down and become like mucus. When Dr
Richard Steadman talked about Hargreaves's tissue being "like apple
sauce" this is what he meant.



It can be very painful and debilitating. You're not as fit as you would have
been and you're unable to put any load on the tendon. Even kicking a ball
could cause a rupture.



If the tendon is very degenerated then some of the tissue will die and you can
operate and scrape it away because it will never heal.

---

This certainly has me very worried. A vicious circle of partial repair and breakdown sounds exactly like the predicament I am in.

I will go back to my doctor this week. Should I request a scan of my knee? Could I have severe damage which will never heal?

Any help please anybody? Is there too much information or not enough?

hi zepppo,
lots of information is never a bad thing! bear in mind it can be difficult to diagnose physical issues over the internet, so a good option may be seeking a second opinion from a physiotherapist experienced in sports injuries.
can you clarify what you mean when you say "i injured my knee playing football" - was there a specific incident or did the pain come in gradually? mechanism of injury gives lots of clues regarding knees.
don't get yourself into a spin, there may be hope yet for your world cup debut :)

Hi cadynz, thanks for your reply.

I wasn't involved in any harsh tackles. Since I made this thread I have seen a doctor regarding my knee, and he confirmed what my physiotherapist had said, it was over use. Whilst I was accustomed to jogging long distances, playing football with all the twists and turns and the ball tricks I was doing meant I should have given my legs a rest. I sat down with my legs out flat and tensed my quads, he noticed there was considerably more muscle just above my right knee (just left of the centre towards the inside) than on my left leg, this is something I had never noticed. He said some muscle wasting had occurred.

This alleviated my fears of not only never being able to run distance again but having a constantly weak left leg as well.

I was instructed to continue with the two legged squats, one legged squats and hops my physio had told me to do and to this time not over do it with the cycling, so 30 mins max on a level surface with a gear of very low resistance.

Whilst a world cup debut would have been nice, I'm now willing to settle for a champions league final debut hopefully next season.

sounds like you are on track!
best of luck.