Knee swelling after football

Hi

I have posted twice on here and they will be very similar so sorry if youve noticed.

I have had knee arthroscopy on 2nd of december 2011 to remove some damaged cartlidge. the doc said all was successful and i should be back playing football after 6 week. its now 4 month since the op and i have played to full 90 min game. this after following a strict rehab programme and phased into games. however after playing thesse two games my knee swelled up both times, whilst not being a big amount of swelling it was still visable. this caused some discomfort and stiffness in the affected knee. the swelling goes down after 4 to 5 days but not fully as the swelling has never gone down fully after surgury.

i am just wanting to ask is this normal after football? or does it show that there is still some damage within the knee to other structures? or a thing such as condyle defect, which i have read on the internet but not sure what it is and what symptoms are?

thanks for reading and any replies would be great
dan

Hello,

Sometimes post scope it can take some time before the knee stops swelling, especially with activity. It's important to get the swelling out. An effective method is the usual RICE method. You can use an ice gel pack that can shape around the knee. Use a tensor to wrap it snuggly, tighter at the bottom and looser at the top so the fluid can move upwards towards your torso. Then elevate the legs. On the market is something called a Corflex Cryo Pneumatic Knee Splint, that acts like a blood pressure cuff to push out fluid. It works great, but costs more.

from memory you had a lateral meniscetomy? they do take up to 16 weeks to settle post-op and i agree RICE after games is best method to reduce swelling. being lateral you will also have more stress on that side of the knee and the articular surface (condyles) in particular. there may be a remnant of cartilage missed and so left behind, but unlikely. you will probably always have swelling from this knee (remember a very improtant piece of shock-absorbing as now gone) that you need to RICE religiously following training and games. you never mentioned what level you play but this will also have a huge bearing on how the knee will hold up and your expectations.

Takes at least a week, sometimes two to heal the swelling after arthroscopy.I think your age could play a big part in the healing process
Best thing is to get walking on it ASAP and start stretching within two weeks.
The fluids will eventually congeal into a viscous goop so stretching is very important to gaining your mobility back.