Knee issue.

[imported_~_~]

First of all, let me say, I'm not looking for doctor's answers, and I know nothing said here is definite. I'll be going to the orthopedic doctor soon. I'm just trying to get an idea of what's going on, so I'm not shocked when I get there.

Two weeks ago, as of yesterday, I was injured at work. I work with the mentally handicapped, and we have to do takedowns on a regular basis. Another staff member did the initial take down, and I fell to the floor to control legs. In the process, I did something nasty to my knee. Initially, I thought it was just a twist or a sprain.
I went to the hospital that night. I was given a straight brace, with a curved piece of metal along the back, and the curve goes with my knee. I was told to go to an orthopedic doctor if it wasn't better in a week, but due to it being workman's comp, I had to follow what he wrote, which is to see my primary physician. She sent me to the orthopedic doctor, which is what I'm waiting to see now.

The symptoms I've been experiencing are weird, and unlike anything I've had with a normal twist or sprain.

1.) Not able to support myself: I can't support myself with that leg. If I put pressure on it, it just gives out on me.
2.) Immense pain: It comes in small spurts, but it's right in my knee cap, or so it feels like.
3.) Stiffness: No matter what position I put it in, it gets stiff after about 15 minutes, and I have to reposition my knee.

Tonight, it got quite a bit worse. I get shocking, stabbing pain from top to bottom in my knee cap, or so it feels like. The pain is constant. One stab, right after the other. I also have an immense amount of swelling right on my knee cap. It looks like someone cut open the skin, put in a golf ball, and closed it up. I've tried icing, and anti-inflammatory drugs, and nothing is helping the swelling or the pain. Even my pain pills aren't doing a lot.

I'm just curious what I might be looking at here. This is all new to me, and to be honest, I'm a bit scared after what happened tonight.

Thanks for reading, and all input is greatly appreciated.

 

[Bad99]

omg and i tought i was bad i feel so bad for you i wish i could do something but i am in alaska just siting on my couch

 

[Corgi Girl]

did anyone actually do an MRI on that knee yet? that is going to be truely the one and only real thing that will give you the "inside" info. there are just so many different turns and twists in the inner structures of our knees with alot of ligaments and tendons wrapped within it, thru it and around it that can tear, blow out(did this to my meniscus among other things) or suffer alot of varying degrees of injury from a sudden impact injury which this kind of sounds like? did you actually land ON that knee cap area when you went down? you could have possibly, among other things popped that knee cap out of place with that type of fall or even cracked it somewhat if you did come full weight down on top of it? just a possible given the imense swelling you are describing and if you did actually land directly ON it?

from what you have described, it could be possibly one or more damaged tendons or ligaments too. i would just be guessing here, but if you actually cannot stand at all on that leg without that knee giving out on you, you could have actually torn a more key area like your ACL? some structures in the knee are just more involved with standing/strength and some more with overall knee movement/ROM, so depending upon exactly what IS damaged would kind of dictate your symptoms and levels and areas of specific damage too. seeing that ortho, he will more than likely first want to try and aspirate out all that built up fluid in there so he can palpate/eval the knee more 'normally"? inflammation itself creates alot of excess fluid buildup in any given area its just in, so that kinda comes with the territory there with the type of trauma you suffered to it. or it could also be some synovial fliud if there was a possible tear within the inner "sac" that just contains the fluid that allows for movement?

it really will come down to actually obtaining that MRI to really know for certain what areas took the impact with that fall on it. and of course the orthos eval on it too as he will try and move you thru the ROMS of the knee to see which ones are not possible at that point becasue of damage, looking for weakness/instability on the sides and just get "his' overall impression of what he feels occured and what you may need to have to have some type of possible surgical repair on too. like i said, when it comes to the knee and the way things just 'are' in there,a good MRI and an eval from a good ortho will pretty much tell you what is going to need to be done here. sorry i could not be more helpful, but its just the nature of how wierd the knee structures just are in the knee at all? have you ever actually looked at a pic of the inner knee that shows the ligaments and tendons? it really looks rather odd just how all those things wrap around and got thru it too. its just one of the more complicated areas of the joints. hopefully the damage is not too severe and can be easily fixed using only the scope. they CAN do alot of repairs just going in using only the scope these days.

i would see about actually obtaining that badly needed MRI referral from your primary doc right now and get it done with if possible? otherwise you have to see the ortho THEN get that MRI done? cuz one way or another, he WILL need it done for this type of injury. going IN with the MRI already done would get things moving a bit more quickly, ya know what i mean? its just that with even trying to get appts with certain specialists can take awhile depending. getting that done now would seriously make that first visit a much more productive one? this did help me with mine get my knee surgery done sooner. just an FYI for ya.

i do hope all goes well for you, let me know what you find out. FB