Swelling and bluing spread to ankle after knee hyperextension

[Ryan M]

OK basically to sum up my situation I hyperextended my knee 8 days ago while running. I'm a pretty heavy and large guy 300lbs but physically active.
Right after it happened I had an unstable knee which would feel like it bent backwards whenever I stood on it. That since has improved and i've been able to walk around the house with a limp for the past 6 days.
I'm getting concerned because there has been progressive swelling after the injury which wasn't there at first. My outer left calf at the moment is really quite swollen and has turned purple over the last few days. Another thing is i'm getting pretty big dents in my calf whenever I rest it against a leg table for example. These marks linger for about 30 seconds.

I've been to the emergency room now a couple times, the last 2 days ago. I got an ECG of my leg to rule out the possibility of any thrombus. I was told to keep taking analgesic drugs and to rest my leg. Since then I've been feeling the swelling spread through my calf and down to my ankle and getting piercing needles sensation whenever I press against the area. I also feel a lot of tension in my calf in general, and the sensation has been spreading to the ankle area. There is bluing/purpling around the affected ankle area which I hadn't noticed before, although I hadn't really looked. I'm concerned mainly because it has now been 8 days and the swelling and bluing has progressively gotten worse, and the fact that this swelling and piercing needles sensation has now appeared at the ankle level, which despite being swollen to a lesser extent than my calf, was unaffected in the accident. I'm afraid something more serious is going on than the doctors in the emergency room were able to find, and was wondering if any insight can be offered here. Thanks in advance.

 

[Telemachus R]

the very FIRST thing you just really really NEED right now is an MRI done on that knee to just see how badly damaged it is. unfortuenty with that much weight also just being there and forces ON that knee itself, there could be some pretty good level of real damage to at least one or more of the many ligaments, tendons, and or muscle in it and surrounding it. the blue you are seeing is more than likely casued by some level of real brusing from the injury itself. what tends to also occur because of gravity, is over days, that blood that IS the actual bruising can tend to just go downward and actually make it 'appear' like this is also a 'new' bruise or something too, ya know what i mean? its merely, in most cases, that actual bruise just doing what gravity casues it to do, espescially if the initial bruise was rather large to begin with?

but with all the ongoing symptoms you are now having and also what sounds alot like 'pitting edema' too, well this could also be compromising the blood flow there too. you just seriously do need an MRI done at this point just to 'see' inside that whole entire knee area. you, and espescially the weight thing, just cannot continue to be walking around on this knee without actually fully knowing what is actually damaged. just the fact that this hyperextwended itself at one time really would make you much more susceptable to having one hell of an hyperextension that could go backwards and not actually 'pop back' on its own becasue of the forces that are just sitting on it right now. its just VERY risky here for you.

i would just make an appt with your primary doc to have this fully evaluated then get that badly needed MRI done too. this would show whats wrong in there and also dictate what your next steps should be here too. my best guess would be a referral to a good ortho. but this DOES need some in depth attention at this point. i do hope things are not to bad in there for you, but given the overall symptoms you have been having, it does need to be looked at right now. i too have had bad knees and also two knee surgeries done as well on mine(and my R knee is always hyperextended too). so i do have some experience in this area. please let me know how things are going and what you find out. FB