Alright knee experts, i have a question

[fez]

so i wrecked pretty bad a couple weeks ago, went over the bars but didnt release from my ski. guess its time to crank the din down a little. anyway, i hyperextended my knee and had mild pain afterwards. was able to ski down and felt ok the next day. i took it easy and iced and elevated for a few days but it is still giving me some trouble.

It feels fine most of the time, but at full extension it feels a little weak and unsteady. Also at full extension i feel a little pain, not bad, but a little and its not really getting any better (of course, im still skiing on it too). The thing that concerns me the most is I also have a walnut sized lump on the outside of my knee just below the kneecap.

Anyone have any idea what this might be? Should i go see a doctor or just keep icing it when im not skiing? (please dont suggest not skiing! )

[Vinman]

Fez, there are a couple possibilites here with a hyperextension injury.

There are a few things I would need to know before suggesting anything though.

1. other than the walnut sized lump on the outside of the knee, is there any swelling? and if so where and how much?

2. Any felling os instability?

3. any popping or clicking or giving way sensations?

4. any prevoius injury to that knee?

5. are there any spots that are tender to the touch? and if so where exactly?

as for the walnut sized lump, did you bang the front of your knee during the crash?

is it tender to the touch?

and brusing around it?

[fez]

Fez, there are a couple possibilites here with a hyperextension injury.

There are a few things I would need to know before suggesting anything though.

1. other than the walnut sized lump on the outside of the knee, is there any swelling? and if so where and how much?

none, and never was even after the injury.

2. Any felling os instability?

not sure what os refers to (im a computer geek and i know you dont mean operating system ). the only instability i feel is that when the knee is at full extension, like just when my heel hits the ground walking, it feels like it wants to over extend and hurts a little.

3. any popping or clicking or giving way sensations?

only the symptom i described above.

4. any prevoius injury to that knee?

I dont think so. i had a few sprains and strains of both knees when i was a kid, but nothing serious. had some cartilige cleaned out of my left knee (the right is the one hurt now) in college, but that was 15 yrs ago.

5. are there any spots that are tender to the touch? and if so where exactly?

nope, everything feels fine.

as for the walnut sized lump, did you bang the front of your knee during the crash?

is it tender to the touch?

and brusing around it?

I don' think so, no, and no.

Thanks Vinman, i appreciate the information!

[Vinman]

ok so no swelling, no instability sensations, no catching/locking/clicking

Those are all good things but unfortunately they don't help me narrow down what might be causing your pain.

Now on the good side of that, if you don't have any of those symptoms then chances are your injury is not a major one.

A few possibilities:

1. a sprain to the joint capsule and posterior supporting ligaments. The joint capsule is a broad thin ligament that surround the entire knee. There are many individualy ligaments in the back part of the knee that can't be tested for separately but all work to help support and stabilize the back of the knee.

2. Sprain of the PCL. The posterior cruciate ligament is a major ligament in the knee and is somewhat responsible for stability of the knee while it is fully extended.

3. Sprain of the ACL. Possible but from the sounds of it not very likely. Someone that sprains or tears their ACL doesn't usually want to get back up and continue their activity. thuis would definitly swell and be very painful.

4. meniscal injury: again a possibility but not really likely. You would probably have more pain and swelling.


So from here that is about all I can tell you without examining your knee. Since this has been hanging around for a couple weeks now, my suggestion would be to consult your family doc (if insurance requires) and then go see an ortho. I'm sorry I couldn't give you a more specific answer.

Good luck and if you have more questions please ask.

[fez]

Thanks again Vinman,
love your location, but now my mp3 player is broken and ill be sitting at work singing subterranean homesick blues all day.