possible ACL tear - anyone have/had this?? - JP Fitness Forums

eLeMeNT · 12-10-2007, 02:41 PM

I believe I've torn my acl.

I'm going to the doc on wednesday, but I'm just asking your input.

Here's my symptoms: (all pain is felt behind the knee cap)
-pain with leve extension and locking knee
-discomfort when flexing past 90 degrees
-wobbly without knee brace
-up/dn stairs cause pain
-slopes are worse
-discomfort while turning while walking
-pain when rising to toes
-pain when walking backward
-NO pain/discomfort when walking straight forward on level surface.

I believe it was playing volleyball last monday that did me in. since then, the pain/symptoms have gotten worse even with rest/ice/compression/elevation .

UConnJulie · 12-10-2007, 02:57 PM

Could be a number of things ... is there a lot of swelling? Did you hear a pop that coincided with a sudden onset of nearly unbearable pain?

eLeMeNT · 12-10-2007, 03:06 PM

i didn't hear or feel a pop and i didn't feel it until i got home and tried walking up stairs, then it was a tad painful exerience. but all the pain and discomfort have drasticly multiplied since.

i didn't notice any considerable swelling, but i have kinda fat knees.

UConnJulie · 12-10-2007, 03:18 PM

You would notice a lot of swelling (99.9% of the time) with an acute ACL tear, fat knees or not!

Might be meniscal given the other symptoms you describe ... good that you are seeing the doctor.

eLeMeNT · 12-10-2007, 03:31 PM

Thanks a bunch. I was thinking it had to be one or the other.

eLeMeNT · 12-12-2007, 07:33 AM

I have my dr's appt today at 1:45 CST, so I'll post what he thinks it is afterward.

eLeMeNT · 12-12-2007, 02:12 PM

no tear. just a bruised meniscus.

Sotally Tober · 12-12-2007, 07:18 PM

Yeah, if no real swelling, not likely an ACL tear. I've blown both. Sadly, I'm painfully familiar with the symptoms of a torn ACL, no pun intended.

Glad to hear the result. Good luck.

eastcoastsurfer · 12-13-2007, 07:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sotally Tober

Yeah, if no real swelling, not likely an ACL tear.

True, although I didn't swell when I tore mine. Also didn't hear a pop, but that was because it was caused from impacting the water with lots of background noise. What I did have was initial pain which made me think I was going to pop out of the water and see my knee bent the completely wrong way heh.

That's good news that it's not a torn ACL

Sotally Tober · 12-13-2007, 07:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eastcoastsurfer

What I did have was initial pain which made me think I was going to pop out of the water and see my knee bent the completely wrong way heh.

A la Shaun Livingston? Oof, I cringe thinking back to that!

UConnJulie · 12-13-2007, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eastcoastsurfer

True, although I didn't swell when I tore mine. Also didn't hear a pop, but that was because it was caused from impacting the water with lots of background noise. What I did have was initial pain which made me think I was going to pop out of the water and see my knee bent the completely wrong way heh.

That's good news that it's not a torn ACL

No swelling is very unusual ... the reason you see a lot of swelling with ACL tears is because they generally have a healthy blood supply. Menisci do not cause abundant swelling because there is poor blood supply.

You did have the nearly unbearable pain though, which is another tell-tale sign ...

eastcoastsurfer · 12-13-2007, 02:06 PM

Luckily my feet stayed locked in the board (thank goodness for bindings nowadays) so that turning my knee would've been hard to do. Most likely it was impact/overextension which tore mine.

As far as the swelling goes, I guess there could've been some there, but it wasn't black and blue or anything. I limped on it for a week and slowly worked back to doing my normal weight workout and stretching it out. The unbearable pain only lasted for a couple minutes...but everyone (surgeon, PT, etc...) have all said I must have a high pain tolerance so take that with a grain of salt.

UConnJulie · 12-13-2007, 05:41 PM

Well, it also depends upon if it is a complete tear or not. A partial tear will hurt longer because there is still part of a ligament intact to send those signals to the brain. Completely torn, not so much.

Other than the swelling, my ACL hurt very little after the first hour. I also partially tore my MCL, and that hurt like the Dickens for a few weeks ... anytime I would put weight on that foot without my brace or crutches ... YOWZA!!! And the icky unstable feeling ... UGH ... still gets my stomach churing!

BjsAust · 12-13-2007, 06:34 PM

I've done most things with my knee by now (including a tear in my meniscus and a torn ACL in different times), it can be really hard to tell whats wrong without seeing someone. In fact when I tore my ACL it was first diagnosed as just a torn cartlidge (and that by a top sports doctor).

Interestingly the surgeon had no doubts, he twisted my foot until it faced backwards and I felt no pain. He assured me it wasnt supposed to do that unless my acl was torn :p.