Anyone ever had a partially torn knee ligament?

[tete]

On Sunday afternoon, during a tech rehearsal for my Ukrainian dance group, I stepped down and my knee basically went "pop", which then resulted in searing, agonizing pain about 15 steps later - I basically dropped to the floor when I tried to stand on it. I went to urgent care and was dx with a likely partial lateral collatoral ligament tear. I was fitted with a stabilizer brace, given crutches and sent home with not much info other than info for the UofC's Acute Knee injury clinic. No advice of how long to keep the brace on for, etc. Just xrays were done, which obviously showed nothing.

Sunday was painful. I stayed home from work on Monday just to rest up but for the most part, the braced knee felt good. Went back to work today and had no issues walking on the braced leg with no crutches. I took the brace off tonight because I am just wiped from having it on and haven't had any issues walking around without the brace so far. No pain, no nothing.

Should I keep the brace on just in case or do you think it is healed (and may not have been a tear, despite the absolute pain I was in on Sunday)? I have an appointment with the AKIC on Tuesday and am flying out of province this Thursday for the weekend and I just don't know what to do in the meantime.

Any advice? I've never had any injuries like this before.

[vegasbound]

Keep the brace on if it feels good, but I couldn't get out of any brace fast enough. I visited the UofC knee clinic in Jan/13 and was then referred to a knee surgeon in Banff and started the process that has resulted in 3 knee surgeries and just signed paperwork for the 4th because the graft didn't hold.

Torn MPFL, partially torn MCL was my diagnosis.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Nope, only the entire f***ing thing (ACL) twice. I would note that my initial diagnosis on the first tear was a partial LCL. They were wrong.

If it's actually partial tear it's not healed. You're looking at 6 weeks or so, maybe longer.

First thing you should do is book an appointment at AKIC - the Acute Knee Injury Clinic at the University of Calgary. This may be the "knee clinic" you're referring to. Until then, keep the brace on and don't risk anything or you may injure it further. Once your swelling goes down they will be able to give you an accurate diagnosis of what's going on in there. Urgent care doesn't have much of a clue about this stuff.

[Minnie]

I had a partial tear of the ACL playing football. My husband had a full rupture of the ACL and a partial of the MCL. Keep the brace on. Take Advil/Aleve for the inflammation. And I double and third Corsi's recommendation for the AKIC. Book now. You can do it online. Just look them up by Acute Knee Injury Clinic.

I went down the stairs a couple of years ago with my knee behind me and of course it was the knee with the ACL repair. AKIC got me in right away and diagnosed it with a severe strain, thank frank.

[tete]

Thanks for the advice - it is indeed the AKIC that I mentioned in the OP, but I'll edit it to be more clear.

Sigh, I hate the brace so much.

[TheSutterDynasty]

Originally Posted by tete

Thanks for the advice - it is indeed the AKIC that I mentioned in the OP, but I'll edit it to be more clear.

Sigh, I hate the brace so much.

You can ditch the brace. The only time we use those is a significant grade 2 or 3 MCL tear. If you're that much better now its likely only a grade 1. Still go to acute knee clinic though (and don't trust ER doc's diagnosis, they are fantastic but not trained in musculosleletal).

[Reneeee]

Originally Posted by vegasbound

Keep the brace on if it feels good, but I couldn't get out of any brace fast enough. I visited the UofC knee clinic in Jan/13 and was then referred to a knee surgeon in Banff and started the process that has resulted in 3 knee surgeries and just signed paperwork for the 4th because the graft didn't hold.

Torn MPFL, partially torn MCL was my diagnosis.

Sorry to hear of your poor luck Vegas. Who did your surgeries? I just got through both knees getting done last year. It feels like a dream so far.

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by Reneeee

Sorry to hear of your poor luck Vegas. Who did your surgeries? I just got through both knees getting done last year. It feels like a dream so far.

Everyone seems to have a different experience. I had two surgeries - was on crutches for months and months and walked with a limp for a couple years.
Eventually came back to play sports again but was in pain all the time. Eventually was advised to stop playing sports because basically it was a eventuality that I would tear it again.

Even now, years later, my knee is sore a lot. Not a lot of pain - just a lot of mild discomfort and stiffness. The worst thing is not being able to play sports.

My experience was terrible. I told blame the doctors or surgeon but it was awful and the end outcome isn't great.
Good luck to the OP. You will probably be fine.

[combustiblefuel]

Nope. Not a partial tear. I have fully torn it tho.

[AC]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

Everyone seems to have a different experience. I had two surgeries - was on crutches for months and months and walked with a limp for a couple years.
Eventually came back to play sports again but was in pain all the time. Eventually was advised to stop playing sports because basically it was a eventuality that I would tear it again.

Even now, years later, my knee is sore a lot. Not a lot of pain - just a lot of mild discomfort and stiffness. The worst thing is not being able to play sports.

My experience was terrible. I told blame the doctors or surgeon but it was awful and the end outcome isn't great.
Good luck to the OP. You will probably be fine.

Yeah, that's definitely the bad end of the spectrum.

I severed my ACL (and did some meniscus damage) in Jr. High and had to wait until at least High School to get it repaired as they were worried about cutting through the growth plate.

However, I was literally walking without crutches (with one of those big green leg braces) within the week after. I tried using crutches at school but it was too frustrating so I just abandoned them. Haven't had an issue with it since.

Also finally got my shoulder repaired this past summer after dislocating it 8 times over a few years. That hasn't been so great of a recovery. Not terrible, but I'm not confident in it enough to play contact hockey again yet.

[rbochan]

Tore my MCL bowling (of all things). Painful.

If you can, see a specialist, and, at least get an MRI. it might be able to be corrected with surgery.