In January 2009 I came back from my lovely holidays in Mexico. I was very excited to go back home, mainly because the soccer (football in England) was about to start and we had a new trophy to fight for again. Little I knew that I was not going to play more than two games during the whole year.
After the first match, I noticed a little sharp pain in my right knee. I didn't give it too much importance and went to the pub with my football mates to celebrate our win. My pain appeared the rest of the week with little variation. I noticed it particularly when I was going upstairs but I thought it was because I didn't exercise that much during my holidays so my knees were protesting. The week after we had our next game. It was goign to be a tough game since it would be against the second team the previous season. I was so excited to play that game.
The match was great, we won 2-0! However, my knee at the end of the game was so sore, til the point I was limping and not able to go upstairs at all. The pain didn't go away after two weeks and as soon as I missed the next game I booked an appointment to see a my doctor (GP).
My doctor, after checking my knee, which consisted of making sure the ligaments were OK by pulling my leg in different direcitons and me describing the type of pain, said that it was a common patella (knee cap) injury for footballers. He said I needed to strenghten my quads and it should be back to normal in a couple of weeks.
My knee didn't get better at all and after a month I was given an appointment to see a specialist. He ordered scans and suggested I would need knee surgery! I was devastated and thought I would never play football again. Now, after I finished my therapy, almost a year after, I am able to run and in a week I will start training again. In knee injury and tips I tell you the story and give you tips to recover from similar knee injuries. I share the things I learned in the process, from knee exercises, patience, and work. I hope it can be useful to somebody in a way or another.
Friday, 11 December 2009
Monday, 23 November 2009
Knee Physiotherapy
Knee Physiotherapy
Finally, after seeing the doctor for my knee injury, and once he said I had no damage in the soft tissue (ligaments or cartilage), I was referred to physiotherapy. The problem was that the physiotherapy clinic had a 30 weeks waiting list before I could get an appointment.
So I decided to go private. I went to the hospital and requested a digital copy of my X-ray and MRI scans. They burned a CD with the software to visualize all the data. It is great! Even though it is a bit difficult to make any sense of the MRI scan (at least for me).
With those, I went to a physiotherapy clinic, I looked into a webpage that a friend who is a professional physiotherapist in Canada recommended. She told me to look for IMS treatment, that is intra-muscular stimulation (IMS). This technique is taught by a Canadian doctor and it is not very common in the UK. IMS consists of using needles to stimulate the muscles to achieve a balanced muscle-skeleton structure. Which, in my case it was perfect to treat my knee pain. Luckily, I found a clinic with this type of treatment close to where I work.
Once I went there and the physiotherapist saw my scans and read the diagnostic of the doctor that saw me at the hospital, he examined my back, my legs and my posture. He detected 3 mayor points in my leg where the muscle tore. He said it was a non-treated injury that was causing a misalignment of the patella and that was the reason why it was so painful.
IMS achieves the deep stimulation of muscle tissue in the injured areas. They are combined with massage and stretching techniques. Also, heat treatment is recommended after the stretching sessions. For example a hot pack (which can be a glass bottle with hot water) is quite helpful.
Finally, after seeing the doctor for my knee injury, and once he said I had no damage in the soft tissue (ligaments or cartilage), I was referred to physiotherapy. The problem was that the physiotherapy clinic had a 30 weeks waiting list before I could get an appointment.
So I decided to go private. I went to the hospital and requested a digital copy of my X-ray and MRI scans. They burned a CD with the software to visualize all the data. It is great! Even though it is a bit difficult to make any sense of the MRI scan (at least for me).
With those, I went to a physiotherapy clinic, I looked into a webpage that a friend who is a professional physiotherapist in Canada recommended. She told me to look for IMS treatment, that is intra-muscular stimulation (IMS). This technique is taught by a Canadian doctor and it is not very common in the UK. IMS consists of using needles to stimulate the muscles to achieve a balanced muscle-skeleton structure. Which, in my case it was perfect to treat my knee pain. Luckily, I found a clinic with this type of treatment close to where I work.Once I went there and the physiotherapist saw my scans and read the diagnostic of the doctor that saw me at the hospital, he examined my back, my legs and my posture. He detected 3 mayor points in my leg where the muscle tore. He said it was a non-treated injury that was causing a misalignment of the patella and that was the reason why it was so painful.
IMS achieves the deep stimulation of muscle tissue in the injured areas. They are combined with massage and stretching techniques. Also, heat treatment is recommended after the stretching sessions. For example a hot pack (which can be a glass bottle with hot water) is quite helpful.
Monday, 5 October 2009
Knee Therapy Exercises
The first thing I was told when I went to see the doctor for my knee injury was to exercise. They recommended this because in some cases, some knee injuries happen because the muscles in the legs (quadriceps mainly) pull in a funny way and the knee has to compensate. By exercising the muscles, the knee can go back to its place and the pain would stop.
Most of the exercises involve leg extensions and leg press in a very light way. Some of the exercises are recommended to be done with support under the knee (a towel for example) when one needs to flex the knee, others are extensions of leg (in a straight position) when you are resting on your back on the bed. All of theses exercises should be done without pain and without forcing the knee. A couple of series of many repetitions are recommended for each exercise. These knee exercises are easy to find in the web.
In my case, I did all these knee injury exercises and the pain did not disappear. That was the first indication to my doctor that my injury was not temporary. I was referred to an specialist which ordered the first exam, an X-ray to check that my bones were in good conditions.
Most of the exercises involve leg extensions and leg press in a very light way. Some of the exercises are recommended to be done with support under the knee (a towel for example) when one needs to flex the knee, others are extensions of leg (in a straight position) when you are resting on your back on the bed. All of theses exercises should be done without pain and without forcing the knee. A couple of series of many repetitions are recommended for each exercise. These knee exercises are easy to find in the web.
In my case, I did all these knee injury exercises and the pain did not disappear. That was the first indication to my doctor that my injury was not temporary. I was referred to an specialist which ordered the first exam, an X-ray to check that my bones were in good conditions.
Monday, 21 September 2009
Knee injury treatment
The treatment for knee injuries, whilst is not an emergency, takes a lot of patience. In my case, it has been more than six months since I went and see the physiotherapist at the sports clinic and since I am waiting for the specialist to see my MRI scan to determine what is wrong with my knee.
The events of my treatment for my knee injury
I play football, around the beginning of the year, after finishing a game I felt my knee was bruised. It hurt a little at the time but after resting one of two days I was almost recovered. I played football twice again that week. After the next matched my knee really hurt and I could not go upstairs. I thought I hadn't rested it properly. I waited two weeks before trying to play again, now it was too painful to play football so I had to stop in the middle of the game. I went home and after a week, I was able to walk normally. I decided to book an appointment at the sports clinic.
Went to see the physiotherapist in the sports centre at the university.
My knee did not swell, and it was only painful when I put strength on the knee. For example, if I went up the stairs. I explained all this to the physiotherapist and he checked the ligaments were not damaged by moving my lower leg around. He recommended exercises to strengthen my quads. For example, put a pillow between my legs, rest my back against the wall and flex my legs until it was not painful. He said I should stop playing football at least for two weeks and keep with the exercises. If after that period my knee was not improving he said I should go to see my GP.
Went to see my GP.
Two weeks after that, my knee was in exactly the same state. I did the exercises, I even went to the gym to do low impact exercises to strengthen my leg muscles but with no change. So I booked an appointment to see my GP. The doctor opened a file about that injury and I explained the whole thing again. At that point I wanted to get scans done to find out what was wrong with my knee. A month and a half had passed since the last time I played football. I thought I needed to get my knee injury treated so I could go back and play football as soon as possible. The doctor said that before that, he needed to make sure I had done the exercises so he could refer me to a specialist so he gave me a more defined set of exercises to strengthen the quad muscles because he explained, sometimes the knee is not aligned and can be injured because of this. He said that if after 3 weeks my knee did not get better, I should come back and he would refer me.
Got a referral. Went to see the specialist at the County Hospital.
After 3 weeks I felt the same. My knee was not improving so I got an appointment to see my GP again. He said he would refer me to an specialist in the County Hospital. I should wait for a letter from the hospital with an appointment and then call them to confirm. More than three months had passed and I was exactly the same. I could not play football. I decided to go to the gym regularly to get some exercise done since I was not doing any physical activity.
Got X-ray scan for my knee injury
Finally the day to see an specialist for my knee injury arrived. I thought it would be way easier and faster, since I was with a doctor who knows a lot about this type of injury. He checked damage for soft tissue, I explained the whole knee injury and treatment process to him once more. The doctor said he needed to make sure I did not have a piece of bone or a serious problem with my knee. Like bone cancer or something like that. Gulp! I thought it would be easier... I went for X-rays and came back to see the doctor. He ordered three different radiographies of my knee from different perspectives. After the doctor looked at them, he said my bones were OK and it was not a problem of alignment. I was relieved but still not happy because no one knew what was wrong with my knee. He said he was going to order an MRI scan. I needed to wait again for a letter from the hospital for an appointment for the scan. That would happen after two more weeks.
Got MRI scan for my knee injury
I waited two more weeks and finally received the letter. They give me an appointment for an MRI scan but I had to wait another two weeks. I went to the hospital and in less than 15 minutes they took the MRI scan. It consists of putting you inside of a massive tube. You are lying on your back and it is a bit tight there. Some people have claustrophobia issues for this type of scan. The machine is quite noisy, so in my case, they gave me ear phones and I listened to local radio while different noises were buzzing my knee.After my scan which was not showed to me, I have to wait three more weeks for an appointment to see the doctor and finally find out what the problem with my knee is.
Seeing the doctor after the MRI scan
I finally saw the doctor after getting the MRI scan for my right knee. I didn't have to wait much this time once I was at the hospital. However, this time I was taken to a different room. I thought I would be given the needed surgery news. I waited there for 25 mins and finally the doctor arrived. The first thing he asked was: how have you been doing since the last time? I said how the pain had been increasing and how now my knee hurt not only when I went upstairs or put weight on it but only by flexing it. It had got worse since last time for sure. He said he had seen the MRI scan and the good news were that I didn't need surgery. My knee was swollen but it could recovered with a good physiotherapy program. I was a bit skeptical, it was almost like telling me that all the pain along these months was suposed to be ficticious.
He said that what happened was that the knee cap went out of place and it was running over the wrong place and that was why it was so painful. He had a look at my knee and he said that by strenghthening the leg muscles it was possible to get the knee cap back in place. He said that I could go back to playing football very soon. Just needed to follow the therapy by the book...
Knee Physiotherapy
The events of my treatment for my knee injury
I play football, around the beginning of the year, after finishing a game I felt my knee was bruised. It hurt a little at the time but after resting one of two days I was almost recovered. I played football twice again that week. After the next matched my knee really hurt and I could not go upstairs. I thought I hadn't rested it properly. I waited two weeks before trying to play again, now it was too painful to play football so I had to stop in the middle of the game. I went home and after a week, I was able to walk normally. I decided to book an appointment at the sports clinic.
Went to see the physiotherapist in the sports centre at the university.
My knee did not swell, and it was only painful when I put strength on the knee. For example, if I went up the stairs. I explained all this to the physiotherapist and he checked the ligaments were not damaged by moving my lower leg around. He recommended exercises to strengthen my quads. For example, put a pillow between my legs, rest my back against the wall and flex my legs until it was not painful. He said I should stop playing football at least for two weeks and keep with the exercises. If after that period my knee was not improving he said I should go to see my GP.
Went to see my GP.
Two weeks after that, my knee was in exactly the same state. I did the exercises, I even went to the gym to do low impact exercises to strengthen my leg muscles but with no change. So I booked an appointment to see my GP. The doctor opened a file about that injury and I explained the whole thing again. At that point I wanted to get scans done to find out what was wrong with my knee. A month and a half had passed since the last time I played football. I thought I needed to get my knee injury treated so I could go back and play football as soon as possible. The doctor said that before that, he needed to make sure I had done the exercises so he could refer me to a specialist so he gave me a more defined set of exercises to strengthen the quad muscles because he explained, sometimes the knee is not aligned and can be injured because of this. He said that if after 3 weeks my knee did not get better, I should come back and he would refer me.
Got a referral. Went to see the specialist at the County Hospital.
After 3 weeks I felt the same. My knee was not improving so I got an appointment to see my GP again. He said he would refer me to an specialist in the County Hospital. I should wait for a letter from the hospital with an appointment and then call them to confirm. More than three months had passed and I was exactly the same. I could not play football. I decided to go to the gym regularly to get some exercise done since I was not doing any physical activity.
Got X-ray scan for my knee injury
Finally the day to see an specialist for my knee injury arrived. I thought it would be way easier and faster, since I was with a doctor who knows a lot about this type of injury. He checked damage for soft tissue, I explained the whole knee injury and treatment process to him once more. The doctor said he needed to make sure I did not have a piece of bone or a serious problem with my knee. Like bone cancer or something like that. Gulp! I thought it would be easier... I went for X-rays and came back to see the doctor. He ordered three different radiographies of my knee from different perspectives. After the doctor looked at them, he said my bones were OK and it was not a problem of alignment. I was relieved but still not happy because no one knew what was wrong with my knee. He said he was going to order an MRI scan. I needed to wait again for a letter from the hospital for an appointment for the scan. That would happen after two more weeks.
Got MRI scan for my knee injury
I waited two more weeks and finally received the letter. They give me an appointment for an MRI scan but I had to wait another two weeks. I went to the hospital and in less than 15 minutes they took the MRI scan. It consists of putting you inside of a massive tube. You are lying on your back and it is a bit tight there. Some people have claustrophobia issues for this type of scan. The machine is quite noisy, so in my case, they gave me ear phones and I listened to local radio while different noises were buzzing my knee.After my scan which was not showed to me, I have to wait three more weeks for an appointment to see the doctor and finally find out what the problem with my knee is.
Seeing the doctor after the MRI scan
I finally saw the doctor after getting the MRI scan for my right knee. I didn't have to wait much this time once I was at the hospital. However, this time I was taken to a different room. I thought I would be given the needed surgery news. I waited there for 25 mins and finally the doctor arrived. The first thing he asked was: how have you been doing since the last time? I said how the pain had been increasing and how now my knee hurt not only when I went upstairs or put weight on it but only by flexing it. It had got worse since last time for sure. He said he had seen the MRI scan and the good news were that I didn't need surgery. My knee was swollen but it could recovered with a good physiotherapy program. I was a bit skeptical, it was almost like telling me that all the pain along these months was suposed to be ficticious.
He said that what happened was that the knee cap went out of place and it was running over the wrong place and that was why it was so painful. He had a look at my knee and he said that by strenghthening the leg muscles it was possible to get the knee cap back in place. He said that I could go back to playing football very soon. Just needed to follow the therapy by the book...
Knee Physiotherapy
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)