Knee "Slipping": Dealing with a Recurring Injury

[TheStatutoryApe]

So I have a bad knee. The ACL was stretched and slightly torn several years ago and I needed to get surgery. Since then it has happened occasionally that my knee feels as though it "slips" slightly out and back into the joint. I suppose this may also be the ligament "slipping". Either way there is a distinct "slip" sensation and the knee goes out from under me for just a second before it is stable again.

At any rate it typically hurts a while and swells a bit but I can pretty much walk it off no problem. Last night at work though my knee "slipped" and left me hardly able to walk. Since then it does not seem to have gotten any better though I was unable to get ice for it until several hours later. I also tried a knee brace but it seems to actually hurt more trying to get around with it on than with it off. I am still able to bend my knee within a limited range of motion (can not be fully extended or fully folded but most range is still there).

So anyone ever have any similar issues?

By the way, yes I will be going to a doctor if this issue persists. As far as I can tell the only thing I am likely to be told by a doctor is that I should stay off of it for a while, ice it, and keep it elevated (which I am doing currently) or I need surgery again. So if it does not get better over a couple days I will go to a doctor. I only want to try figuring out what this "slipping" sensation is and what sort of thing I might expect.

 

[Evo]

Yeah, since I put that glass through my knee, cut aside my knee cap, cut through the bursa, and just stopped short of cutting through the tendon/ligament whatever, my knee goes out on me. My doctor says I will need knee replacement surgery.

Go see what your doctor says and good luck.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

From a quick look this appears to be a "patellar dislocation" (dislocation of the knee cap [patella]). It also appears that icing and staying off it are the only thing to do really. There are things I should perhaps do when it starts getting better to try keeping it from dislocating more as the dislocations apparently scrap away cartilage and can cause serious damage. So one way or another I should probably go to the doctor when I can to figure out what to do to prevent this in the future. I also need to figure out where I can find a decent knee brace.

 

[Astronuc]

From a quick look this appears to be a "patellar dislocation" (dislocation of the knee cap [patella]). It also appears that icing and staying off it are the only thing to do really. There are things I should perhaps do when it starts getting better to try keeping it from dislocating more as the dislocations apparently scrap away cartilage and can cause serious damage. So one way or another I should probably go to the doctor when I can to figure out what to do to prevent this in the future. I also need to figure out where I can find a decent knee brace.

I used a knee brace/bandage when I injured (pulled) my MCL. It took weeks for the pain to subside, and it took probably close to 6 months to feel normal again.

I did contrasting (hot and cold), wore a knee brace at night and to work, took anti-inflamatory meds (ibuprofen) and generally tried to bend it as little as possible.

 

[Evo]

I had to wear a full leg brace for 6 months. It went from above my ankle to mid thigh, it was a stiff brace that I had multiple straps to fasten, but it did imobilize my knee. It was like a huge splint binding my entire leg and preventing movement.

See what an orthopedic surgeon says.

 

[BeBold]

hi there. From one bad knee to another.
I tore my cartilage in my knee when I was a kid and my knee would go out of place frequently. I once heard this happens often with a torn cartilage. meanwhile, 35 years after my "quadricep plasty" (turns out I also had torn the entire muscle in my leg and spent not only a month hospitalized but a year in a cast!), I have now had a total knee replacement. Sadly they don't tell you that frequenly after having had a large knee surgery, you could later end up with a replacement. Course, my original surgeries were years ago when I was 15 and things were different then.

As for a brace, I would NOT suggest you wear one from CVS etc. but to get one from your dr. They may even want you to get one made specifically to fit your knee and for your issues. Never immobilize a limb without your dr. telling you. a frozen joint can be worse than a painful one. (shoulders being a great example).

As a nurse, I see many folks trying to cure themselves when a professional opinion can prevent needless time in pain and worse, don't even more damage to an already damaged limb. See a dr before doing any brace etc. Ice and heat is only palliative. It doesn't cure anything and once it's removed, the help it offers is done. Ice/cold is better for inflammation however. It might help ease the pain for a short while and perhaps reduce the inflammation while it is on. Reducing pain is a good goal when you are hurting - even if it's only short-lived.

 

[jd12345]

Wow i thought its a rare injury but seems like other people have suffered through it too.
Mine happened during a football match, a nasty collision and the knee popped out of its place and after a few minutes it got back in its place. It took 6 months to recover. My pain went after i went to the doctor and he sucked out the blood caused by internal bleeding.

 

[gravenewworld]

If your knee is moving out of place, it sounds like you have something wrong with either your ACL or PCL.

Your doc will probably do a drawer test:



Someone with something wrong with their patella and patellar ligament would have trouble with leg extension or going up the stairs since they act to help increase the moment force across the knee joint.

 

[jbrussell93]

I tore my ACL skateboarding in 8th grade and the doctor told me that it was only a sprain. A couple of weeks later, it went out again in gym class... exactly as you described only it went far enough that I was unable to walk for about a week and it swelled like CRAZY. Only after going back to the doctor and getting an MRI did they discover that it was torn. They gave me a knee brace to use while playing sports because I was too young to get surgery at that time. My knee "went out" an additional 3 times (while skateboarding... I know ) before I ever got surgery. Needless to say, the brace did not work. Actually, it was worse when my knee went out with the brace on because it was not able to pop back into place correctly and I would have to do it manually. Each time I was left on crutches for about a week and after that no pain. About two years after surgery, I tore it again (skateboarding), but this time was different. My knee went out but didn't swell as badly and I didn't have to use crutches. The doctor said that it was only partially torn this time, but that he didn't recommend surgery again with the caveat that I should "taking it easy" from now on. It sounds like you may be in a similar situation, so I thought I would share.

And yes I still skateboard

 

[MrSid]

I also have an injured knee that many years later was diagnosed via MRI as ACL tear and a torn meniscus injury. some thirty years later, it too also "goes out" and can prevent me from walking without a cane and a great deal of pain. Diagnosis is the first step...

While in the appointment for the MRI, some twenty years after the initial injury, the doctor was able to show a young doctor (I presume intern) a technique by folding up the knee with one hand on the calf below and the other on the thigh above in opposition and with a clever twist, that popped the knee back in and removed the pain. I was amazed and came to a realization that all of my instances of having the knee go wonky had to do with planting that foot and executing a twist turn while balanced on that leg.

Now I avoid those kind of motions, especially when it is cold, and have been relatively free of the worst of it. On those occasions where I have felt the electric tingle of having made a twist, I stop and pull my knee up to my shoulder in as straight a motion as possible and allow it relax. The bursa will swell, so that I next wrap the knee (I get a rash from ACE wraps so I use a cotton tube sock with toe cut out). This controls the swelling, keeps the knee warm, and it strengthens within a day. BTW the doctor also said that surgery was the option, but said it was not advisable since I didn't claim any desire for sports like skiing, and such... upshot, he said just be careful;-)

 

[Pythagorean]

I have a messed up TI ever since I did a 15 mile mountain hike (my knee went out half way through and I had to limp out). Now if I do too much impact walking (long walks on pavement or uphill at all) my whole leg from knee to hip gets tight and sore. If I hike up a mountain, hiking back down hurts like hell!