Mcl

[Kines]

Anyone out there lived through a medial collateral ligament tear? I was finishing my last lap on the MTB yesterday, going very fast and strong, took way too much air on the last drop, and met a tree.

I haven't been to the orthopedist yet, but it's pretty obvious when putting weight on it, my knee goes in and my foot goes out.

So, I'm just sitting here in misery over a lost cyclocross season and maybe a lost 2007 MTB season, and I'm not looking for "boo hoo" sympathy, but hoping that maybe someone else can share their experience and give me an optimistic outlook.

I yelled at myself a lot yesterday.

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[L84dinr]

K, sorry to hear about your accident.
I have a complete tear in my left knee (M/C RR accident) of the mcl. Went to the doc, the doc had a mri done, and he pretty much did nothing. They didn't repair mine... A couple of years later another Doctor, one my wife visited to repair her torn acl, stated the same thing, no fixxee a torn mcl. Didn't think I'd ever run again. One day I was running and stopped and thought WOW, no pain.

Good luck.

[KJMUNC]

I sprained and/or tore both MCL's playing college football so I can empathize at what a bummer that is. Your best bet is to keep ice on it today, stay off it and call a good Doc in the morning. Hopefully it's just and MCL or something even less, but you'll have to get it checked out to be sure.

I was back on the field after 4-6wks weeks of rehab (I was lucky and didn't have surgery), but that was with daily treatment from the training staff. They had me back on a stationary bike after 2wks, so you might not lose as much fitness as you think. Since the MCL handles your lateral stability, pedaling doesn't put too much strain on it. It it turns out to be an ACL injury, it could be several months before you're back on the bike again.

I'm no Doc and knees aren't something you want to self-diagnose or treat, but hopefully you'll be back on the back by January! Good luck and keep us posted.

[93legendti]

Sorry to hear about your accident. I hit a tree skiing in 1980 and I know they do not move. :(

Probably doesn't help you, but I've had a partially torn ACL in my right knee for 14 years with little difficulty, as long as I avoid sports with rapid stop/start movements. I got 3 opinions--one said cut, one said no surgery and the 3rd said he wasn't sure if I needed surgery.

My MCL is fine. BTW, I think Steve Yzerman tore his MCL and another ligament (not his ACL) in the late 80's and played 15 more years on that knee.

[Ginger]

Rest Ice Elevation Fishoil...(anti inflammitory)
20 minutes on, 20 minutes off repeat while you're still working on swelling.

Me - Severed ACL/Torn MCL after meeting a tree while mountain biking.

Maybe you only stretched it? Let's hope.

About the only thing they might do is put your knee in a brace. If your insurance covers it push for a real brace (mine was a Breg k2) that you can still ride in after the initial healing period not one of those silly neoprene and boning ones.

Back when I did mine I did quite a bit of research and studies have shown you don't benefit from surgically repairing an MCL. Both methods, surgery and just letting it heal turn out with the same result/scar tissue/mobility.

The one thing: Do see a knee specialist tomorrow (I don't go to generalists if I can help it...they're too...general). Don't let the doctor's staff give you the run around. If it's something more serious the sooner they see it the sooner they can get you proper treatment.

Oh yeah...support the knee until you see a doc...like with one of those silly neoprene and boning knee braces. Don't rely on it after you've been seen, and make it clear if the doc says: I want you to keep wearing a brace...this one is fine...that it isn't fine.

Oh, and Physical therapy is your freind.

Oh...and I agree with 93...surgery isn't necessarily necessary if you have damaged your ACL. In fact, they are coming out with new and better treatments all the time, different ways of fixing things and whatnot. Mine was jammed up in the front of my knee and I couldn't straighten the leg out because of it...Even after the MCL healed up I had a pretty serious limp...so in they went.

[manet]

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[mwos]

I went though the torn MCL/ACL event in Jan. Like Ginger said for the MCL, my ortho recommended bracing it, PT and riding my bike on the trainer, with the brace. No surgery. It took about 6 weeks for it to heal.

Bracing prevents side to side or twisting motions, which will aggrevate the injury more.

Kathi

[Kines]

Update, even though I expect no one to really care about my knee:

First of all, thanks for the positive words, it helped me stay optimistic.

I have a "severe" grade II MCL tear (torn, but not completely); the ACL is intact. The worst of it is the contusion to the femur, with "microfracturing" (shows up on MRI, but not plain X-ray films) resulting in lots of blood in my thigh, tracking down my knee and leg - looks horrible and feels worse. My quads were effectively paralyzed for 11 days, and the resulting atrophy is impressive.

Physical therapy has been going well, and I even got on the trainer yesterday (day 20) and pushed the pedals for 20 minutes - it felt really good. As far as getting back to competition, the PT is pessimistic and the Sports Med Ortho Surgeon is even more pessimistic, but I am optimistically planning on the usual 24 hour team race on Memorial Day 2007.

We'll see.

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[Ginger]

Update, even though I expect no one to really care about my knee:
I have a "severe" grade II MCL tear (torn, but not completely); the ACL is intact. The worst of it is the contusion to the femur, with "microfracturing" (shows up on MRI, but not plain X-ray films) resulting in lots of blood in my thigh, tracking down my knee and leg - looks horrible and feels worse. My quads were effectively paralyzed for 11 days, and the resulting atrophy is impressive.

Physical therapy has been going well, and I even got on the trainer yesterday (day 20) and pushed the pedals for 20 minutes - it felt really good. As far as getting back to competition, the PT is pessimistic and the Sports Med Ortho Surgeon is even more pessimistic, but I am optimistically planning on the usual 24 hour team race on Memorial Day 2007.

We'll see.

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We care because one day it could happen to us, or one day it did happen to us and we didn't have anyone to ask...
Listen to your doc...you'll probably surprise them.

Glad to hear that you still have your ACL! But "bruised bone" is pretty painful really...(I've always wondered about that term...microfractures, sounds so much more serious.) but it will be better in 6-10 weeks if it heals well. And the blood draining down your leg is a site to see...has it all pooled in your foot yet? That's always lovely.

That's May 28th 2007? Say three months from today doing PT and letting things heal, then 9 weeks of training before the event? Will that be enough? You won't be as strong as you were when you crashed, but there's a certain maybe there.

Although, if you are braced, if your doc agrees, I'd wear the brace at the event. Not that it keeps you from tearing anything again. It just reminds you to be careful of it.

The MCL really takes a long time to come around totally...at least mine has. I could *do* things, but it didn't stop being painful until two years past the injury.

Are you taking your calcium and iron? Do a little research and make sure you're getting all the nutrients your bones and muscles need to rebuild.

If insurance allows, when you get down to the end when your PT asks contemplate if you're at 80% of what you were when you crashed, not 80% of functional...there's a huge difference.

Good luck on your recovery! Don't slack on the PT!

Ginger

[Kines]

Hey thanks Ginger - for some reason I was putting Mem Day at the beginning of May - that's an extra month I wasn't thinking of - not that I was really counting weeks anyhow...

And as far as getting back out there - sure, I'll be able to ride with the team, but the pessimism from my MD and PT comes from the way I asked the question: "will I make it back to being as fast as I was the past few years?". I'll have a hard time mustering the enthusiasm for going out there if I can't lead the team, or at least be a top runner.

I guess for that, I need to add psychologist to the list of people taking care of me, huh? As my wife chides - "you have a day job - you are NOT a professional cyclist!".

BTW, did you get your range of motion completely back? I'm 160 degrees in my good knee, and I've hit a wall at about 130 in the injured knee.
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