did it again, blew out my knee

sammyg2 · 06-04-2008, 09:56 AM

About 7 or 8 years ago I was running back to the pit to get my helmet to pass tech and I stumbled and blew out my left knee. Hardest part was driving home 100 miles without being able to push the clutch in all the way. Only a torn meniscus, no big deal. A little arthroscopic surgery and it was all better after a while.

Last week I was laying sod in my back yard and the next day, ouch. Same thing on my right knee.
Locked up and hurt bad.
I thought I knew what it was but I'm no doctor so I went to see one. Got the results today. MRI shows torn and shredded meniscus and bleeding near the back of the knee cap. Great. Same as the left one was.

I'm going to stay off it for another week and see if it gets better, if not I'll have to have this one fixed too.

I remember being bulletproof when I was young but now that seems like a long time ago. At least my back survived (surgery on it 22 years ago).

BTW, sod is allot heavier than I thought. Should have hired someone but I did it myself cause I'm a stubborn SOB. And dumb. Saved about $3000 tho by hauling in 2 tons of fill and top soil and laying the sod myself....

Wost part is my wife told be that I'm getting too old to be doing stuff like that by myself and I said no way so now I'm going to have to listen to "I told you so" for a while.

oldE · 06-04-2008, 10:05 AM

Oh Man that's gotta hurt!

Last fall I went jogging with my wife and my right knee (the one I 'tweaked' getting off the bike the wrong way 27 years ago) let me know I couldn't do that schit any more.

Getting older still beats the heck out of the alternatives.

Take good care of that knee. That's your gas pedal foot!

Les

livi · 06-04-2008, 11:06 AM

Sorry to hear about your knee, Sammy.

Growing older, I have more and more come to appreciate my grandmothers old saying when we kids used to whine about little things: As long as you have your health, thats the most important thing.

I have a bad back and as much as it may hurt sometimes, it is mostly just really irritating feeling like an invalid.

Rikao4 · 06-04-2008, 11:56 AM

do rest, as for getting better...kaputt means kaputt.
So we look forward to your tale of surgery,hot nurses, and crutch follies.

Rika

JeremyD · JeremyD's Garage

Rest up sammy - laying sod sucks the big one - it's very hard work (and I do the same thing to save money)

Tobra · Tobra's Garage

You old heads need to start working on your strength and flexibility, or knock the cobwebs off your wallet and pay some young buck to do your heavy lifting.

Markus, if you do core strenghtening stuff, abdominal muscles, stuff Pilates works on, your back will give you less trouble. Similar deal for a knee. Stronger muscles around a joint will stabilize it and you should have less problems. If you are getting surgery, do some physical therapy stuff prior to surgical intervention and you will be able to recover much more quickly

Tobra · Tobra's Garage

You old heads need to start working on your strength and flexibility, or knock the cobwebs off your wallet and pay some young buck to do your heavy lifting.

Markus, if you do core strenghtening stuff, abdominal muscles, stuff Pilates works on, your back will give you less trouble. Similar deal for a knee. Stronger muscles around a joint will stabilize it and you should have less problems. If you are getting surgery, do some physical therapy stuff prior to surgical intervention and you will be able to recover much more quickly

jyl · jyl's Garage

You guys do a lot of running in your youth?

I ran X-C in high school, but not since. And my knees, ankles, feet are fine here in my forties.

I used to have a girlfriend who was a lean, athletic runner, 7+ fast miles every day, and even in her late 20's (this was quite a while ago), her knees were giving out. It was scary.

Mule · 06-04-2008, 01:31 PM

Might as well get it fixed. Otherwise it will nag you continually.

DanielDudley · 06-04-2008, 06:49 PM

Yup. Get it over with. And if you can figure out a way to turn the down time into a plus- go for it.

gchappel · 06-05-2008, 02:58 AM

Unfortunately a torn meniscus is not going to repair itself. A couple of weeks rest might calm it down a little, but it will simply act up again the next time it gets tweaked. I shattered my tibial plateau 18 weeks ago mountain biking so I feel your pain. My orthopedic surgeon had a good line- the healing doesn't start until the surgery is over.
Rehab is a *****.
gary

KFC911 · 03:35 AM

I haven't had an ACL and had a lot of a torn meniscus removed (aftermath of a fractured tibia) in one knee 20 years ago. Of course I can't do what I used to do, but it's not an issue anymore...yep, I used to run, basketball, etc. and it took its toll. Viewing x-rays taken a few years apart many years ago, I could see the "buildup" from where the meniscus had been removed, and I knew then that I had to "give it up" or pay dearly later (arthritis). Good luck and build those muscles up surrounding both knees with a good rehab/physical therapy program.

ps: Definitely see a specialist and consider having an orthroscopy to "clean it out"...BTDT, and it's no biggie.

sammyg2 · 06-05-2008, 10:21 AM

Yep, already have an appointment with one of the best knee specialists in north OC but it's not till a week from Monday. Guess he's a busy guy.
Hopefully he'll agree with the MRI guy's report that it's only a meniscus and not a tendon. When i had the meniscus on the other knee fixed I was back climbing stairs in two weeks.

Just for fun I took my IR temperature gun and shot both knees.
88 on the good knee, 93 on the bad one. Time for more ice packs. Or beer. Beer's are cold, right?

Jim Richards · 06-05-2008, 10:23 AM

Beer cools from the inside out. Drink plenty. You'll be fine.

KFC911 · 10:29 AM

[QUOTE=sammyg2;3985633... Time for more ice packs. Or beer. Beer's are cold, right?[/QUOTE]

You only need the ice packs for retrieving the first few beers

ps: You may already know this trick (I learned it from a PT years ago), but I freeze small dixie cups of water and peel away part of the paper and they make great "ice packs" as the melting ice directly on your knee works great.

sammyg2 · 06-05-2008, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KC911

You only need the ice packs for retrieving the first few beers

ps: You may already know this trick (I learned it from a PT years ago), but I freeze small dixie cups of water and peel away part of the paper and they make great "ice packs" as the melting ice directly on your knee works great.

Ouch, frostbite. I have to wrap the ice with a couple of layers of towels or I can't keep it on the skin very long. Guess I'm a softie

I can keep a really cold beer on my knee for about 5 minutes max, then I have to drink it. And get another. I have an ice chest next to the 'puter so I don't have to walk far. Now all i need is one of them RV camodes. Or a really big gatorade bottle

eeeewwwww. TMI.

jeffgrant · 06-05-2008, 11:02 AM

When I did my knee (MC, LC, ACL), I used a bag of frozen vegetables wrapped in a towel, and kept a few extras in the freezer.

They conformed to the knee really well, and were pretty quick to re-freeze.

Just be sure to Sharpie/label the bags you use so you don't go and cook them up a month later... ask me how I know!