Personal

[Hootowl]

Hoping someone out there has encountered a similar problem. I recently tore my LCL and MCL. Doctors don't think it's bad enough to require surgery but the pain is excruciating. Even a walker isn't much help. Has anyone had a similar situation? Is there anything out there that takes the pressure off the knee? Braces don't help.

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TOPICS: Health/Medicine
KEYWORDS: kneeinjury

[Chickensoup]

Sorry to hear this.

Always under the impression that rest is the cure.

[BamaBelle]

Get a 2nd opinion and stress to doc how much pain you are in.

[rarestia]

Get a second opinion. LCL and MCL tears are not something you should wait out. If it’s a full tear, it needs to be repaired. If it’s a partial tear, it really depends on the severity. If you’re hanging by a thread, your leg should be immobilized, and you should be icing it every hour to reduce swelling.

Consider peptide therapy as well. BPC-157 has shown reduced healing time and better outcomes for ligament tears. I have a partial tear in my Achille’s. I started on a Wolverine Stack (BPC-157 and TB-500), and in 3 months I went from almost constant heel pain to just some stiffness in the AM and feeling fine by 10 AM. It is NOT a pain mitigation solution though.

If you’re in that much pain, get to another doctor. MRI will show the extent of the damage.

[b4me]

I have not dealt with knee injury, but I know cold packing, rest, loosening muscles related to but not directly in the area (so further up or down the leg)can help to some degree to lessen discomfort

I would look up what foods best to provide nutrients body needs to heal the ligament tissue, and incorporate those foods often. Ligament doesn’t get much blood flow so that’s why it takes longer to heal.

If by chance you have extra weight on, try to eat more protein and nutrient dense foods and cut out over eating, highly processed/ low nutrient foods so maybe you can drop excess fat and not lose muscle while you are taking time to be less active to heal. That would make less weight and pressure on your knee.

I came upon this knee wrap in quick search. I don’t know if you look into something along this line may help.
https://kingbrand.com/Knee-Injury-Treatment.php?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23068587113&gbraid=0AAAAADvH3NUE8Uf3-Bry7N8t8xGYHx_zr&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6vS5tc62lwMVG0P_AR2EJyvFEAAYAiAAEgKA5PD_BwE

You could look into infrared heat pad/wrap to use at home. Cold therapy helps reduce inflammation in tissue but infrared heat helps stimulate circulation and can help sometimes heal something’s a little quicker. So you could maybe use the infrared once every day or two. Research online. Also ask Dr, though many times they don’t know much about infrared heat. If you buy an infrared wrap of some kind or hand held device, be sure it’s waves include NEAR infrared, near waves help more for superficial than FAR infrared waves.

Something else was in my mind but I forgot. If I recall it, I’ll let you know.

[b4me]

Agree with rarestia post, get imaging if you haven’t. If surgery needed sooner is better.

PT Was my other thought, sometimes it can make worse if bad tear. If imaging and second opinion says no surgery needed, maybe ask about how long of rest and then could you get PT to restregthen? and also check online to give you an idea of what sorts of things to avoid or to do. There is a YouTube channel El Paso Manual Physical Therapy that has good videos about knees pre and post surgeries. You may find helpful info on there.

[bennowens]

Also get one of those battery powered pain blockers that uses electrodes on the leg and a mild electrical charge to block the pain signal from the leg. That saved me when I had knee surgery.

[Liz]

There is NO pain like that from an Achilles Heel injury.......but ice can help by numbing nerve endings and reducing local swelling during acute flare-ups........it does not speed up actual tendon healing.

[EVO X]

Get a 2nd opinion and stress to doc how much pain you are in.

Double dittos. Over the counter medications work for some stuff but not others. Tylenol works great for some pain and is useless for other pain that requires ibuprofen

[EQAndyBuzz]

As far as the food, an anti-inflammatory diet is best. If you have the resources who can prepare it, I found the Mediterranean Diet the best option. It will also improve your treatment.

[maddog55]

I’ve done both, no surgery but occasional instability and I can be walking now and the knee will just give out but I catch myself...so far. Pain was bad when it happened but didn’t last long. Everyone is different so it’s hard to say. I’ve got two massive rotator cuff tears as well...they don’t hurt most of the time but limited ROM. Doc said I’m well past surgery helping unless the pain is unbearable. Said he can fix that but not the ROM so once again every is different.

[maddog55]

Forgot to mention..braces may not help now but down the road they might. I’ve got several including the mechanical hinge type. Most are slip on..that don’t stay up and the band Velcro type that work pretty good. I’ll wear them working outside occasionally and if the knee swells or gives out. It’s always the damnit movement then back on.

[stremba]

I’m very sorry to hear that you suffered this injury. It’s a very tough one to fatal with. I tore my ACL and MCL about 35 years ago when I was 21, so I understand the pain you are in. There really wasn’t much that helped my pain at that time, so I get your frustration. Over time, though, it did get better and more manageable.

I did have the surgery but it was about two months after my injury. The pain had subsided a good bit by the time I had it, but you will have pain if it isn’t repaired. The surgery itself is no walk in the park though. If you are older and not physically active, that might be why your doctor is recommending non-surgical treatment. The pain after surgery, at least for me, was even more intense than the pain from the injury. At the time I had it, they had me on a patient-controlled morphine pump and I spent the first couple days mostly unconscious except when I woke up pressing my “happy button”. That pain does subside, but you then have a year or so of physical therapy to deal with post-op. It is not an easy recovery.

Overall I am glad I had the surgery, but I was young at the time and I’m not sure how well I’d recover now. It’s possible that things are different now, but definitely make sure you understand what you’ll be dealing with for both options before you make your decision.

[MikelTackNailer]

To physically get around without a wheelchair you can get the elaborate platform crutch

though that looks like too much weight on the healing tissues to me.
Or the Elbow-style forearm crutch or crutches that seem far more practical.

Also good for whomping people who dare laugh at your misfortune. If Walmart or on-line can't hook you up there's always specialty stores near every major hospital.

[AppyPappy]

Stay off it. Ice. Advil. Glucosamine for long term

[GreatRoad]

If you can, water walking in a pool. The motion realigns and relieves stress within about three weeks. Aleve for knee pain.

[GreatRoad]

If you can, water walking in a pool. The motion realigns and relieves stress within about three weeks. Aleve for knee pain.

[Theophilus]

When I hurt my knees I was sleepless. Nothing helped like standing in cold water, I think it causes vasodilation which almost instantly removes the pressure of inflammation. I would stand in my pool for about ten minutes and the effect would last long enough to fall back asleep.

I think the colder the water, the better. Ice packs work too, but not as well as immersion

May God bless you and heal your knees!

[Rockingham]

I suffered from pain due to shingles for many years. Eventually, after years of trial and error, I found a nutritional approach worked.

In your circumstances, I would aim to both alleviate your pain and spur healing. For pain, I would first take Omega XL and an amino acid compound called NAC (N-Acetyl-Cysteine). Expect these to take up to several weeks before pain noticeably diminishes as inflammation is reduced.

For more immediate pain relief, use over the counter pain relief patches and ointments. In my experience, lidocaine and menthol based patches and ointments both work.

To spur healing, take magnesium glycinate, vitamin D, collagen peptides, collagen, branch chain amino acids, benfotiamine, and a good quality general purpose vitamin and mineral supplement. A good diet is also helpful.

As it happens, about half the population is unknowingly deficient in magnesium. In addition, injuries and infections tend to cause localized magnesium deficiencies. This has damaging effects because magnesium deficiency causes inflammation and delays or prevents complete healing.

Unfortunately, magnesium deficiency is hard to remedy because most forms of magnesium are poorly absorbed. Magnesium glycinate though is absorbed fairly well. Benfotiamine is a synthetic form of vitamin B-1 that works even when magnesium is deficient. Vitamin D works in conjunction with magnesium.

In addition, healing requires blood vessels to be repaired so that they may deliver an abundance of oxygen and nutrients in order to heal damaged tissues. Rebuilding blood vessels and healing in general requires collagen, collagen peptides, and amino acids.

Normally, the liver generates them from protein in the diet, but as we age, the output from this process declines. In addition, some tissues like joints and nerves are naturally less able to access nutrients. To remedy these issues, I found that taking supplemental collagen peptides, collagen, and branch chain amino acids worked well over time.

Oddly, as my shingles healed, so also did my wear and tear on my joints and old injuries. My circulation and eyesight even improved.

The supplements I refer to can all be obtained easily in vitamin stores and over the internet. Take as recommended with meals. Good luck.

[Mogger]

I completely ripped my MCL and ACL apart on my left knee in a November about 15 years ago.

Had no pain, just looked funny and couldn't stand on it.

Docs said to do physical therapy which would probably re-attach the MCL and they would operate in August or so, harvesting some tendons from the back of my leg to replace the ACL.

By February saw no results.

Then remembered an Arnold Schwarzenegger book I had listened to.

He recommended for any exercise to have best results to surprise the body, doing them in random order and random times.

I made up a chart to check off each of the 15 exercises to not miss any.

That was when the pain started, not horrid, but enough to get your attention.

In April I went to the doc to get signed off to go back to work.

He said, that's not possible.

I told him to check me.

He signed off, saying it was stronger than normal. I asked, then why doing all of the exercises on a schedule nothing improved, but at random I was quickly healed?

Anyway, give it a shot, hope the pain goes away soon.