Okay, about 3 years back I, hoping to relive my forgotten youth, hurt my knee while playing indoor soccer. I love indoor soccer and had (note the term had) played it for 4 years prior to the injury. I was not raised on soccer, but coached youth soccer when I got involved.

Pretty much I was guarding a player who went through my right knee. I can remember seeing the knee moving from a normal stance to bending in a manner it shouldn't, straght out from my body to the right. As I lay on the ground gasping in pain, I can remember telling myself that my game was disc golf, not indoor soccer. Since that day I have not played indoor soccer again. I cannot even kick a ball without feeling some pain in my right knee.

I did go to a sports specialist in Orthopedics (spelling?) and after x-rays and MRI scans he told me that I fortunately did not tear the ACL, just the MCL. Anyway, I wear an ace type bandage for a knee brace everytime I play now. I tried to go without a brace and it seems that on hot summer days my knee is loose. When my knee feels this way, I tend to fall down and yell.

I play well with a bandage (see '06 World Ams), but I sure would like to tighten up my knee. Occasionally, even with a brace, I can torque my knee, but I only yelp when that happens. The problem tends to occur on drives or up shots, but is not limited to long drives or long up shots. Any help here?

have surgery this coming winter

What type of tear did you have on your MCL? I just got through with 3 months of PT on my left MCL/medial renticulum. I had a class II tear. Surgery is NOT recommended for anything other than a class III. Class III is a complete tear. Class I and II are varing degrees of partial tears.

At PT, I did strengthening exercises to stabilize the knee. I also had ultrasound treatments on the affected area as well as some electrically administered steroids. Those were fun. /msgboard/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

My PT guy emphasised the strengthening aspect of the rehab. Because you injured your right knee, it is probably twice as important because you are twisting and not just pushing off.

Honestly, I got more practical information from the PT guy than my orthopedic guy. I guess I was just a woman with at twisted knee and not a "real athelete". :mad:

So far after the PT, I have been able to play pain free. Granted, I'm not trying to set the world on fire. Good luck!

I think I've earned the right to chime in here..Tore my ACL fully 10 years ago playing hockey..last Sept I had a grade IV tear, where I tore my ACL, MCL and miniscus on left knee (playing disc golf.) I had the ACL replaced w/ a cadavor graft both times, the MCL repaired and the frayed miniscus removed.

My advice, as Anita said, is to work on strengthening the leg and knee.

I'm also obese, and a big part of the problem is the continual strain on my knees due to weight. If you have pounds to shed, do it!

Most MCL tears do not require surgery, but you do need to seek professional rehabilitation centers to get the knee back to 100%.

Also start popping glucosamine. The pills I take daily are huge, and look and smell like ground up seashells (derived from shellfish, the label tells me.) I cant tell how much it's helped, but it cannot hurt (and PT tells me my progress was at or above scheduled progress.)

I'd also recommend a hinged brace (they can get expensive, but insurance might cover it.) I had a custom brace made for me after the first ACL tear so I could continue w/ hockey. Disc golf puts less stress on the knee, and I've found it more of a hinderance than a help (I say that now, but I'll probably tear it again at some point and curse myself for not wearing it.)

Good luck with your recovery!

- doot

In 2000-2001 I was playing and practicing a lot. 2-3 times per week we'd play 9 or so holes of gorilla skins in which I was throwing a lot of rollers as hard as I could. My knees would get very swollen to the point I had trouble walking for a couple days after playing 3 rounds in a day.

The docs said by feel that nothing was torn inside, but I never had an MRI. Through the following actions I eliminated 90% of the problem. I still have minor knee aggravations, but nothing that hinders my play and normal walking.

1) Bicycling
2) Better stretching warmup, particularly the shoulders, back, and waist. Daily stretching.
3) Transitioning from 10-20% sidearm drives to 30-40%.
4) Transitioning from 50% of my practice on full drives to 10%. I found that throwing 50 smooth, 1/2 power Roc shots improved my tempo, aim, and distance and was much easier on the body.
5) Eliminated the 100% power shot from my play. 85% actually gets me the same average distance, but with much less variance.

I think I've earned the right to chime in here..Tore my ACL fully 10 years ago playing hockey..last Sept I had a grade IV tear, where I tore my ACL, MCL and miniscus on left knee (playing disc golf.) I had the ACL replaced w/ a cadavor graft both times, the MCL repaired and the frayed miniscus removed.



They need to get a better class of cadavor if the replacement ACL lasts only 10 years! :D

That sounds like a nasty bunch of surgery. Makes my feel like I got off easy.

Biking is great because it strengthens the quads (thigh muscles). Those seem to be the main cuprit in weak knees. Stretching the hamstrings is also very important. Besides the glucosamine, I also take bromolain which comes from pineapples, I believe. It is suppose to promote ligament heatlh.

I think I've earned the right to chime in here..Tore my ACL fully 10 years ago playing hockey..last Sept I had a grade IV tear, where I tore my ACL, MCL and miniscus on left knee (playing disc golf.) I had the ACL replaced w/ a cadavor graft both times, the MCL repaired and the frayed miniscus removed.



They need to get a better class of cadavor if the replacement ACL lasts only 10 years! :D





No no..hockey was right knee 10 yrs ago, left knee was last Sept.

Knee is about 90% after 10 yrs of the replacement ACL. I cannot complain. I'd like to think the dude's name was Neil.

AND, since my last injury in Sept, my putting and standstill accuracy have improved 10 fold. My rating keeps going up, even though I lost probably 100' distance on my drives.

Hopefully by August I'll be close to 100% again..

I tore my MCL playing Soccer serveral years ago, I had surgery (outpatient) and was running again within 2 weeks without pain. It's been 4 years and I am still pain free. If physical therapy isn't doing the trick I would consider surgery, it has been an excellent choice for me. Also, I went to a university hospital and had the doctor (at sports medicine clinic) who works on the collegiate atheletes oversee the proceedure. **Note: If you do go in for Surgery at a teaching hospital I would suggest that you do it in the Summer before mid September, that way you will have an experienced 3rd year resident cutting you, most programs shift in September.

Dude, the new residents start in July. All you'll get in Mid-September is someone who's had just enough time to get really sleep deprived.

Dude, the new residents start in July. All you'll get in Mid-September is someone who's had just enough time to get really sleep deprived.



Ahhh yes, but Dr Taft told me that they usually won't let them start cutting on their own until Sept/Oct :D

Thank God for insurance!!



Dude, the new residents start in July. All you'll get in Mid-September is someone who's had just enough time to get really sleep deprived.



Ahhh yes, but Dr Taft told me that they usually won't let them start cutting on their own until Sept/Oct :D

Ligament injuries take a very, very long time to heal, so have patience. The best you can do if you do not opt for surgury is constant PRICE - Protect, Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevate. Surrounding / supporting muscles such as the quads and hamstrings can be strengthened to support the joint, but be careful not to create an imbalance between left and right because that's when pelvic rotations occur, which inevitably leads to low back pain. Pay attention to how much you favor the damaged leg and how much strain you're putting on the good one.

Welllll....... It looks like after reinjuring my knee this past weekend I will either be getting some major ACL work done or getting a torn meniscus repaired. I am praying for the meniscus.

Welllll....... It looks like after reinjuring my knee this past weekend I will either be getting some major ACL work done or getting a torn meniscus repaired. I am praying for the meniscus.



No doubt!

When I injured my knee if felt like I just found a big stack of money when the doctor told me it was "only" a class 2 tear of the MCL and medial renticulum. I know a lot about knee physiology now.... more than I ever thought I would.

Good luck.

After 3 bucket-handle tears of medial meniscus & 1 bucket-handle tear of lateral meniscus, I'd almost welcome a ligament injury at this point. Any more meniscus injuries & my right knee will officially be a "cartilage-free zone". :(