what is your opinion/diagnosis on what happened to my knee?
I will try and make this as detailed as possible!!
About three weeks ago, I was at gymnastics practice tumbling on the tumble trak. (a tumble trak is a long trampoline that is less bouncy.) On this equipment I was working on fulls and arabians where you twist in the air. After I got done with the tumble trak, I went to stretch out on floor and found myself limping and in a lot of knee pain. I realized, that there was not a single moment on the tumble trak where I had shooting pain. It was AFTER i was done tumbling. The next morning, I woke up and my knee was in a ton of pain once again. The pain was on the back left side and a little on the top left side for the most part. It was pretty swollen and could not straighten nearly all the way. It was very painful to walk on and I limped for the rest of the next two days because it still would not straighten completely. By the end of the week, the swelling and pain had reduced. I went back to tumbling and the pain was not too bad during tumbling, but definitely hurt after practice. I could describe the pain as though when your elbow locks up and you have to straighten it super fast and pop it if you know what I mean. Also, when I would stretch, it felt like I was very very sore in my knee up through my hamstring. It has been three weeks since and I have not gone back to tumbling as advised by my trainer. My knee still is slightly swollen and when i stand up straight with my knees next to each other, i can see that my left knee still is not completely straightened out. when I straighen my knee as far as i can, there is pain on the back left side still as well as along the top of my knee cap. I would still describe that pain as "the need to pop your elbow" sort of pain. I do not have very much pain at all however when I am not participating in physical activity or just sitting around. It is after physical activity that the pain comes back. (i have not gone to practice in a few days) Last week, I didn't go to practice for two days and felt like the pain was gone (unless i attempted to straighten my knee) Then, I went back to practice and the pain came back again. I saw a trainer who told me this is a possible meniscus tear. what is your opinion? Thanks so much for the help!
Public Comments
1. This happened to me too. My mom said that I probably just tore/strained a muscle behind my knee. And after a while of limping and complaining, it finally went away. Don't worry!2. I would also point to a slight meniscus tear. Depending on how you landed, other things to consider are the LCL (lateral collateral ligament). This would explain pain on the side of the knee.
Its possible that you strained or tore different ligaments. Ice the knee, take time off until it feels better, take Ibuprofen for the inflammation, use a knee brace during the day, off at night. When it feels better, ease into the routine again, ask your strainer for some knee rehab exercises to help strengthen it slowly. You can never rule out the ACL too - the most common knee injury in sports - especially in females.
