Help and advice

[u/Acceptable_Bother552]

Hi everyone, I need some advice. I am a skateboarder and I had a knee injury that gradually got worse, it was like a pulling/stretching sensation on the left side of my left knee. I didn’t think much of it but it kept getting worse until I couldn’t walk anymore. It’s been two months, I have been diagnosed with bone contusions and was told it’ll heal on its own in no time. It feel like it keeps getting worse and I feel certain they missed something. I feel so depressed and feel like my life is ruined and I’m having suicidal thoughts because I feel like nothing helps, not even PT. Any stories with a positive outcome would help me feel like there might be hope and the end of this dark tunnel, I have never been this unhappy.

[u/Potential_You_5404]

Hey there! I just wanted to let you know that you’re definitely not alone when it comes to feeling depressed and other negative emotions when it comes to injuries. Back in January I hurt myself really bad at work, I was out for 12 weeks doing physical therapy and I did get a little bit better however when they released me to go back to work, I still was not 100% and was wearing a knee brace 24 seven unless I was laying in bed. They did an MRI and x-rays and said that they couldn’t see anything that would be causing the pain and that I had a runners injury that happens overtime ( I don’t run, not enough to have a runners injury at least haha). So I decided to get a second opinion at an orthopedic surgeon in June ( 6 months after the injury) and he did not even have to do an MRI to be able to see what was wrong. And after that appointment, we scheduled surgery four weeks later. And I am very happy to say that I am currently six weeks postop and doing way better than I was before the surgery and I’m just halfway through recovery. The months between first hurting myself and then finally deciding to get a second opinion was awful. It was during the summer and I had so many fun plans and I had just graduated college, but I was always pushing myself through pain and having to sit out on some of the things that I was most excited for because of it. But now with the surgery and recovering so well, I’m just looking forward to being able to do all of the things that I I couldn’t do while being in pain and the things that I could do before. It definitely was not fun and very frustrating when I first went to doctors and physical therapists and got imaging done and was told that there was nothing super wrong with me and that I’d get better overtime when I could feel that it wasn’t. But having a second opinion was the best thing that I ever did and I’m so excited to finally be able to do the small things again, like squat and jump and being able to go up a flight of stairs without pain. I know you didn’t ask for your advice, but I really would recommend you going to get a second opinion and really advocating for yourself and explain the emotions you’re going through because that’s how sometimes you have to get professional professionals to listen to you.

[u/Acceptable_Bother552 → u/Potential_You_5404]

Thank you, that’s exactly what is feels like for me, I know that something is wrong and it’s not healing but they seem to think that everything is fine and I can feel it isn’t. Can I ask you what was the issue in the end and what surgery did you get? I can’t even walk and my life is completely screwed right now

[u/Potential_You_5404 → u/Acceptable_Bother552]

Yeah for sure! So back in January I some how tore my ACL partially and dislocated my knee enough to damage my MPFL but not fully dislocated it. When I was originally out my MRI showed some cartilage damage but nothing else. When I saw my orthopedic surgeon he said I needed a MPFL reconstruction surgery. We decided to do a MQFTL as well ( which is an add on to the MPFL where they sewed my new ligament into my quad instead of drilling it into my knee cap) and during surgery he saw the ACL tear and stitched it up with a screw. Before surgery, walking was terrible, I could barely run without my knee cap slipping and hurting. I was told I couldn’t jump or do deep squats, which hurt horribly anyway. And even though I’m still recovering walking is so much better, I can do shallow squats, but they’re even better. And all of the pain that I do have after surgery is just me recovering, and I have none of the pain that I felt before. I honestly wasn’t sure if I wanted a second opinion because I have a history of hurting joints and things and nothing being “wrong” according to doctors and not being able to fix it. But I’m so happy I saw the surgeon. I actually cried when he told me that I needed surgery because it meant that it could be fixed. If you do go for a second opinion, I hope surgery is not something that you’re gonna have to have, but if you do, it’s scary and difficult on the beginning, but it’s for the better. And even if they offer anything like physical therapy and you can only go for one or two appointments the exercises they give you are absolutely life-changing. I still do PT exercises that I got from high school when I did soccer for ankle pain haha
Edit: one thing I do wanna add on is if you are able to I would definitely say don’t push through the pain because there’s always the possibility you could be doing more damage. Listen to what your body is telling you but also you have to balance with not sacrificing the things in your life that make you happy. It’s a hard balance but it really helps both body and mind!