Suggest Treatment For Knee Pain After An Injury

Posted on Thu, 21 Aug 2014

Question: I recently fell on my left knee, it wasn't on a hard surface in fact I think it was on a spring bed. However it has been 1 month now and I've been experiencing extreme sharp pain right below my knee cap every time I fully bend my knee, bending down to tie shoes is extremely painful. aside from that I have good use of my leg and knee and there is no swelling or bruising visible. my question is that if its been 1 month and I've seen little to no improvement what should I do? I'm also in a foreign country, I do have health coverage but there are little to no English speaking doctors so if I go to a hospital I need to be clear in what I think the issue is otherwise they will misdiagnose me or send me for tests and treatments I don't need. any advice you could provide on the matter would be greatly appreciated. thank you.

Answered by Dr. Dr. Praveen Tayal (40 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Your internal structures in knee are injured.

Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thanks for posting your query.
You must have hurt your internal structures in knee due to the fall, which are anterior/posterior cruciate ligament, medial/lateral collateral ligament, medial and lateral menisci, joint capsule, synovium, crossing muscles, bone cartilage and bone itself. It needs proper clinical examination and relevant investigations to diagnose which among these is hurt. These are best visualized on MRI (Magnetic Resonant Imaging).

A pair of knee supports can add to stability and decrease the pain. But that again depends on your exact condition. Since you don't have relief, proceed with MRI.
I hope this answers your query.
In case you have additional questions or doubts, you can forward them to me, and I shall be glad to help you out.
Wishing you good health.
Regards.
Dr. Praveen Tayal.
For future query, you can directly approach me through my profile URL http://bit.ly/Dr-Praveen-Tayal

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Dr. Praveen Tayal (1 hour later)

thank you for the advice, I do understand the benefits of getting an MRI however even though I have health insurance I would still need to go out of pocket for an MRI. is there a less costly examination I could seek in order to get it diagnosed, such as an xray? I'll also be back home in my home country where I'm covered and have English speaking doctors. the pain is manageable provided I don't over bend my knee. my main question would be is it likely or possible that I'm further damaging my knee ligament or could I wait to get it fixed. its been a month now, I was hoping it was a quick xray and maybe could get fixed without much trouble. is it possible my knee is dislocated or if it is a torn ligament what is the treatment to get it fixed? thanks so much for your help, I look forward to hearing back from you.

Answered by Dr. Dr. Praveen Tayal (29 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Soft tissue injury likely.

Detailed Answer:
Hello.
Thanks for writing again.
X-ray cannot detect any soft tissue injury. It is used to detect a bony injury only. In your case a bone injury is not likely. So X-ray will not help. The injury does not seem to be a severe one as there is not much pain on weight bearing. You can wait for a few weeks for the proper treatment. Till then you can arrange an elastic knee brace to support the injured knee.
It is likely to be a partially torn ligament where rest and avoiding all painful movements will help in healing of the ligament spontaneously.
Hope my answer is helpful.
Do accept my answer in case there are no further queries.
Regards.

Note: For further queries, consult a joint and bone specialist, an Orthopaedic surgeon. Book a Call now.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar