How long to recover from knee injury?

Question

After a recent fall (2 weeks ago) which severely injured my knee I still have swelling above the kneecap, pain below the kneecap and am unable to completely bend or straighten my leg. How long does this type of injury normally take to improve? An x-ray has revealed no fractures. I also have an area of numbness in my leg following the injury.

Following x-ray hospital told me to go away and keep the leg moving!!! They wouldn't prescribe painkillers but told me to buy paracetamol or ibuprofen. I have been using a knee brace to limit movement but have remained as active as possible.....

Answer 1

Flippin ages! I was knocked down by a car 4 weeks ago and although nothing was broken, I cannot kneel, or fully bend my leg yet. It is a complicated joint the knee with lots of room for swelling and pockets of fluid. Keep off it as much as poss and let mother nature do what she does best...in her own time.

Answer 2

Hi well this all depends how badly you injured your patella(knee).Yes you said there was no sign off fracture on the x-ray but sometimes due to swelling fractures dont always show up,this is why we always ask for a second x-ray 10 days later allowing the swelling to go down abit.You could off either torn a ligament which sometimes takes mths to heal completly or pulled the muscles surrounding the patella,which can take the smae amount off time or longer if not rested enough.Knees do take alot off your weight,this is why sometimes its a long healing progress.Try and rest more and only partial weight bear if can.Borrow some crutches this will help alot.Take regular pain relief like ibrufen as these have also anti-inflammatry in them.Elevate the leg higher then your heart when resting even in bed.And apply a cold compress but not directly on the skin.If your symptoms dont get easier in 10 days go bck to your gp and ask for hes advice,he may refer you to the orthopaedic consultant for a second oppion.Good Luck

Answer 3

If there's no fracture then you must have some kind of traumatized tissue or muscle injury. It can take quite a while, but you can speed it up if you make sure not to get "careless" and move the injury too much. What happens with a muscle (or other non-bone) injury is you can forget to be careful about how you move it and keep re-doing it. Try to keep it as still as possible, and when you walk favor it. Even after it feels better keep favoring it for quite a while after that..

It is difficult to guess how long any individual injury may take to heal. The swelling may stay for a surprisingly long time. Two weeks for this type of injury is not at all surprising. You should probably (if I remember correctly from injuries) notice it feeling better (but still not great) after three weeks or so.

Answer 4

Unfortunately knee and leg injuries can take many week to fully recover as they are constantly having pressure applied to them as they are used. They can suffer from problems other than fractures such as ligaments and cartelidge also birse which leaks a fluid into the knee causing painful swelling and may need steriod injections if it does not heal on its own.

Strong anti -inflamatory tablets may ease the pain to a degree while it is healing such as maximum strength Ibruprofane or better the doctor could prescribe Mobic or an equivelent.

The time of healing will obviously depend on the true nature of the injury and along with your age and the type and amount of use it receives

Answer 5

soft tissue damage should be easing if u followed docs advise suspect u still pretty active.. elevate affected leg whenever possible and take anti inflammitory doc or hospital should have prescribed some.. although damage to anterior knee your hamstrings at the back have shortened so bending leg difficult but easily stretched back once swelling reduces..get back to gp and kick up a fuss as no progress being made ..keep ur chin up

Answer 6

I once have a fracture and it took six months to heal. Since x ray has confirmed there's no fracture, I'm thinking it can take anywhere from 1 and a half month to 3 months.

Answer 7

I had this same question a few months ago. I fell in July. It was September before the swelling was completely gone, and I still have a little stiffness in my knee.

Answer 8

An x-ray only really helps if a bone or something hard is hurt. You should look at getting an MRI, that will help look at the soft tissue.

Answer 9

That will depend on many factors such as the extent of the injury and how you treat the injury if surgery is involved, I suggest that you follow you doctors recommendations.

Answer 10

Anything from 6 weeks to 10 weeks.!!!