I injured my left knee (sprain) during a sporting event 6 weeks ago. First few days I followed the self-care directions (cold packs, elevated above heart while sleeping, no load on the weak knee etc.). There is no significant pain but when I wake every morning there is stiffness, swelling in the knee area and a dull pain until I warm up with some strech exercises. After a warm shower it is ok. But by evening, the pain is back with a bit of swelling.
What advice you have for me to get back strength in my knees. I am dying to get back to my favorite sport - Tennis.
2007-02-12 21:55:28 · 10 answers · asked by lusktuffar 3 in Health ➔ General Health Care ➔ Pain & Pain Management
The first piece of advice is don't overdo it too early on. Jumping right back into Tennis is a sure way to make this a chronic injury.
Second, buy a knee brace that holds the patella (the Knee Cap) in place. You can identify them because they usually have a hole missing in the center to guide the cap of bone and cartiledge that completes the articulation of the joint.
Third, start your conditioning in the water. Start by warming up with a walk around the shallow end of a pool. The extra pull will give you a decent workout without any large range of movement. Move up to squat thrusts under the water--remember to breath above the water, it's something easy to forget.
Add a light jog, of maybe quarter to half a mile in the morning after a good stretch. Wear your knee brace religiously. The added support will help you gain confidence in the knee and protect it less. When you start to feel only a twinge of movement in the bandage you can start adding Tennis back into your day.
You may wear out a couple of bandages before you're fully healed and recovered to where you were 6 months to three years. You may find that having the knee brace helps to give you security in the knee for some time to come.
Good luck
2007-02-12 22:05:54 · answer #1 · answered by Jason W-S 4 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Hello, Does it especially hurt when you slightly bend it and put pressure on it? If so, then it is probably the anterior cruciate ligament which makes a cross kind of formation right around the knee to lock it in. This is a very common impact injury; but can be caused by slow stress such as from an altered gait when carrying an injury. Another thing to check for will be an arthrosis, so a joint grinding effect. Prepare for a long recovery. Because you use your knee so much, naturally, it will take a long time to heal. If the big go-to pain-relievers haven't helped, we can expect that a trip to an orthopedic specialist is in order. Until then, see if you can get a prescription for a codeine type analgesic, (UNLESS you have a known reaction to codeine). This will help better than the NSAIDs and Tylenol. Best wishes for a full recovery. But it may take some weeks, even months to get it back to a sound condition.
2016-03-29 04:38:07 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
First off is the sprained knee a medical diagnosis or self diagnosis? If you have seen a doctor then you might want to speak with him again and see if he has any further advice. If it is self diagnosis go to the doctor. A knee sprain is the pulling of ligaments and tendons in the knee. These take time to heal. But the danger is you may have tore one and this will require a surgical repair. This is why you should see a doctor. To temporarily relieve the pain and swelling take an advil or some other nsaid. Do not take aspirin as it may cause bleeding and do not take tylenol as it will not reduce inflammation. Continue with the ice packs in the evening and you might try some exercises geared to the muscles around the knee. One of these is particularly good it is a quad set and it is very simple to do. Sit on the floor with you legs extended and tighten your quads. Hold for a count of five. Do 1 or 2 sets of 5 and increase as tolerated. Another to do while on the floor is take a towel and wrap it around your the top portion of your foot. with your leg extended try to pull the foot toward your body. Hold and repeat like above. One more to do on the floor bend your knee wrap the towel around your shin now pull it in towards your body. Hold and repeat like the others. Hope these help. I know they helped me.
2007-02-12 22:13:05 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
pack that knee with ice to reduce your swelling
take Motrin or better yet alieve.
stay off your leg until the swelling goes down.
sometimes you have to wrap in a ace bandage but see a sports trainer or coach as they know a lot about this problem
2007-02-12 21:59:46 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
1
2017-02-19 16:10:34 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Best option is to consult a accupuncture practitioner. You may have to do 10-15 days sitting of 20 minutes each. But accupuncture is very effective and no side effects.
2007-02-12 22:24:22 · answer #6 · answered by mathewspsam 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
First, see a medical professional. He will probably prescribe you anti-inflammatories that reduce swelling, hence, reducing pain.
That doesn't mean you are healed. Better get an MRI.
2007-02-12 22:05:19 · answer #7 · answered by Jrahdel 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Try icy hot that always works for me! maby a pain reliever.
2007-02-12 22:01:39 · answer #8 · answered by Missy 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
put a bandage round it, it worked for me, i could barely walk on saturday, now its fine
2007-02-12 21:57:41 · answer #9 · answered by Russell 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
check out this article which explains how to strengthen knees
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0NAH/is_9_31/ai_80679955
2007-02-12 22:01:50 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋