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For those of you who have torn your ACL/MCL

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johnnypsunami
Posts: 5024 - Karma: 221

Could you walk after it happened? Did your knee swell up a lot? Did you hear the infamous 'pop'? Did it hurt a lot after.

I kinda hyper extended my knee on a landing today, kinda worried. I think im gonna go see a doctor on monday. Any info would be appreciated.

PS I know there are other threads about this, but none of them answered these questions directly.

Thanks.

Mar 9 2008 1:19AM
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The_Oakley_Kid
Posts: 3128 - Karma: 179
be worried if you heard or felt a pop

if it swelled up bad something is probably wrong

i torn my mcl, acl, and meniscus at the same time and i could still walk and ski, but as soon as it stopped moving it i could not.

ur best bet is to see a doctor
Mar 9 2008 1:34AM
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hollygrove
Posts: 7845 - Karma: 93
i did my mcl.
-didnt hear it pop
-couldnt walk
-hurt a shit load casue it was only partially torn, they said if it was completely, i wouldnt have felt it.
-swelled up VERY fast.
Mar 9 2008 1:43AM
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Krongos
Posts: 5214 - Karma: 47
i tore my acl twice and it feels like you twist your knee and rips, then you feel a snap or pop and the ripping stops and its real loose and swollen. get an mri and dont ski again until you know exactly what is going on.
Mar 9 2008 3:09AM
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seider
Posts: 958 - Karma: 23
i just found out i tore my acl and i was pissed. when i fell i thought i was going to land, but right when my skis touched the ground i just heard a pop/crunch. I was laying down for a bit, then i finally crawlled over to the side of the landing, 5 minutes after that i poped my one ski on, and side slipped down. I was sitting at the bottom of the park for a bit, then fianlly me and my friends left.

i got home, and was on crutches for 4 days. Then i was albe to walk but with a limp. i saw the doctor 2 days after it happened and he said it wasnt anything too bad, and told me to start putting pressure on it when i was comfortable to, he also told me to get xrays and then after those were taken i found out nothing was broken. and then i saw a sport speciatilist almost two weeks after it happened, and he told me my acl was torn. I was so pissed when i found out, i still dont believe its torn, but i will have to wait untill i get an MRI and then i will know for sure. I even went skiing before i saw the sports speciatalist and i was kind of able to, i was just able to side slip, go straight and switch. I still just cant believe that its torn, i may be in deline that it isnt, but i still didnt think it would be because i thought i was healing fine. Im just hopeing after i get the MRI i will find out its partially (sp) torn.

And if i were you, i would go to a doctor, and see what he says. but i wouldnt be going skiing. good luck, and i hope yours isnt torn.
Mar 9 2008 10:59AM
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I_liketobutter
Posts: 2664 - Karma: 997
I tore my acl, pcl, and later miniscus at the same time. It was from pure impact so i didn't here any popping though it probably made a noise, but i was too busy screaming to think about that haha. It swelled up pretty fast, like within 20 min it was pretty big. I tried to put weight on it and it just gave out like my knee wasn't even there, worst pain ever.

The only suggestion i have is to go see a good sports doctor, and get an mri, not an x-ray, and find out exactly whats wrong. That way you can ski for years to come.
Mar 9 2008 12:22PM
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lyndon
Posts: 7266 - Karma: 128
Never to my ACL/MCL, but i hyperextended my elbow. I heard a ripping and popping noise as it bent back, and it hurt. It didnt swell up too badly, but I was in a sling for about a month, and had physio for 3 months after it. They had to re-build alot of tissue around where it ripped, I just remember most of the muscle tissue was torn, and my lateral epicondyle (sp?) was mangled. It really sucked, but at least it was during the summer.
Mar 9 2008 1:09PM
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hollygrove
Posts: 7845 - Karma: 93
docters are useless.
im lucky to have a very good physio therapist who was able to tell me exactly what was wrong while the doctors just scratched they're heads. Only use them for an MRI.
Mar 9 2008 1:16PM
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Triple_Strum
Posts: 6384 - Karma: 953
I could still walk after tearing my MCL.  It hurts but I was going to try to keep skiing, but when I bent down to buckle my boots again, it really hurt so I stopped.  The doctor said I could have made it much worse by skiing again.  So, go to the doctor.
Mar 9 2008 1:31PM
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kristie
Posts: 1667 - Karma: 214
i didn't hear/feel a pop, but i couldn't walk and it swelled up a lot and i was screaming in pain.  when i  stood on my good leg, the bottom half of my bad leg felt kind of loose and detached.  ski patrol took me down in a sled.  when my boyfriend tore his though, he skied and walked on it and said it didnt hurt that much.  
Mar 9 2008 1:39PM
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dave_uninc
Posts: 335 - Karma: 71
I got an operation on my acl last monday, it wa torn. I didn't hear a pop, but just overshot like a retard
Mar 9 2008 1:44PM
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johnnypsunami
Posts: 5024 - Karma: 221
why do fucking knees have to be so brittle?
Mar 9 2008 2:23PM
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swTroyanchick
Posts: 2616 - Karma: 9

my whole knee cap is fucked up and everything around !!! i can barely walk and i m in huge pain !! going to see the knee doc in 2 days
Mar 9 2008 2:24PM
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dan4060
Posts: 1458 - Karma: 847
I tore my ACL

-  I did hear and feel a loud violent pop.
-  It did not hurt all that much.  I was surprised at how little it hurt.
-  I really did not have much swelling.
-  The doctors said there was not much pain because I tore it completely.  Had it been a partial tear it would have hurt a whole lot more.
Mar 9 2008 2:50PM
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Big--Ben
Posts: 508 - Karma: 296
yea dude for real, I fell and twisted my leg a little bit coming off a rail back in dec, didnt hurt at all.but didnt want to take a chance so got in my car and left by the time i got home i couldnt even walk, turns out i tor cartilage and sprained my pcl. Now i missed the entire season and had to get two suregeries. Knees suck ass this is like my 4th knee injury in the last 4years
Mar 9 2008 3:41PM
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THEDICKBUTCHER
Posts: 3067 - Karma: 673
i couldnt walk after like a month
did swell up a fucking lot
didnt hear a pop but did feel a rip
hurt like a fucking bitch.
surgery this thursday :(
Mar 9 2008 3:51PM
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THEDICKBUTCHER
Posts: 3067 - Karma: 673
^ oh and also it was my acl i think my mcl too it was already messed up tho
Mar 9 2008 3:52PM
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eheath
Posts: 61603 - Karma: 123,072
I tore my acl, i felt the pop, i could walk, but it was tough. I got pretty swollen, but i took like a week of from skiing and iced it and ski for a month after that, although i didn't know i tore my acl until may.
Mar 9 2008 4:49PM
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Dustin.
Posts: 13839 - Karma: 7,704
I was playing soccer with my roomate a week ago and he came down hard, heard a pop, couldn't walk and it swelled HUGE.  It was a partially torn MCL.
Mar 9 2008 5:40PM
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Pirruccio
Posts: 1301 - Karma: 70
i have that right now
hopefully mine heals quick so i can get skiing
Mar 9 2008 5:49PM
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Rapt0r
Posts: 2041 - Karma: 10
parcially torn MCL in park city's pipe
could walk but with difficulty and pain
heard a pop

it sucked, but it healed on it's own
Mar 9 2008 6:11PM
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Edward.
Posts: 9366 - Karma: 445
this is what happens before surgery:
-your
Mar 9 2008 6:13PM
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mikee
Posts: 7813 - Karma: 5
this thread scares me! a lot!
Mar 9 2008 6:16PM
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Edward.
Posts: 9366 - Karma: 445

yea if you heard a pop thats definitely torn or at least partially torn. also if you feel like you cant put much weight on the leg, thats another symptom. but your leg will feel fine and you will probably be able to walk on it fine about a week after the tear.

Mar 9 2008 6:17PM
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THEDICKBUTCHER
Posts: 3067 - Karma: 673
how can soo many ppl walk after like a week!!?? believe me i hatee crutches and i tried to walk evertime but i just couldnt after about a month!!! it was my acl and i think some of my mcl and it hurt sooo much i dont understand how some people even ski like this!! beileve me anything for skiing i would ski if i could idc its jsut soo hard to even do squats!
Mar 9 2008 6:27PM
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meggles
Posts: 3156 - Karma: 54

My knee definitley swelled up- had to get it drained. Shit's painful.

Heard the pop

I couldn't walk on it after maybe an hour or so, but it got better after that and the limp gradually became less and less until I had surgery. Then it started all over again. I was on crutches for 3-4 days..I hated them.

It didn't hurt immediately, but I knew I fucked something up.  Maybe half an hour later it hurt to the point where I couldn't walk. Getting it drained hurt so bad..and the first week or two after surgery really hurt. That pain was more achy than anything but it didn't go away. Thank god for hydrocodine.

Mar 9 2008 6:47PM
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THEDICKBUTCHER
Posts: 3067 - Karma: 673
thats scary im getting surgery in 4 days i reeeaally dont wanna since i can finally walk!! anyone tell me exactly how surgery went for you i dunno what to expect but pain after it... help!
Mar 9 2008 7:05PM
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meggles
Posts: 3156 - Karma: 54
What type of graft are you getting?  I had a hamstring graft.  My surgery went fine, but as I "woke up" in Recovery, I learned that I had a terrible reaction to the anestesia and I couldn't stop crying when I tried to talk..that kinda sucked.  It was pretty achey and painful from the time I woke up in Recovery till a week or so later. Make sure you don't slack off during Rehab!
Mar 9 2008 7:36PM
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kristie
Posts: 1667 - Karma: 214
It hurts really bad and you loose all your range of motion, ability to support weight, etc., for a while.  But they give you sweet drugs, so it's okay.

Do your physical therapy.  


Someone should invite all these people to the ACL Survivors cult.
Mar 9 2008 7:39PM
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poofartpee
Posts: 7436 - Karma: 1,538
dude trust the sports doctor...my home doctor said i did nuthin to my knee and just drained fluid from it every time it swelled up for like 3 months...he finally sent me for an MRi and i had completelly torn my ACL and since he was such a dumb fuck i had torn both sides of my meniscus as well since my knee was unstabble for such a long time
Mar 9 2008 7:58PM
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THEDICKBUTCHER
Posts: 3067 - Karma: 673
thank you megges and kristy too ive heard some ppl even cant stop shaking cuz of anesthesia that kinda scares me but  i gotta deal with it anything for skiing for suuure

pleeeaase i need an invite to the acl survivors!  i requested an invite but no one has answered :(
Mar 9 2008 8:06PM
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jerad
Posts: 3236 - Karma: 47
i could walk, but it HURT (only because i tore my meniscus as well though, and that was causing the pain). Swelling? Oh yeah, a lot of it. And the pop? Heard and felt it.

get yourself checked out as soon as possible, thats the best thing to do...
Mar 9 2008 8:08PM
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meggles
Posts: 3156 - Karma: 54

Word, I went to a regular doc at first and he said it was probably just a sprain.  I went to a "sports doctor" right afterward and he knew what was up.

Mar 9 2008 8:09PM
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seider
Posts: 958 - Karma: 23
ya i trust my sports doctor. i now know my knees fuck. when was walking earlyer today, my knee sudenly gave in, and it bent sideways when i took a step. it hurt sooo much, not as bad as when i originally hurt it, but it still hurt alot and now my knees even more swolen.
Mar 9 2008 8:11PM
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SteezeOnStage
Posts: 445 - Karma: 165
With me, i did'nt hear the pop, and when i got to first aid i could walk, i did'nt use crutches before surgery, all i did was bike an hour everyday and work-out. after surgery was bad i was out for 1 1/2 weeks bed-rest and i got sick after surgry. Im on PT now and its been les than a month and im walking great, and during surgery my doc found out that i also partially ripped my meniscus.
Mar 9 2008 8:50PM
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Big--Ben
Posts: 508 - Karma: 296
Oh damn I thought an acl tear put you on crutches for a lot longer than that, I go in for surgery this week to rebuild cartilage and then ill be on crutches for the next 6 weeks,
Mar 9 2008 9:48PM
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meggles
Posts: 3156 - Karma: 54

My surgeon told me to stay on 'em as long as I felt like I needed them.. what the hell did you do where you need to be on crutches for 6 weeks Ben?

Mar 9 2008 9:52PM
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reBlocke
Posts: 762 - Karma: 1,502
When I tore my ACL I didn't hear a pop,  kept skiing the rest of the day, and it was fairly swollen but not to the point where I couldn't walk.  I didn't even get it checked out until I went in really hard on a soccer challenge and could feel my knee move how it shouldn't about a month later.  Your leg can function pretty well with a torn ACL, especially in activities where your leg is almost never relaxed or there is no lateral movement.  My knee basically just felt really loose. 
Mar 9 2008 9:53PM
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seider
Posts: 958 - Karma: 23
ya but most of those activities put your knee in risk of getting hurt. and you can do really bad  damage to your knee while your acl is torn. im sure you can tear many other tendons if you do that. im sure iv hurt something else in my knee while my acl has been torn. i went skiing like a week after i torn it (just filming) and my knee bent sideways (towards my other knee), then i just collapsed, and it hurt quite a bit after that. and i bent it sideways again today just walking and it hurt soo much, and i felt it crunching inside.
Mar 9 2008 10:34PM
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reBlocke
Posts: 762 - Karma: 1,502
Ya that's true.  I meant that because your knee can still function with a damaged ACL, you shouldn't take the fact that you can still walk (or run, or ski) as evidence that it isn't torn.  If you think it's torn, you should just have it checked out immediately, period.
Mar 9 2008 10:42PM
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kyle_w
Posts: 6805 - Karma: 23
yes i heard the pop. yes, i could walk on it. very very painfully. i walked on it for about a week before getting it checked cuz i just thought i tweaked it. i got a brace that kept my leg straight so i couldnt bend it. it helped a lot for walking
Mar 9 2008 10:50PM
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DBabay
Posts: 157 - Karma: 10
Yesterday i slid off of a c box early and caught my uphill ski under it, and then my downhill ski twisted almost 180 degrees.  It hurt like hell and i heard a fairly loud pop, but was able to side slip down the mountain about 5 minutes later.  It didnt swell very badly, but i couldnt straighten or twist it at all or i got a terrible pain, however after forcing myself to walk on it today (after advil and lots of icing it), it seems to be getting a little better.  Any ideas what i could have done?  The reason im thinking it maybe isnt a torn acl or mcl is because it didnt swell to bad...could it be torn but not swell?
Mar 9 2008 11:00PM
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seider
Posts: 958 - Karma: 23

you may of torn it. when i hurt mine i had the same thing as you, i side slipped down the mountain or i could go straight but i would have to stop with one ski, my knee wastn that swolen, and i couldnt twist it at all. after two days i was off crutches and walking, but i found out it was torn two weeks later. so if i were you i would get it checked out by a sports doctor not a regular one, cuz my normal one told me everything was fine and i should start to put pressure as soon as i can.

Mar 9 2008 11:09PM
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DBabay
Posts: 157 - Karma: 10
So it doesnt neccessarily have to swell up real bad...damn. ok well i guess i will have to go check out a doc.  Does it hurt when you push on the knee like a bruise would or not?
Mar 9 2008 11:49PM
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Big--Ben
Posts: 508 - Karma: 296
oh ok iacl is pretty serious i didnt know they let you off crutches that quickly. I tore cartilage. the doctor has to do some procedure where they drill holes in the bone or something and it builds new cartilage but its really weak for the first month or so, so if i put too much pressure on it right away it'll ruin the whole thing
Mar 9 2008 11:57PM
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Intergalactic
Posts: 1858 - Karma: 47
right when i fell i had a ton of pain in my knee, tried to move it and it popped super loud/hard. i couldnt really put weight on it, it swelled up a little bit but after about  a week i was walking w/o pain. after mri's i found out i had a complete acl tear partial mcl and tears in the medial and lateral menisucs, just got surgery last wednesday, crutches for four weeks before i can walk. it hurts alot
Mar 10 2008 12:31AM
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skibunnie
Posts: 1756 - Karma: 14
everyone message me for an invite to the acl survivors cult. lotsa good info in there.
Mar 10 2008 2:05AM
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MissMontana
Posts: 971 - Karma: 42
Join the cult, everyone is super helpful for any ACL questions.
I heard 4 pops, didn't feel a thing, couldn't walk and swelled up right away. Horrible experience. I hope your knee is ok!
Mar 10 2008 3:49AM
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flatspinblunt
Posts: 469 - Karma: 10
Going to the Doc tomorrow to hear the news, already got the MRI. Felt 2 pops, swelled but not so much it had to be drained, can walk on it but very unstable/painful. At least it was a backflip over a cliff (stupid montanna cement snow).
Mar 10 2008 2:04PM
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johnnypsunami
Posts: 5024 - Karma: 221
^ yeah at least you got a story.

I was just doing a misty 5 over this little jump I made with my bro on a hill near my house.
Mar 10 2008 3:16PM
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Reed.
Posts: 4489 - Karma: 272
ive torn my acl's three seperate times, 2 in the left, 1 in the right knee.

- felt/heard a pop 2/3 times
- could walk right after hurting it 2/3 times, other time i was on crutches for a week
- after surgery i found out i had also torn my meniscus real bad, non weight bearing 4 weeks post op
- the other time, i could weight bear right after surg.


So basically, anything can happen and your knee can be ok,or pretty screwed up.  Every knee injury is unique in some way.  Just listen to the doc, he knows best.
Mar 10 2008 3:34PM
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