Post (severe) knee injury recovery

[Mark Mitchell]

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On Jun 25, '03, I jumped from a 5' high platform and landed badly with my
full weight on my left leg. I'm told that my leg visibly bowed inward. I
ended up with a spiral fracture of the tibia (shinbone) and a collapsed
tibial plateau. In other words, the top of my shinbone, where it connects
with the knee was granola.

So far, I'm recovering fairly well, I walk with no real problem (but with a
visible limp), but endurance is a problem with both of
these activities. My left knee is also much weaker than the right. I can
climb stairs but if I try to step up onto a surface much higher than the
standard stair riser, I can only put down about 120lbs of force.

Prior to the accident, I was an occasional rider but now I'm trying to ride
as much as I can both on the road and stationary. I can manage about
30mins a ride before my knee tells me to stop.

The biggest weird thing I'm noticing is that if I ride for about 30mins on
the road (low speed), or on the stationary for about an hour, after I stop
my knee feels loose. Especially when I'm transferring weight *off* the bad
leg.

Is there anyone here who's had similar symptoms/injuries?

Any input appreciated.

Mark

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[Peter Keller]

On Fri, 28 May 2004 00:07:14 +0000, Mark Mitchell wrote:

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> On Jun 25, '03, I jumped from a 5' high platform and landed badly with my
> full weight on my left leg. I'm told that my leg visibly bowed inward. I
> ended up with a spiral fracture of the tibia (shinbone) and a collapsed
> tibial plateau. In other words, the top of my shinbone, where it connects
> with the knee was granola.
>
> So far, I'm recovering fairly well, I walk with no real problem (but with a
> visible limp), but endurance is a problem with both of
> these activities. My left knee is also much weaker than the right. I can
> climb stairs but if I try to step up onto a surface much higher than the
> standard stair riser, I can only put down about 120lbs of force.
>
> Prior to the accident, I was an occasional rider but now I'm trying to ride
> as much as I can both on the road and stationary. I can manage about
> 30mins a ride before my knee tells me to stop.
>
> The biggest weird thing I'm noticing is that if I ride for about 30mins on
> the road (low speed), or on the stationary for about an hour, after I stop
> my knee feels loose. Especially when I'm transferring weight *off* the bad
> leg.
>
> Is there anyone here who's had similar symptoms/injuries?
>
> Any input appreciated.
>
> Mark
>
Sounds like you stretched some knee ligaments when you had your accident;
also the tibial plateau collapsing might leave the knee-joint cavity
unusually wide. Usual remedy is first physiotherapy etc to strengthen
the muscles. After maximum improvement from such conservative measures,
surgery might be considered eg tibial osteotomy (re-angulating the tibia)
or repair of the medial collateral or anterior cruciate ligaments.
Presumably you are under the care of the appropriate people? Most people
come somewhat right without further operations, and one cannot expect too
much improvement from surgery.
Peter

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[Mark Mitchell]

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On 2004-05-28, Peter Keller <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Fri, 28 May 2004 00:07:14 +0000, Mark Mitchell wrote:
>
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>> On Jun 25, '03, I jumped from a 5' high platform and landed badly with my
>>
<tale of woe snipped>

>> Any input appreciated.
>>
>> Mark
>>
> Sounds like you stretched some knee ligaments when you had your accident;
> also the tibial plateau collapsing might leave the knee-joint cavity
> unusually wide. Usual remedy is first physiotherapy etc to strengthen
> the muscles. After maximum improvement from such conservative measures,
> surgery might be considered eg tibial osteotomy (re-angulating the tibia)
> or repair of the medial collateral or anterior cruciate ligaments.
> Presumably you are under the care of the appropriate people? Most people
> come somewhat right without further operations, and one cannot expect too
> much improvement from surgery.
> Peter
>
As the accident happened at my place of work, this was all covered under
worker's comp. I've now been released from medical care, so my worker's
comp claim has been closed. And, of course, as I can no longer do the job
I was doing, I'm unemployed and therefore uninsured.

I kind of had a feeling that this would tighten up over time, I guess what
I'm really wondering is, what kind of time frame are we looking at until
it's reasonably stable again? Months/Years?

Thanks for your reply,
Mark

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[Peder]

Mark Mitchell <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
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> On Jun 25, '03, I jumped from a 5' high platform and landed badly with
> my full weight on my left leg. I'm told that my leg visibly bowed
> inward. I ended up with a spiral fracture of the tibia (shinbone) and
> a collapsed tibial plateau. In other words, the top of my shinbone,
> where it connects with the knee was granola.
>
> So far, I'm recovering fairly well, I walk with no real problem (but
> with a visible limp), but endurance is a problem with both of
> these activities. My left knee is also much weaker than the right. I
> can climb stairs but if I try to step up onto a surface much higher
> than the standard stair riser, I can only put down about 120lbs of
> force.
>
> Prior to the accident, I was an occasional rider but now I'm trying to
> ride as much as I can both on the road and stationary. I can manage
> about 30mins a ride before my knee tells me to stop.
>
> The biggest weird thing I'm noticing is that if I ride for about
> 30mins on the road (low speed), or on the stationary for about an
> hour, after I stop my knee feels loose. Especially when I'm
> transferring weight *off* the bad leg.
>
> Is there anyone here who's had similar symptoms/injuries?
>
> Any input appreciated.
>
> Mark
>

I had a similar injury from a motorcycle accident in 2000, with similar
results. The ACL was stretched and torn about halfway through, shin
bone split through from the top of the plateau then out to the side about 5
inches down. I had much improvement in the second year (much more than I
thought there would be), so take heart. It's still quite loose, and
sometimes pops and catches if I move wrong, but it seems the more I keep
the muscle tone up, the more controlled the loosness is. I started MTB and
trail riding last year and now have ridden up to 4 hours/40 miles. I try
to walk a 2.5 mile loop and/or excercise on my goofy HealthRider several
times a week. It helps to try and get your weight down a little, too, if
that's an issue (was for me). My doc said Joe Namath had no ligaments left
in his knees, and he made it through with muscle control. A friend of mine
also had a similar break (and a broken arm thrown in for good measure) from
a horseback riding accident in '01, and also showed substantial improvement
the second year. So keep your chin up and good luck.

--
Peder (Please reply to group only, email invalid)

 

[trg]

I had a motorcycle accident 2 years ago where I broke the tibial plateau and
tore/stretched the ACL. They sewed the plateau back on. It fells better now
than a year ago, better a year ago than two years ago. I find that the only
time it feels "normal" is when I ride a lot. Strong leg muscles are the key.

Peder wrote:
> Mark Mitchell <[email protected]> wrote in
> news:[email protected]:
>
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>> On Jun 25, '03, I jumped from a 5' high platform and landed badly
>> with my full weight on my left leg. I'm told that my leg visibly
>> bowed inward. I ended up with a spiral fracture of the tibia
>> (shinbone) and a collapsed tibial plateau. In other words, the top
>> of my shinbone, where it connects with the knee was granola.
>>
>> So far, I'm recovering fairly well, I walk with no real problem (but
>> with a visible limp), but endurance is a problem with both of
>> these activities. My left knee is also much weaker than the right.
>> I can climb stairs but if I try to step up onto a surface much higher
>> than the standard stair riser, I can only put down about 120lbs of
>> force.
>>
>> Prior to the accident, I was an occasional rider but now I'm trying
>> to ride as much as I can both on the road and stationary. I can
>> manage about 30mins a ride before my knee tells me to stop.
>>
>> The biggest weird thing I'm noticing is that if I ride for about
>> 30mins on the road (low speed), or on the stationary for about an
>> hour, after I stop my knee feels loose. Especially when I'm
>> transferring weight *off* the bad leg.
>>
>> Is there anyone here who's had similar symptoms/injuries?
>>
>> Any input appreciated.
>>
>> Mark
>>
>
> I had a similar injury from a motorcycle accident in 2000, with
> similar results. The ACL was stretched and torn about halfway
> through, shin
> bone split through from the top of the plateau then out to the side
> about 5 inches down. I had much improvement in the second year (much
> more than I thought there would be), so take heart. It's still quite
> loose, and sometimes pops and catches if I move wrong, but it seems
> the more I keep the muscle tone up, the more controlled the loosness
> is. I started MTB and trail riding last year and now have ridden up
> to 4 hours/40 miles. I try to walk a 2.5 mile loop and/or excercise
> on my goofy HealthRider several times a week. It helps to try and
> get your weight down a little, too, if that's an issue (was for me).
> My doc said Joe Namath had no ligaments left in his knees, and he
> made it through with muscle control. A friend of mine also had a
> similar break (and a broken arm thrown in for good measure) from a
> horseback riding accident in '01, and also showed substantial
> improvement the second year. So keep your chin up and good luck.