As you know, I mentioned that last night would be my first appointment with the Physical Therapist for my MCL sprain on my right knee.  This appointment also meant having an evaluation before PT was started. The outcome was exactly what my gut had be telling me would happen for the last week. I am not a happy camper. However, I will admit that I am pleased in the fact that I learned a great deal at this appointment as well. I can now see why having a Sports Therapist would be such an advantage to one's network/health care plan.

I'm going to start off with all the good things........During the evaluation I learned quite a bit about my lower extremities. During the measuring process I learned that my legs are "hyper extended." This basically means if you look from the side that my legs look bowed in. The PT told me that I was born with this and it cannot be corrected. She also told me that people who have legs that are hyper extended also tend to have knee problems in the future. She also said this is why I over-pronate also. (Gee, thanks Mom for the lovely gift of hyper extended legs. LOL!) The good news is that as long as I continue to keep my legs strong and flexible that it will prevent future injuries. Apparently, even tho my quads are very strong and my calves, my inner thigh muscles are very week and very tight (along with my IT band) so the combination of the the two and all the stresses during that one week sent my knee into overload thus creating the MCL sprain.  This all explained SO MUCH to me...i couldn't believe it. It all made sense after hearing this.  So, I wouldnt exactly say this information was good per say but it really educated me on my body and the dynamics of how it works and why my lower extremities work the way they do. I'm no real stranger to knee pain - been dealing with it for a long time. I'm just glad to finally have answers as to why they were always causing the pain/discomfort because we never could really figure out why. It drove me nuts. Now I know it's just something I was born with and the consequence of such is this...ah well. Now we know the problem and how to fix/work with it in the future.

Onto the bad.....During the evaluation we learned that yes, I do have an MCL sprain. We also learned that my right knee also shifts to the right (This was found when the PT was moving it around). That's not really normal but she says it's probably from the swelling and tightness pushing everything "off" a bit.  That's right, even tho it appears by looking at it my knee isnt swollen when we went to do the measurements it was 1cm larger than the left. So, yeah, we have some inflammation. Blah! 

AnyWHO, after further investigation it appeared to her that I have an Meniscus tear. :-( We're not sure how bad of a tear it really is. Judging by my degree of pain and where it hurts we are thinking it's safe to say it's not a bad tear but we won't know for sure until we rehab the MCL Sprain and get the knee back into normal movement (apparently i'm lacking just a bit in this department). The PT said that some people can live with meniscus tears all their lives without problems. However other's need further follow up such as surgery. It would be outpatient and they would go in through a very small incision, snip the tear section, stitch the rest of it to the remaining, close me up and i'd be back in commission in 24-48 hours. She said if a person would ever need knee surgery this would be the one they want because it's so minimal and invasive.  We'll see how my knee feels after the four weeks of rehab and take it from there.

So, yeah, we won't know the extent of my meniscus tear until this rehab is over. Due to the expense of my co-payment (it is so high - $50/visit) we will only go 1x a week. I am to do my PT exercises 2x a day, every day. Take ibuprofen every 4 hrs and of course the R.I.C.E method to keep the swelling down.  My current restrictions are no running, no bouncing, no pounding. Fun, fun...not! She said next week we'll start strengthening moves in the gym. 

I'm a bit bummed. My gut told me all this past week that I knew I had a meniscus tear. I want to say a small one. My gut now is telling me that i'm going to end up needing surgery.  Gah! I hope and pray that's not the case. I've already went under the knife once this year (Gallbladder removal). I really don't want to go under again.

I am now going to research for a Sports Ortho in my area.  I don't need a referral and although my PCP will more than likely script me a MRI in four weeks I know I'm going to need one - especially if it is recommended to have surgery.  (Gah, I hope not!)

I'll keep ya'll updated (as always) and in the meantime will live through all of your posts and your fun running adventures.  Think of me while you're out there and run at a mile for me!! I've got a brande new pair of running shoes that only has 8 miles on them screaming and begging for me to take them out for a run. It's driving me MAD! LOL!