Torn PCL

[Ronstar]

Anyone ever tear a PCL in their knee? What did you do for rehab?

I had some knee swelling last week, had it checked out, and it turns out that I have a torn PCL in my left knee. The doc seems to think the injury happened some time ago and I just recently aggravated it. It may have torn when I went through the ice while ice skating New Years Eve when I broke my ankle.

Now I have to wear a brace during some activities. The doc isnt recommending anything else unless I plan on playing professional sports. Oh well, just the price of getting old I guess.

 

[Nords]

Anyone ever tear a PCL in their knee? What did you do for rehab?
I had some knee swelling last week, had it checked out, and it turns out that I have a torn PCL in my left knee. The doc seems to think the injury happened some time ago and I just recently aggravated it. It may have torn when I went through the ice while ice skating New Years Eve when I broke my ankle.
Now I have to wear a brace during some activities. The doc isnt recommending anything else unless I plan on playing professional sports. Oh well, just the price of getting old I guess.

Torn ACLs for me.

You could try this knee forum: http://www.knee1.com/forum/ I thought they had one specifically for PCLs but it looks like they've redesigned the site. You might be able to search by sport, general ligament damage, or the "PCL" keyword.

The muscles around the knees (quads & hamstrings) can take up a lot of the slack left by the torn ligament. Along with the brace and the pain/swelling meds you might want to ask for physical therapy or specific exercises to build up the muscles around the knee and the PCL.

There's a small bit of research indicating that the physical therapy is more important than reconstructive surgery, and if you're not further injuring the knee then it's a lot easier to build up the muscles before having to make a surgery decision. With the help of the braces, ibuprofen, and lots of exercise time I've been able to build up the knee muscles to live without braces, without swelling, and without surgery.

 

[Ronstar]

Thanks for the link,

The doc said that the muscles take up the slack - now I have to build them up. He said that since I have long legs it is more difficult for the muscles to protect the knee. Maybe thats his way of saying that I have skinny leg muscles. I'm not going to have surgery since there is very little pain - just a little instability.