Knee joint buckled while playing

Discussion in 'Injuries' started by devpriya211084, Jan 10, 2010.

  1. devpriya211084

    devpriya211084 Regular Member

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    Hi,

    Almost a month back my knee joint buckled while attempting shot moving backwards. I immediately fell down with pain and felt as if I got a fracture. Next day consulted the Doctor and he said that luckily no fracture or tears, just swelling which should go away in 2 3 weeks.

    After 2 weeks when I felt fit, I went to play again and had exactly the same incident and this time the pain got unbearable. Iced the knee and took rest for another 3 weeks.

    Today the knee had almost healed up so I went to play again. But this time I played bare foot as I was not getting confidence with the shoes on :( While attempting a shot moving back I was again on the verge of injuring myself when I pulled off from the shot.

    Hence the injury was avoided. But for future, I want to do three things - (i) Strengthen my knee (ii) Add some support to it while playing (iii) Work on my technique for moving back and stretching yourself to play a shot.

    Any advice or help for the above three goals are most welcome. Moreover, if someone has met with similary injury just tell me whether you were able to overcome this or not?

    I don't want to stop playing badminton or spoil my game by leaving few shots. So your tips can get me back to the court :)
     
  2. visor

    visor Regular Member

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    Did it buckle backwards (ie. hyperextension) or twisted/rotated?

    3 times is not normal. It sounds like your ligaments may be too lax.

    If you had significant knee swelling initially, then most likely you have some degree of ligament tear and/or meniscal injury. You really should get a second opinion from another doctor, or an ortho specialist.

    Meanwhile, stationary biking will help a lot to build up your muscles to hold your knee better, to compensate for ligament laxity. Also, get a neoprene knee tensor to stabilize your knee when you play. Get the type with a patella hole, that you can pull up over your knee like a sock.

    Any previous knee injuries, strains, etc?

    Also, what shoes are you wearing? Hopefully, not runners...
     
  3. devpriya211084

    devpriya211084 Regular Member

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    It buckled sideways, towards the right.
     
  4. visor

    visor Regular Member

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    More info please, re my questions...
     
  5. devpriya211084

    devpriya211084 Regular Member

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    I had few motorbike accidents where my knee also took the beating, but luckily I didn't had any fracture in them.

    One foolish thing which I did was because of the fear of scolding from Parents and Doctors, I didn't show up my knee to any of them after my accidents. My knee looks very bumpy with small accumulation of soft tissues. But I was able to do squats in gym for past six months, so I guess the knee had got recovered fully.

    These accidents were almost one and half year back.

    Shoes, were the generic sports shoes not Badminton special. It is Reebok Hex-Ride to be precise.

    The pain is on the right side of the knee, kind of inside the joint. Have to press with a finger to locate the pain.
     
  6. visor

    visor Regular Member

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    Hmmm.. well for now just do the stationary bike and get the neoprene knee tensor for playing.

    It does sound like a pre-existing ligament injury that's causing your knee to buckle. You should know that is NOT normal... normal knees do not buckle. You may want to get an ortho to look at your knee before you buckle it again and make it worse. Three times is a lot already, and who knows if you're able to catch yourself in time to prevent further damage the next time.

    Plus, having that fear at the back of your mind while you're playing serious games is not conducive to enjoying your sport.
     
  7. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

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    Agree. Three is not normal and given the previous history of possible injury with motorbike accidents, I'd say try to get a specialist opinion.
     
  8. NoRice4U

    NoRice4U Regular Member

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    I get my knee's buckled sometimes well its more like when i straighten my knee the gap between the bone is like squeezing my tendons.

    Maybe you rollerskate because i used to rollerskate. I fell on both my knees like omgwtfbbq and now whenever i am to kneel it just kills.

    I have to deal with that for 3 years T.T i am now 15 T.T
     
  9. devpriya211084

    devpriya211084 Regular Member

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    My knee has recovered a lot, its kind of fully recovered because apart from slight stiffness, I can even run now :)

    So, I will start off with stationary cycle for now and please suggest me more exercises for making my knee stronger.
     
  10. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

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    It's nice to her that but did you go to an orthopaedic specialist for an opinion?
     
  11. devpriya211084

    devpriya211084 Regular Member

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    The Doctor said that it looks fine and if it heals by itself in a month or so then you haven't suffered some serious injury. This was told a month back.

    Moreover, he said that if you want faster diagnosis then u need to do an MRI scan, which is quite costly in USA. And if some meniscus tear is detected in the scan, then I need to get a surgery done.

    I cannot do that anyway in USA, so I am waiting for it to either become totally alright by itself else I will get the MRI + whatever needed to be done when I am back in India.
     
  12. devpriya211084

    devpriya211084 Regular Member

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    One more thing, I need some advice on a good badminton shoe. I am thinking of buying Wilson Court Elite 800, how is it?
     
  13. NoRice4U

    NoRice4U Regular Member

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    You can't make your knee stronger, its just a bone. All you can do is drink milk and eat high in calcium food
     
  14. devpriya211084

    devpriya211084 Regular Member

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    Of course I can. I don't have any problem with the bone, all I need to do is to make the muscles around my knee a bit stronger.
     
  15. NoRice4U

    NoRice4U Regular Member

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    There is NO MUSCLE around the knee its called tendon which is attached to your bone, and tendons are what connects to muscle to give you movement
     
  16. visor

    visor Regular Member

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    Don't get bogged down by semantics... of course there is no muscle around the knee.

    But if the internal or external ligaments supporting the knee joint are compromised, one can work on and strengthen the muscles attached to the tendons around the knee joint in order to provide additional support to the knee joint to prevent instabilities such as buckling and giving way of the knee joint. (Does that cover all the semantics?)

    Unless, of course, you have discovered a way to strengthen the tendons and ligaments of the knee joint...
     
  17. NoRice4U

    NoRice4U Regular Member

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    hey if you go to gym and do the foot exercise will that compress your bones and make you shorter
     
  18. devpriya211084

    devpriya211084 Regular Member

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    Well after healing, exercise can make tendons relax a bit and become more flexible, hence capable of taking sudden stress and still not to tear.

    Moreover, the nearby muscles if strengthen can certainly improve performance. So I was guessing exercises like sit-ups and pushing heavy weight by legs should help.

    -- My two cents
     

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