Damaged HUMAN knees!

Box_Of_Frogs

Box_Of_Frogs

Well-Known Member
Joined
1 May 2007
Messages
6,517
Location
Deepest Wales
Visit site
Anyone ever torn the cartilage in their knee and have warm and wonderful and HAPPY ENDING experiences to share? I damaged the cartilage in my L knee about 12 weeks ago and it's got steadily worse. Think it was a stupid stiff-legged landing on dismounting. I had a steriod injection into it a week ago but no improvement whatsoever. I risked a half hour lesson on Saturday thinking it would be starting to improve and it was torture, even though I had a good lesson. Getting ON is ok off a tall mounting block but left leg aids, rising trot and (especially) dismounting are torment. Rode again today for 20 mins out of sheer bloody pissed-offedness. Unsurprisingly, knee is even worse at the moment and they have told me I will need arthroscopy to shave off the offending jagged cartilage. Trouble is, I'm not convinced that this will bring it back to how it was 12 weeks ago. Total gloom and despondency. Anyone else experienced anything like this and are now mended and pain free???
 

I had much worse than torn cartilage. The bone had holes in it in my knee!

I am now totally & utterly pain free & what I had done was the best decision I have ever made in my entire life.

Don't despair! xx
 
I have to have this kind of opp ever 2/4 years as my cartilage (sp) just keeps on growing and I have to have it trimmed

Normally back riding with in 6 weeks think last time I was on walking around after 10 days rising trot takes a bit longer.

Pain free, went on a 3 hour hack yesterday walk, tort, canter and bloody fast!!!!!
 
I had L knee operated on 4 years ago and now have damaged cartilage. Have just bought new horsey who is 17.3 and the first thing I am teaching him to do is to stand at mounting block when I get on AND off. I always use wide flexi stirrups (like the ones the endurance riders use) and these act as shock absorbers.
 
I had this done several years ago as I suffered witha painful 'locking' knee if I ever mover it at a certain angle - had to 'pop' it out which I hated as left the knee weak for a while after.

Knee got progressively more painful and developed a lump. i eventualy got referred to hospital and had it operated on, they found a cyst in my knee capsule and the cartilage was frayed and rubbing. They shaved some bone off my knee cap and trimmed the cartilage and drained the cyst. I have not had any probs since and there is no pain.

They said I may need the procedure again in a few years but I think that was about 4 years or so ago and so far so good.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I had this done several years ago as I suffered witha painful 'locking' knee if I ever mover it at a certain angle - had to 'pop' it out which I hated as left the knee weak for a while after.

[/ QUOTE ]

I had this as well. I had an arthroscopy about 8 years ago, but they found I had actually torn the cartledge, so they did a repair on it which had a long and shitty recovery of about 3 months
frown.gif
as they treated it like a broken bone, so immobilised the knee for 6 weeks
frown.gif
Normally you would be up and about straight after the op.

However, it's fine now, I jump & event etc no probls. Maybe aches a bit after walking a xc course or riding for a long time with short stirrups. I ache if I have done too much or got a soaking or chilled, but it's fine and not painful normally. Those bendy stirrups would help, although I haven't bothered yet. and good boots with support and a decent sole are a must.

F x
 
Thanks all, there's hope yet then! Though I don't like the sound of an immobilised knee for 6 weeks - sounds like plaster. My OH would have to hide the car keys and I'd be climbing the walls with cabin fever. I like the idea of endurance stirrups - should have thought of that before! I'm struggling a bit with using the mounting block to get off and am trying to perfect a clumsy (and probably hilarious to watch) maneuvre that involves staying leaning over ned while I sort myself out, gripping the far side of saddle tight and slithering to the floor being careful to land on ONE leg only. Gonna try a Plan B that will involve a LegUp stirrup extender and possible a mattress and a parachute lol!!! Thanks again peeps and hope everyone's knees stay healthy and able to wrap around a ned for yonks to come xxx
 
yes, i got bucked off while mounting (horse thought he'd touched his nose on elec fencing... he missed it by about 2 metres but has a hyperactive imagination!) about 5 years ago and managed to land upright on 1 leg... and blow my knee apart. badly torn cruciate, damaged meniscus, fractured neck of femur (or something), right mess.
went to doctor because it was agony and i couldn't bend it at all (not just the pain, it would not bend, it was stuck, kind of thing) and he fobbed me off, said if i rested it, it would come right. hmm. (i'd told him i had private medical insurance, it wasn't going to cost the n.h.s. anything!)
went to physio, luckily an expert in footballers' knee injuries (appara this is a classic footballing injury), he sent me straight to a specialist. resulting operation (keyhole surgery) put it absolutely right. it gives me the odd twinge if i'm stupid enough to sit down on my heels and squash it at maximum bend, but it's up to everything else including riding.
best of luck! hope you get a doc who will take you seriously.
 
Had an arthroscopy in March this year, Doc nows thinks they may have missed soemthing vital as it isn't healing as it should. I rode last week for 20 minutes, the first time in three months I got ut of walk, so a bit of rising trot - bingo, knee swollen like a football for five days. It's getting boring now, I've had the knee problem for 24 years...
 
Hi Kerilli,

I made the same mistake of telling the NHS that I had private insurance when I broke my collar bone (okay, nothing to do with knees) and from that second on the NHS weren't interested. OH always tells me that I should have kept quiet about going private and see what the NHS were prepared to do first. I'm wondering if that's why you seemed to get fobbed off Kerrili?
 
You poor think you have my sympathy, but, all will be well
grin.gif


I'll tell you my story! I was in a car accident last July and injured both knees. I've torn the quad muscle at the top of my left knee and the meniscus (cartilage), anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) to my right knee. I had the meniscus removed along with the ACL stumps in October last year and then was advised to do loads of physio and go to the gym x3 a week to build up the quads/hamstrings, this hopefully would compensate for the lack of the ACL.

Was allowed to ride after 6 weeks post op, had a fab ride, dismounted onto a block and then lost balance getting off as ned moved forward, landed badly on right leg and my knee gave way again.....big fat, painful knee for weeks
frown.gif


Well, the moral of the story is......in April, I had an ACL reconstruction, was walking the day after the op, in the gym with the physio on 4 days later and each week, have built up the exercise. Most people can ride 3 months post op, but my consultant is not a horse lover and wants me to wait 6 months
crazy.gif


But that is in 4 weeks
grin.gif
I've been a good patient (despite being a nurse
wink.gif
) and have done everything that Ive been told, I'm at the gym 2-3 times a week, cycling, rowing and on the cross trainer, the only thing I'm not good at is running
crazy.gif
but then I was crap at that before my accident
grin.gif


So, had I not had the ACL problem, I'm sure I'd have been riding by now, so, you will be fine. Counting down the days now til I ride
grin.gif
You will be ok, I know how you feel, its like a tunnel you cant get out of, but I'm seeing the light now and so will you.........honest xx
 
Anyone with torn cartilage (or cartilage holes) should think about ACI or AMIC. Trying to repair the cartilage damage rather than just washing out or debriding. All the major orthopaedic surgeons do this technique as part of a large clinical trial. The technique has been performed since 1998 but is not yet free on the NHS so surgeons do it as part of clinical trials in order to provide it free.
You can be refered to any surgeon you want and it may be worth checking out surgeons that do perform this. (In London and surrounding the best choice it the Royal National Orthopaedic - Mr Briggs. The RJAH is good if you are near Oswestry.)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top