Patella Tear, Broken Dreams

Hi Ike,

I have, what PTs and my doc believe to be, an injured PCL. I've not had an MRI, no surgery, and I'm trying to fix it 100% with exercise and physical therapy. Your issue is distinct from mine but I'm seeing progress. Slow progress but progress nonetheless.

I think it's way premature to throw in the towel now. The laziest of googling will reveal that people hike long trails after having their knees replaced. Not ideal but it happens. Also, read Grandma Gatewood to get your mindset right. If she can do it, why can't you? How about all those NFL players returning to play football after being seriously injured? What about Trevor Thomas aka Zero/Zero hiking the AT?

Jennifer Mitol is hiking the CT right now, but I'd hit her up with a PM and pick her brain when she returns.

Ike,
I don't know where you are located, so this may be a bit off the wall …

Mayo Clinic looks at many aspects of an injury and the resulting consultation is a group event with a Doc or two, a PT, an Exercise Physio, etc., and you. They discuss everything remotely related to your knee, including your fitness, and potential compliance in PT. All are on salary. There is no incentive to suggest one solution over another.

It's not cheap. But it is thorough and honest.

Twenty years ago I was told by "local" Orthos (plural) that my knees were to old to continue and I needed to dial it back, ie "stop". I have a 10 day 180 mile trip starting the 29th. That will be followed by a BWCA trip (with many greasy portages), followed by a GC hike (or two) in October. All on original equipment.

Do your homework. Lean on the experts. Then You decide the best way to go.

Best of Luck.

The patella is the small bit of bone otherwise known as the knee-cap. Do you mean the patella tendon going over the patella down to the shin?

Cheers

Just to second the idea of going to Mayo to get it checked out.

Don't know what your insurance situation is, but if you want very thorough medical advice with a very high cost to benefit ratio, go to Mayo Clinic.

It is located in Rochester, MN. If you go, you will likely be able to get everything done in a very timely manner. No waiting a month or 6 to get into a specialist.

They get all of the consultations done in a couple of days and then discuss with you the options.

Peace

The patella tendon is injured, not the kneecap.

thanks for the encouragement guys, was really floored by this. Will get the MRI soon.

I had pateller tendon tear and/or bursitis. I don't really know because I never got an MRI. But, I had similar pain as you do in a squat, it kept me from working for close to 4 months as my job is physical and the injury wasn't healing. It was only getting much much worse. I lost lots of range of motion from the pain at one point. I opted to not get surgury and I am very glad I did. I have pretty much fully recovered. I could totally see myself doing the PCT someday, no worries. From how it sounds by your description, my injury was much worse.

Go to a Sports Medicine Dr. Find yourself a good physical therapist and most importantly, give it some time before making the decision to get surgery.

Hi Ike,

I had a full patellar tendon tear 15 years ago after a HS/college competitive running "career". there are no screws in my knee but rather a reattachment using bone calcification. For years after, I struggled with pain as I tried to get back into running. To no avail.

The thing that helped me was intesive strength work. I used the Mountain Athlete leg rehab program to strengthen all the muscles around my weakened knee. (disclosure: nobody paid me to say that)

So conclusion: whether you go the surgery route or not, balancing out the muscles around the knee might go a long way to helping.

Pete

"So conclusion: whether you go the surgery route or not, balancing out the muscles around the knee might go a long way to helping."

+1

+10 to what the above two said.

Surgery is not some miracle cure – I have several friends who've undergone knee and back surgeries for various issues: knee surgery for meniscal tear for example.

They're no better than before surgery, in some cases much worse! So be careful before you elect to go under the knife.

The body has tremendous healing mechanisms; you just need to support those by strengthening etc. First find a good physio who can help you develop an exercise program and then just do it!

Also, just movement helps. If you even just walk progressively longer distances over a period of several weeks, you'll begin to feel things get better.

In addition, pay attention to your diet to reduce the overall levels of inflammation. Most pain is a consequence of inflammation.