Any tips on how to quickly heal a knee injury?

1. 43

   LRobbinsposted 15 years ago

   Help, I tore my meniscus (cartlidge in my knee 2 months)ago, am still in a lot of pain and have a non-refundable diving trip coming up in a few weeks.  Does anyone have any tips on how to speed up the healing?  I know there's a lot of people who suffer from knee injuries.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

   replyreport
   1. 74

      Eaglekiwiposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      My son did the same thing years ago now ,and as well as the usual medical treatment a nurse told him drinking lotrs of milk helps the tissue reproduce faster...he did heal well , but couldnt say if he would have without the extra calcium intake or not , didnt hurt to try though...

      replyreport
   2. 58

      Mark Knowlesposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      RICE
      
      Rest
      Ice
      Compression
      Elevation
      
      Works every time.

      replyreport
   3. 0

      dennisemattposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      have you had it looked at? if the tear is more thne half way through, it needs surgey. There is no blood going to the miniscus, and it will evenetually feel better, but you will most likely tear it again and worse in the future. My husband tore his when he was 19, never went to a docoter...did the rice thing...it felt better..then aobut 5 or 6 years ago, he tore it again and had to have 1/3 of it removed.I am sorry to say, there is no fast way to heal a knee. You have to just take care of it. Definitely ice it, take ibeoprofun for swelling, try to stay off it, and see a doctor!! (if you did see a Dr. do what he told you!!) Physical Therapy helps ALOT too.

      replyreport
2. 0

   sbeakrposted 15 years ago

   Stay off of it as much as possible; research some mild, rehabilitative exercises that will prevent it getting too stiff.  And be willing to cancel or gift the trip to someone else.  Mentally frustrating the injury won't help it heal faster, and stress will make the process even slower.
   
   Anything that decreases inflammation is helpful, but take care that while assisting drugs may mask pain or swelling, they should not encourage you to do too much too quickly.
   
   My favorite method of speed-healing is Reiki.  Be aware that Reiki's effectiveness can be established or challenged by a practitioner's rapport with a client, as well as with the method itself.  What this means:  try it with someone you like.  Energy healing is shown via uncontrolled studies and personal anecdotes to have a distinct impact on injury, illness, and/or discomfort of any kind.  Not to be confused with 'faith' healing, which is similarly premised but not the same thing.  Even if you're a skeptic, however, it never hurts to try.
   
   Good luck, and be very careful with those knees.

   replyreport
3. 88

   Marisa Wrightposted 15 years ago

   There is very little blood supply to the meniscus so only very small tears are able to heal up on their own.  In fact, some doctors recommend immediate surgery because the chance of spontaneous healing is so low.
   
   Take an anti-inflammatory (aspirin, Nurofen (ibuprofen) or Lyprinol) at the maximum permissible dose for at least a week.  Take glucosamine tablets for the next two or three months, to give your body the material to rebuild the cartilage. 
   
   Rest the leg - NO exercise that involves knee flexion.  Physical therapy will be good for rehabilitation later - but until the meniscus has healed, even gentle exercise can make the tear worse.  Avoid stairs as much as you can.  No knee bends.  Any movement that causes pain is definitely to be avoided. To keep fit, go swimming but don't use that leg (use a float between your thighs), or do upper body weights, push-ups, pull-ups etc.
   
   Any time you're sitting down (watching TV etc), elevate the leg on a stool or chair and put an ice pack on it.
   
   If you've been exercising on the leg for the last two months instead of resting it, you may have made the tear worse, and it's unlikely it will improve much in the next few weeks. Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings.
   
   If you can't sell the diving trip to anyone else, you may be able to go and just do some of the less challenging dives, or go snorkelling.  See if you can get used to swimming without that leg.  You may be surprised how far you can get with just one flipper.

   replyreport
4. 38

   getpaidtopostposted 15 years ago

   Use a bandage go from just above the knee to just below the knee, keep the bandage wet with cold water, also you could rap some ice cubes in a tea towel, then rest the ice tea towel on your knee or behind your knee. this helped me when I played football.

   replyreport
5. 43

   LRobbinsposted 15 years ago

   WOW!  These are some great suggestions.   I've already gone out and bought some calcium, ibuprofen and glucosamine.  I'm trying to rest it, but went swimming today with flippers, which felt great.  Thanks everyone.

   replyreport