United States
Four years ago I had both knees replaced. The right on Sept. 2018, the left later that December. I’ve managed to stay upright in those four years until just this past week when I was getting out of my car & standing up, I turned and started to slide out of my left shoe which somehow had become loose. I basically tripped over my shoe and turned and fell down on the hard pavement on my left side. You know those moments when you’re falling you try to remember what you’re doing but later on can’t remember exactly how you fell? Well, I’m still trying to figure that out.
I bruise very easily, and there were no bruises on my left side or my backside which I’m pretty sure is how I landed. But my left wrist was sore, and after a couple of Good Samaritan neighbors managed to pull me up, I was walking to my apt. And my left knee buckled a little bit. There was no pain, but I could tell something was off, when I put the full weight on my left leg.
Now I use a cane for aid & balance after a lymphedema diagnosis, so I’m already used to walking with a cane. I was terrified that I did something with my hardware in my knee….but there was no actual pain, just the buckling and extreme soreness & a lot of stiffness.
This happened Tuesday night and it’s now Sunday afternoon. In that time I have been icing during the day and putting a little heating pad on for an hour in bed at night. I’ve been taking some Advil’s in the morning and a muscle relaxer at night before bed.. and reclining most of the day, keeping my leg elevated, and I have been using 2 canes walking around the house trying to keep full weight off of the left leg. It’s definitely improved since Tuesday. I can walk better with just the one cane, but there is still stiffness that is still there, although not as bad as it was a few days ago.
I’ve decided not to go see my orthopedic surgeon and get x-rays because I think I might’ve just pulled a muscle or strained something. I didn’t land on my knee but I think my left hand and arm was bracing for the fall and I might’ve just twisted my left leg a little bit as I went down. In doing some online research etc. I think if I had a really hurt my hardware, I would be in severe pain even just walking.
My question is if any of you have done something similar where you really haven’t landed directly on your knee, but have caused some soreness or stiffness …. how long does something like this take before it goes away, if it is some sort of a pulled muscle or strain?
I haven’t done anything all week, just babying it with no exercising on my little Cubi etc. nor much walking at all. I have no problems bending my knee I can sit down and stretch my leg out completely but it’s just kind of weird. There’s just stiffness when I do bend it. It almost reminds me of that feeling I had right after knee surgery when your legs are all stiff and sore and you have to do the exercises to get full ROM.
I’m wondering if I should stop babying it and just start moving it a little bit more to try to get the stiffness to subside? I know that these knees can be pretty resilient and the fact that I didn’t land directly on my knee and maybe just twisted something or pulled something makes me hopeful. Any suggestions? Thank you!
I bruise very easily, and there were no bruises on my left side or my backside which I’m pretty sure is how I landed. But my left wrist was sore, and after a couple of Good Samaritan neighbors managed to pull me up, I was walking to my apt. And my left knee buckled a little bit. There was no pain, but I could tell something was off, when I put the full weight on my left leg.
Now I use a cane for aid & balance after a lymphedema diagnosis, so I’m already used to walking with a cane. I was terrified that I did something with my hardware in my knee….but there was no actual pain, just the buckling and extreme soreness & a lot of stiffness.
This happened Tuesday night and it’s now Sunday afternoon. In that time I have been icing during the day and putting a little heating pad on for an hour in bed at night. I’ve been taking some Advil’s in the morning and a muscle relaxer at night before bed.. and reclining most of the day, keeping my leg elevated, and I have been using 2 canes walking around the house trying to keep full weight off of the left leg. It’s definitely improved since Tuesday. I can walk better with just the one cane, but there is still stiffness that is still there, although not as bad as it was a few days ago.
I’ve decided not to go see my orthopedic surgeon and get x-rays because I think I might’ve just pulled a muscle or strained something. I didn’t land on my knee but I think my left hand and arm was bracing for the fall and I might’ve just twisted my left leg a little bit as I went down. In doing some online research etc. I think if I had a really hurt my hardware, I would be in severe pain even just walking.
My question is if any of you have done something similar where you really haven’t landed directly on your knee, but have caused some soreness or stiffness …. how long does something like this take before it goes away, if it is some sort of a pulled muscle or strain?
I haven’t done anything all week, just babying it with no exercising on my little Cubi etc. nor much walking at all. I have no problems bending my knee I can sit down and stretch my leg out completely but it’s just kind of weird. There’s just stiffness when I do bend it. It almost reminds me of that feeling I had right after knee surgery when your legs are all stiff and sore and you have to do the exercises to get full ROM.
I’m wondering if I should stop babying it and just start moving it a little bit more to try to get the stiffness to subside? I know that these knees can be pretty resilient and the fact that I didn’t land directly on my knee and maybe just twisted something or pulled something makes me hopeful. Any suggestions? Thank you!
