knee injury, please help!

Hi

Have been told by my doctor that I have torn the ligaments in the right side of my left knee. this means i cannot run and is even sore when i walk sometimes, especially up stairs. doctor said to take 3 months off.

this is obviously really bad for me, as i usually run approx 3-6 miles 5 times a week, and do more cardio on the eliptical and strength training with free weights. and love doing squats and lunges.

apart from swimming is there much cardio i can do? can i still continue to go to exercise classes or wot about the eliptical, would this be ok? or the bike. obviously dont want to make it worse by pushing it and resulting in me not being able to run for a longer period of time. but obviously love exericse and the thought of no cardio (apart from swimming which i find doesn't raise my heart rate enough) really freaks me out. i was told this last week and im already soooo frustrated even swimming every day!

any help or ideas would be soooo appreciated! thanks!

wow, your lucky you can even swim! I only strained mine and i can only just walkon it. its been two weeks now. swimming felt uncomfortable on it, i cant run, no biking, no nothing. you need to work back up to your fitness levels gradually over a long period of time. rushing will do you a lot more damage.

im just as stressed out as you believe me, i was running 60mins 4 times a week as well as classes and  ahell of a lot of walking. it sucks, but let your body heal. make sure your getting a well balanced meal and perhaps stick to maintenance for a while. it seems to be helping me

Ask you doctor about the elliptical, since it is non-impact you might get his OK to do that.  Make sure you heal well so you aren't under these constraints the rest of you life. Best wishes for healing well & fast!

i tore my meniscus (which is what it sounds like you did?) a few years ago, and was in the same situation as you. couldn't do track, and couldn't compete in states, so i know the frustration! for me it was the bending of the knee, past idk about 90 degrees, that really bothered it.  biking was definitely out, as was running.  i agree with halizabeth that the elliptical should be okay but definitely check with your doctor. and from the classes ive taken i think you its possible that you might be able to handle that.

know your limits. dont do it if it hurts. speaking from experience, you dont want to tear it further. i had to get surgery to remove part of the torn part, but from what i heard its way worse if its torn so badly that they have to go in and repair it, a much longer recovery. be safe and hope its a fast recovery.

Listen to your body! Speaking from big experience here - I had both of my knees replaced last year. Not at all fun, and it took a long time to get there. Still, I am in my mid-fifties and docs often say you cant do it before 60. I assume you have a long way to go, and hopefully never will.

The things that required twisting seemed to cause the most difficulty. 

All is well now, and I jazzercise most days, but dont jump. We can only pound on ourselves so much :-) Take care, happy healing! Kathi

I have a torn ACL that I am treating conservatively. I can't run either, but the eliptical machine works great for me. The movement is actually beneficial helping to move fluid retention out of that area. However, with such a new injury I would be careful at first. My suggestion... see if the doctor will refer you to a physical therapist. They will help you determine what exercises are appropriate given your injury. PT was the best thing I ever did. Good luck!

The meniscus isn't a ligament, it's a cartilage, so ignore that advice.  The ligament on the right side of the left knee is the medial collateral ligament, or MCL.  Ask your doctor what you can do, but it sounds like a pretty mild strain.  I've done this before, it will heal on its own and three months is about right.  I went to physical therapy for it (worthwhile if you have health insurance), and they had me riding a stationary bike, and strengthening the quads and hamstrings to help it heal.  Elliptical is probably fine.  You don't want to stretch the ligament too much while it's healing because it can disrupt the new fibers, so you probably want to lay off the deep squats and lunges, but leg press and hamstring curls were OK when I had this injury.  As for swimming, stay away from the breast stroke with a knee injury. 

I've had two knee surgeries, and in my opinion, Scalebeater's advice is good.  Don't do anything without the okay of your doctor or physical therapist, though.

oops! youre right scalebeater, guess its just been too long. thanks for catching that for her!

I had a similar injury when I was about 12 yrs old, and I kept on playing soccer and doing cheerleading. I ended up on crutches for about 4 months in 7th grade, and a brace until I was a senior in highschool! They didn't want to operate because I was still growing.

 Continuing to work out with a fresh injury is soooo not worth it!! My knee still pops and crackles, and I'm 25 years old!! I would just wait the three months and then gradually come back into your work out routine.

Once you injure a limb or joint it is more succeptable to re-injury.  

I've had a problem with my knee since my early teens as well. It seems to be something called 'patelar dislocation'. It used to happen to me about once/ twice a yr from the age of 13 until my early 20s. The last time, I damaged some cartilage (and now get a nifty crackling in my knee everytime I walk) and a torn miniscus. I was on crutches for awhile and I now have to wear a brace anytime I exercise.

Take care of your injury first. Seriously. Take it easy for awhile. According to my specialist. ellipical and stationary bike is best (once you're completely healed). Bikes especially because it tends to strengthen the muscles surrounding the knee, so you prevent the injury from reoccuring.

I was told I may need knee replacement surgery but they want to wait until I'm older so that I'd only have to have one or two in my lifetime, since knee replacements only last about 15 yrs...

Can't stress this enough: TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF!!

 Like gbsfan I have a problem with my knee dislocating. While the knee is injured try to take it easy and just do light workouts on the eliptical or bike. After a few weeks  gradually increase the difficulty and speed of your workouts, but don't rush it.

Hope you feel better!