Knee Injuries: Anyone here tear their ACL and meniscus before? If so, did you know it right away? Surgery?

Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone here has torn their ACL and meniscus in their knee? I think I did both and will be seeing the doctor tomorrow. I was wondering if anyone tore their ACL and didn't know it- like maybe you thought it was "just a sprain" or something like that. The things is I really twisted my knee and couldn't even walk for like 2 days. Now I can't bend my knee past 90 degrees and can't extend it so that it "locks out" all the way.

People have told me that you could have a torn ACL and be walking around. I walk with a limp and can't stand for a long period of time without feeling soreness in my knee. It's been 5 weeks and there has been no change in my knee. I can't even ride a bike!

Anybody with helpful information, please help!

My husband tore his ACL seven years ago and two months ago retore it. He has trouble walking on it and was laid up for days, for a while after standing he needs to sit and weather effects it badly too.
I would suggest going in for a MRI to determine if that's what you actually did and this way you can get the surgery if necessary.

I had a torn meniscus, but not an ACL tear. I couldn't tell when it happened, but I knew something was wrong- my knee alignment was off so that I was having pain all the way from my calf to my hip. At first, I thought it might be a hamstring injury. I went to an orthopedic surgeon who ordered an MRI scan which showed the torn meniscus. I had surgery and a year later my knee is about 90% normal. I am riding a bike now.

You are self diagnosing your condition?! You need to see that doctor, be referred to an orthopedic surgeon, have x rays and get a mri. I don't mean to be mean, but I have some of the worst knee problems in the world. I am not kidding. I just had a surgery that has never been done before on a knee. (14 surgeries on one knee) So I get slightly offended and angered when people have pains in their knee(s) and self diagnose. There are so many ligaments and tendons and so much cartilage in the knee, there is no way for you to know if you tore both your ACL and meniscus. And no, you would probably not be walking if you tore your ACL. You would need crutches to get around. My best guess is actually torn cartilage. A floater piece probably got lodged in the joint keeping you from being able to bend. But there certainly other possibilities for that. When you have a true diagnosis feel free to e-mail me if you need advice on treatment options.

I used to play soccer iin high school. I was tripped once and landed wrong. It hurt like hell and I was carried off the field. I kept it elevated and iced often for the next two days. I went to the doctor three days after it happened (i waited because the game was an out of town tournament) My doc said my knee felt really strong and the xrays didn't show anything unusual but he decided to double check anyway and scheduled an MRI a week later. By then I was walking on it fine, it didn't really hurt. the results came back that i had completely blown out my ACL, torn my MCL and my meniscus. My point here is that I was walking on it just fine. The doctor didn't know why I hadn't collapsed every time I walked, guess it was just a luck thing. Anyway I had reconstruction surgery and LOTS of physical therapy. I would have it looked at definitely. Xrays, MRI, if needed. If it's just a sprain or muscle stretch then you'll be doing some physical therapy.
Good luck and I hope it gets better!