# I think I tore my MCL....



## zkrazy (Jan 19, 2011)

Crashed today avoiding a buddy who was crashing in front of me. I went otb to the right, hit the outside of my right knee cap, then fell to the left/back, down the steep rutted drop where my buddy crashed. Twisted my knee, felt like my lower leg was trapped under me when my body was going right then flopped left, a very sharp pain as I went from right to left. Felt burning and a little swelling on the inside of my knee right away. Can't really bend it, it hurts like hell and I'm worried - more about money (no ins) and not being able to ride for a long period of time.
I know I should see a doc, but without health ins it's an expensive proposition. Anyway to tell if it's torn on my own?


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## Bunyan (Dec 16, 2007)

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. It's difficult to check on your own but does your lower leg "flex" laterally? 
Not that I recommend not going to a professional to get checked out but if you have a buddy that can put pressure or tension on the outside (lateral) side of your knee and flex gently on your ankle in the opposite direction (with your leg flat on the ground) to see if there is some give should give you a good idea if you tore your mcl. 
Chances are you may have damaged your meniscus by the sounds of your injury as well. 
If you tore it, it won't heal itself. I highly recommend icing it a lot (use a frozen Dixie cup and massage your knee) and then get professional help. 
You only have two knees, take care of them. 
Good luck on your recovery.


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## Old Ray (Sep 5, 2010)

If it's your MCL. put your foot on a chair to the side of you while standing, with the affected leg straight. Apply light pressure down on the knee. If that hurts, it could be an MCL tear/injury. 


I had a fairly serious grade 2 MCL tear as a result of a road ride accident (slipped on oil) almost 20 years ago. Grade 3 would mean no real possibility of healing without surgery, but I was able to heal mine up with daily acupuncture treatments for about 4 weeks. At week 6, I tested it out successfully on a 3 mile hike in the Lagunas, where a wrong turn ("Why, don't worry....I know these mountains like the back of my hand!") turned it into a 10 mile hike. 
The knee held up, and that was that, until the next injury.

And like Bunyan, said, it's best to not do-it-yourself on both diagnosis or treatment, but not having health insurance in the Land of the Free is a real bummer. Good luck to you.


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## ivanovnv (May 1, 2012)

Emergency room will accept you, insurance or not.


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## zkrazy (Jan 19, 2011)

Thanks. I think it's time to go to the er, it's not any better, a little worse actually. I have an incredibly sharp pain in the inside of my knee, the cap hurts, and there's an ache that guys up my thigh into the hip joint. Sleeping is difficult, onlyabout 2, 3 hours at a time.

My only worries are cost and being out of work. The er will take me, but ita a minimum of $300, and when I went there with a serious flu they charged $1200 for very little care. Do they have to perform surgery if it's not life threatening?


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## Old Ray (Sep 5, 2010)

zkrazy said:


> Thanks. I think it's time to go to the er, it's not any better, a little worse actually. I have an incredibly sharp pain in the inside of my knee, the cap hurts, and there's an ache that guys up my thigh into the hip joint. Sleeping is difficult, onlyabout 2, 3 hours at a time.
> 
> My only worries are cost and being out of work. The er will take me, but ita a minimum of $300, and when I went there with a serious flu they charged $1200 for very little care. Do they have to perform surgery if it's not life threatening?


Truth is, unless it's a full-thickness tear, a MCL injury will heal up on it's own, given time. It's likely that to really differentiate between an MCL, and/or an ACl, and meniscus tear they will want to do an MRI. And that will put a dent in your credit card that ain't gonna go away quickly. 
When I first tore my MCL, I could barely walk for several days. A knee brace that is hinged to prevent any lateral movement helped a lot in those first couple of weeks.

ER care is VERY expensive in the Land of the Free.


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