Didn’t see this one coming from one of my email subscribers who this week asked:
“Paul. If you’ve damaged ligaments in your knee, how long does it take to heal? Just I went to the doctors more than 6 weeks ago and he said it would take about a month. The same pain is still there and I still can’t go for a run.
It’s now beginning to worry me that something is seriously wrong. Any thoughts?”
Dominic, 42 – Bishop Cuthbert.
This kind of thing gets asked a lot. And the concern usually springs when people elapse the initial period of recovery that was given out. Which is why I’ve always believed that one of the most important skills that l should ever carry in my “tool box” is the ability to accurately diagnose. The ability to give a confident prognosis being a close second.
Because that’s the Holy Grail, right?
When you’re in pain or something’s wrong, you first want to know what it is? (that’s the diagnosis). Next, you want to know how long it’s going to take to get better? (that’s the prognosis).
But here’s where this Dominic’s situation has gone wrong.
I dug a little deeper. Few emails back and forth and I got to realising that this wasn’t a problem with knee ligaments at all.
See, it’s virtually impossible to damage knee ligaments from running or walking in a straight line. Unless you’ve fallen awkwardly, twisted sharply or stumbled suddenly, it’s very unlikely. What’s much more likely is a simple case of “the straw that broke the camels back”.
Let me explain:
Your knee’s have surfaces that rub against each other every time you run or walk. In your 20’s and 30’s you get very few issues. Over time, just like adding “straws to a camels back”, the surface wears away. And if your feet roll in (flat feet) there’s a good chance that your knee surface will one day “crack” under the constant wear from the pounding it gets and give you pain. And it’ll nearly always happen when you didn’t expect it. It also nearly always happens to be on the inside of the knee – right near the ligaments.
And sometimes, the ligament is damaged as a result. But it’s not the real problem because most of the time ligaments of the knee will heal in six weeks.
But what takes often double that, is for the discomfort and the problem caused by the damage to the surface of the knee to settle. My tip: if this is happening to you, you need a long course of anti-inflammatories prescribed only by a GP and you’ll benefit from using lots of ice on your knee too. And then, armed with both of those, you need to strengthen the big thigh muscles that you’ve got with an exercise programme aimed at winning back the control and support of those muscles. Should be progressive and take about 6-8 weeks at least before the knee joint begins to settle and you consider running.
Get more advice like this here. www.paulgoughphysio.com/health-tips
You might know Paul as an expert Columnist who writes weekly health articles for TWO of the North East's biggest daily Newspapers, The Northern Echo And The Hartlepool Mail, he is a regular Speaker at Industry Seminars around the globe and a Radio Personality, often heard on the BBC. Paul has been an expert guest on dozens of Radio shows and regularly interviewed in newspapers, magazines and trade journals all over the world, including the Guardian.
Paul’s background included working extensively in the Premier League with a Top Professional Football Team, and since quitting his job in Professional Football in 2007, his Physio Practice has become the fastest growing in the UK and biggest in the North East. So successful, that companies like BUPA, ASDA, The Vela Group And Coast & Country, repeatedly retain his Physio company's services to keep healthy their own staff and workforce. Paul Gough Physio Rooms is now a large multi-physio, multi clinic speciality practice in Darlington, Durham, Guisborough and Hartlepool.
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