Monday, November 14, 2011

My Bum Knee.

After over twenty years of being active in some form of sports or another, I guess it's about time I suffered my first significant knee injury.  Sadly, I have been taken down by infrapatellar tendonosis.  Which is a nice way of saying I developed carpal tunnel syndrome in my knee.  Basically, from what I can gather, the injury is a result of repetitive motion and a lack of acceptable recovery time.  Tendons are made of a collagen, a fibrous material which is strong.  Unfortunately, like rope, they are prone to fraying with overuse.  Unlike rope they are capable of healing themselves but the body builds collagen slowly.

What happened in my knee is the Patella tendon began to fray a little bit due to the constant jumping I was doing in volleyball.  When compounded with a jump a month ago where I landed badly, a small injury was created.  There was only a little bit of pain and I ignored it.  However, over the course of the next month or so, the small fray began to grow bigger until two weeks ago I could barely walk without limping.  What was also very concerning, besides the limp and the pain, was the instability of my knee.  I would be walking and it would simply buckle on me.  All of these things caused me to see a doctor here in Korea.  After performing the normal range of motion tests the doctor sonogramed my knee.  He instantly asked me if I was active in sports, to which I said yes.  Quickly after that he checked my other knee and gave me my diagnosis.  Unfortunately there is no real treatment option for this injury besides letting it heal.  The bad news is that I can't play volleyball until it heals, and my knee may never recover fully.  The good news is that I get to go to the gym four to five days a week now and destroy my upper body.

Ohh, here is a picture of my knee.  The giant black hole in my tendon is the bad spot.  It's not supposed to be there.  I'm going back to the doctor's office tomorrow to get a follow up check.  Hopefully I'll have good news.  My knee is feeling stronger but there is still some pain in the area.