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Post by jetjackson on Jul 28, 2017 17:58:45 GMT -7
I just got back from the physio, who has diagnosed me with a sprain of this joint in the knee called the superioir tibiofibular joint. Glad it's not something worse, but she said that 2-4 weeks recovery time.
Last weekend I was bouldering and did a left heel to left hand match. Then pushed down on the left heel and tried rock onto it while pulling with right hand to get to a high left pinch. As I did that I heard a couple of pops in my knee. I recreated it for the physio and basically I had my toe pointing left, splaying out my left leg. the torsional force on the knee was what caused it. She said it's a really rare injury - that she wouldn't see in other sports. Suggested that when I do heel hooks, I keep the toe pointed up, and not pointed left, to reduce the torsion strain on the knee. She also suggested I need to increase my hip and hamstring flexibility to prevent similar injuries in future.
Luckily, no meniscus damage, which I was worried about.
Apparently I'm good to keep climbing so long as no deep knee movements.
Lesson learnt on the heel hook technique.
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Post by MarkAnderson on Jul 28, 2017 20:07:54 GMT -7
When I'm doing a heel hook, especially on a larger hold, I initially place my heel on the hold with my toe pointing "out" (away from the rock, so my foot is more horizontal and perpendicular to the wall). Then with my heel on the hold, I rotate my lower leg until the toe is pointing up (and the foot is parallel to the wall), in order to lock the heel into place. Then I would weight the heel.
It's akin to grabbing a small edge with an open hand, overshooting it a bit, and then rolling it up into a crimp to maximize your purchase on the edge.
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Post by jetjackson on Jul 29, 2017 1:36:20 GMT -7
Yeah, that's good advice. Each injury seems to ingrain a new climbing technique in me. Probably be a couple of months before I can really crank on that heel again. Limited at the moment to problems that don't require a lot of left leg.
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Post by daustin on Jul 29, 2017 11:30:09 GMT -7
Interesting. Did you have any pain, stiffness or swelling afterward? Did the doctor order an MRI?
I had an extremely similar incident a couple months ago. Heard the pops, had some mild pain and loss of ROM, and feared that I'd torn some kind of knee ligament, and doubly feared surgery could be necessary.
Went to an orthopedist that specializes in sports injuries, and based on his assessment, he said he was almost positive I'd torn my meniscus. He ordered an MRI to be sure and to determine the severity and possible need for surgery or not.
Got the MRI and was back with the orthopedist about a week later. By this point the pain had gone away and my ROM was significantly better. Still had a little stiffness but for the most part I stopped noticing the injury in my normal non-athletic day to day life. The doc said that the MRI showed no tissue damage anywhere in the knee. He said there was a little fluid build up, but said that if they'd done an MRI of my other uninjured knee there easily could be the same fluid build up.
He didn't offer a diagnosis -- basically said that whatever happened was likely no big deal and to cautiously resume physical activity, taking care to avoid anything that caused pain. So that's what I did, and within a few weeks I was back to climbing mostly normally. I'm still extra cautious with any heel hooks on my left leg, and make sure to include my hamstrings, knees and hips in my warm up with some light stretching.
Hopefully your recovery is as quick and easy as mine was!
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Post by jetjackson on Jul 29, 2017 15:50:18 GMT -7
So my symptoms were very mild.
I heard 2 distinct 'pops' or 'cracks' just like a knuckle cracking. I immediate sat down on the bouldering pad and waited or the pain. Nothing came. It sort of felt a little 'shocked' so to speak, and possibly a little bit of that 'buzzing' feeling that I've had on pulley strains/tears - but very mild. I continued to climb through the day but I started to notice some mild pain if I put all my weight on my left leg. I avoided deep left knee moves just as a precaution, so I couldn't say if that would have been painful. There was no swelling, and no loss of ROM.
Later into the evening about 12 hours later it started to get sore and when I went to bed I had to sleep in a certain position for the pain to go away. Next day I still had full ROM and no swelling, but it was reasonably painful to go into a fully bent knee. I took an advil and it settled down a whole lot. Next couple of days were virtually pain free in day to day activity. Campus workout Wednesday aggravated it slightly but at the moment it's just sore in the mornings and evenings and if I climb or walk around a lot. Probably just inflammation.
Also it feels sore on the outer side of my left knee, where the tibia meets the fibula. I have no pain 'inside' my knee, so to speak.
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kader
New Member
Posts: 37
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Post by kader on Aug 5, 2017 1:31:29 GMT -7
Interesting. Did you have any pain, stiffness or swelling afterward? Did the doctor order an MRI? I had an extremely similar incident a couple months ago. Heard the pops, had some mild pain and loss of ROM, and feared that I'd torn some kind of knee ligament, and doubly feared surgery could be necessary. Went to an orthopedist that specializes in sports injuries, and based on his assessment, he said he was almost positive I'd torn my meniscus. He ordered an MRI to be sure and to determine the severity and possible need for surgery or not. Got the MRI and was back with the orthopedist about a week later. By this point the pain had gone away and my ROM was significantly better. Still had a little stiffness but for the most part I stopped noticing the injury in my normal non-athletic day to day life. The doc said that the MRI showed no tissue damage anywhere in the knee. He said there was a little fluid build up, but said that if they'd done an MRI of my other uninjured knee there easily could be the same fluid build up. He didn't offer a diagnosis -- basically said that whatever happened was likely no big deal and to cautiously resume physical activity, taking care to avoid anything that caused pain. So that's what I did, and within a few weeks I was back to climbing mostly normally. I'm still extra cautious with any heel hooks on my left leg, and make sure to include my hamstrings, knees and hips in my warm up with some light stretching. Hopefully your recovery is as quick and easy as mine was! Had exactly the same issue two years ago. Did not get a proper diagnostic either and it got better naturally For a couple of weeks i ve been having mild discomfort i think because of a pilates class. Any idea to make it heal faster
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Post by daustin on Aug 5, 2017 9:40:09 GMT -7
kader the best I can offer is the old joke: The patient says, "Doctor, it hurts when I do this." "Then don't do that!" For better advice, I'd seek a medical professional's opinion.
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jwill
New Member
Posts: 5
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Post by jwill on Jan 19, 2018 13:08:12 GMT -7
I have seen an isolated tear of the fibular collateral ligament (attaches to the tip of the fibula next to the proximal tib-fib joint) from a regular heel hook. An isolated tear heals fine without surgery (and so did this one) with return to full function and ability after 2-3 months. There are various degrees of tear and strain, from low grade strain to complete tear. But unless there is multiligament injury if the lateral knee or instability surgery is rarely indicated. An MRI typically would be necessary to make a diagnosis of this ligament injury or to exclude a meniscal injury (which has similar, often overlapping symptoms). Glad to hear you healed up well. Jonathan
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Post by Raul on Jun 29, 2023 22:55:22 GMT -7
I just had exactly the same injury on my right knee. It's a confusing one for doctors. I'm thinking my vegetarian diet contribute to it, as I might not be supplementing correctly.
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