I have been dealing with right knee pain and stiffness for about 10 days after suffering what I considered a minor training injury. My right leg is my back leg during the jerk. I dumped a snatch into my squat stands and it came back and hit my right shin. After about 2 days it swelled up significantly and I lost a good deal of end range flexion and extension. I have had a previous surgery on this knee about 5 years ago. At that time they removed approximately 75% of my medial meniscus and debrided a partially torn ACL. Today I finally had my employer, who is a Physical Therapist and ATC, evaluate it. He feels that I reinjured the ACL again and possibly whatever cartilage is left on my medial side. I have medial joint pain, effusion, lack of terminal knee extension, and most importantly a positive Lachman’s test. It this time I’m going to treat it conservatively with ice, high volt E-stim, compression, DMSO, and extra hamstring strengthening. I’m 35 years old and not wanting to stop training and get it fixed. I have a meet in 10 days that I have no intentions of skipping.
So my question is: who has dealt with this injury without surgery? Do you think its even possible to train and compete with an ACL deficit knee? Should I switch to squat jerking? Am I an idiot and just too stubborn for my own good?
BTW, I am a Certified Athletic Trainer and work in a physical therapy office. I am well aware of the anatomy and biomechanics of the joint and the lifts. I guess I’m being my own worse patient here.