What are some symptoms of torn ligaments behind the knee?
1 Answer
Swelling, knee pain, trouble walking and bearing weight on the knee, and a feeling of unstableness in the kneee
Explanation:
The ligament behind the knee is called the Posterior Cruciate Ligament, or PCL. It is much stronger then the ACL, but it can still be torn. When it is, it can be difficult to tell, as often quite a large force is needed to tear the PCL, so a PCL injury ends up occuring with other injuries, masking the symptoms. If not treated, a torn PCL can lead to osteoarthritis in the knee.
The function of the PCL is to stop the knee bending the wrong way, and is torn when that happens. This typically occurs when the knee is hyper-extended, a direct force is applied to the front of the knee, or you make a simple miss-step.
Symptoms are, as mentioned,
- Pain with swelling after the injury (mild-severe depending on injury)
- Trouble walking and bearing weight on the knee, which may cause a limp
- A feeling of wobbliness and unstableness in the knee, as if it is about to give out
http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=a00420
I hope that helped!
