Pain inside knee joint, a posterior cruciate ligament injury is causing by tearing or stretching of the posterior cruciate ligament PCL.
Physical examination by doctor needed when there are signs of PCL injury. Doctor will ask you to move your knee joint in different ways. Fluid in the knee joint may also check to see if there is bleeding inside knee joint. For more serious case, knee joint MRI and knee joint x-ray may be required.
The posterior cruciate ligament PCL is the strongest ligament in the knee. It extends from the top-rear surface of the tibia to the bottom-front surface of the femur. The ligament controls the stability of posterior knee joint, avoiding tibia from moving over behind the femur.
Posterior cruciate ligament injury usually happen by over stretching the knee joint (hyperextension). This can easily happen if you land improperly or too hard from jumping. The PCL injury can also caused from a direct blow to the flexed knee, such as smashing your knee in a car accident (called "dashboard injury") or falling hard on a bent knee.
Posterior cruciate ligament injury symptoms are obvious to be seen. When you have below symptoms, you have chances of PCL injury.
- Knee joint pain
- Knee joint instability
- Back knee swelling
In common practice, first aid treatments for PCL injury are
- Applying ice to the area
- Elevating the knee joint above the level of the heart
- Taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for pain relief
You should not have any intense physical activity until the knee swelling is shrinking down until disappear and the pain inside knee joint is gone. Proper physical therapy can help you to regain knee joint and leg muscle strength. If the PCL injury are more serious and cannot recover from above therapy, you may need surgery. This may be either knee arthroscopy or open surgical reconstruction.
For ages population, pain inside knee joint are more commonly happen. There are weak to their bone, ligaments and knee joint. Daily physical activities are advised not to be intense and be careful.
