Knee destroyed - out for a month... But how!? O.o

I've been training a lot lately. 10th Planet has increased my love of Jiu Jitsu ten fold.

I drill 5/6 days a week and love every minute of it. I never miss a session, I never see training as a hardship - in fact it is all I want to do. I get home, I watch matches and I read articles and I post here.

I set myself a challenge of competing 12 times this year. I've done 2 competitions (gold in one, silver in the second) and was due to do the third this Saturday.

I was drilling Single Leg X sweeps and Half Guard Passes last Sunday, training was fine and feeling pretty sharp. Sunday night I am getting undressed and my girlfriend asks what I had done to my knee... I wasn't aware I'd done anything at all, but it was the size of a large orange:
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Next day I couldn't put my knee on the floor or anything... It didn't hurt at all, but any pressure on it was too much - it made me feel ill so I was forced to skip training for a few days. Then on Saturday I heard of a seminar with a BJJ purple belt from Globetrotters going on. I don't get many chances to roll with purple belts (in fact, this may only be my second or third time), so decided I'd just ignore my knee for the day - put on two knee pads, went there, did some sparring - a few hours after:

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My whole leg went totally red at the front (above).

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And totally purple along the side and back (below).

I went to the doctors today (10 days after it happened) and he feels I have sprained it and picked up an infection... I honestly can't see how this is possible (I don't even see how infections can come from a sprain?). I didn't spar on the Sunday I guess I did it - I drilled lightly and never experienced any kind of pain remotely like a 'sprain' or, again, how that led to an infection.

I've been given an injection, a steroid, and two weeks of antibiotics / anti-inflammatories - mainly though I'm just gutted that I can't compete on Saturday and that I'm out of training for at least a few weeks.

The reason of this post I guess is to vent, but also I wanted to ask if anyone else has had similar experiences? Phantom injury I guess we could call it!!!

Damn. Do what you gotta do to get healthy man. All the best homie.

I tore my quad about a month and a half ago, and my knee swelled up like that. I didn't feel any pain in my quad for awhile, so I thought I had done something to my knee, but after seeing a massage therapist she told me I had tore it. I wasn't able to bend it for a few days, and I'm still not able to put a lot of pressure on it even after the swelling has gone down. Hope you get better soon man!

Bizarre, right?

Thankfully I have full movement - full lotus fine still, etc... but it just makes it all the weirder. It seems like an impact thing, but I've had no impact - just mystified and feel cheated.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Apperz

Bizarre, right?

Thankfully I have full movement - full lotus fine still, etc... but it just makes it all the weirder. It seems like an impact thing, but I've had no impact - just mystified and feel cheated.

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Someone may have used a chi wave disruption technique on you, but instead of knocking you out, they disrupted your knee chi, which results in swelling, impotence, and a delayed death. Sorry bro, that knee chi delayed death touch is going to kill you in 85 years. =(

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPsO7DSdg2s

But yeah a sprain or tear can definitely get infected. My guess is you have knee bursitis which is common for athletes/workers to get who do a lot of ground work with prolonged kneeling positions like jiu jitsu, wrestling, judo, even plumbers, carpet layers, roofers, and bricklayers commonly get knee bursitis. I can't tell if your knee is infected, but good god that's inflamed. I hope this sheds some light on your situation. You don't necessarily have to have a hard impact like a leg kick to get inflammation.

You're saying that you're training 5-6 days a week, which is a lot of time on your knees. I'd listen to the advice of your doctor on how to treat it. Take care of yourself brother. This jiu jitsu game is a marathon, not a sprint. Think of the long term. I suggest days dedicated to jiu jitsu chess, flow/light rolling, perfect rep static drilling, staggered in your full intensity live roll days. That way your body gets time to recover between your Power Level 9000 roll days.

Anytime an area of the body gets injured, the body responds by sending blood flow to the region, which causes the inflammation. The problem is that blood can contain a lot of infectious agents and thus can lead to infection if not treated. I definitely feel your pain bro. When I first started, I would do anything and everything to make sure I was training 7 days a week. I felt like it was a race to acquire as much technique as possible and to keep up with my own expectations of myself. Over the last year, I've learned the value of taking a day or two off if I have a lot of soreness. I still show up at the academy to observe, and I effectively learn something. But despite sounding like a broken record, if you're really in this for life, then it's ok to be honest with yourself and admit that you could use a day to rest. Rest is extremely important in the long run. Saolo Ribeiro said in his book that before a competition, he'll take 2 weeks off from training and will stay in good shape, focus on his diet, meditate, and he comes back a monster in the competition. It might seem backward to think that less training leading up to the competition would serve you, but I've found that competitions are not always won by the more technical or better grappler, but rather the guy who's body was more primed to perform at it's highest level. I hope your injury heals fast bro. But rolling and forcing the issue when your body is giving clear signs that it needs rest puts you at greater risk for injury. Not only from the standpoint of possibly getting caught, but also from improperly executing technique. Just my 2 cents:)

Taking time off to heal sucks the meat. But you can always get in the weight room and work some upper body lifts. When I had shoulder surgery I was in the gym every other day doing leg press and curls/extensions. Try to make the most of it I guess. Hope you heal up soon man

:(

Lots of things could of played into the injury, you just never know. I tore my quad a few months ago by walking.

Take it easy and rest up!

Sounds like bursitis man. I literally just finished recovering from it myself. If you are indeed having an issue with the old maid's knee, then naproxen, sports rub, ice, and anti-inflammatory foods like blueberries will be your best friend. That's what worked for me anyway.

The knee is a synovial joint and is filled with synovial fluid. Seems like you are overdoing it and the joint swelled to protect itself. It is your bodies last line of defense in an overuse type of situation. It does this to protect the joint/ligaments. Just give it some time to heal up. You probably never felt anything pop or tear because nothing did pop or tear, which is exactly the way our bodies are designed for these types of overuse situations. I would just ice it and be nice to it haha. As for the infection...that is pretty crazy. Did you have a cut in the area or anything? That is pretty rare to get an infection in an inflamed joint without an open wound of some sort, but not impossible.