An Expert Tells Us About KG’s Knee
by Jeff Clark on Feb 21, 2009 6:20 PM EST
in Boston Celtics News & Links
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PrintCeltics Hub did a great job tracking down an orthopedic surgeon to help explain what is going on with Kevin Garnett's knee.
Here are some highlights:
Celtics Hub: There’s a feeling out there that “posterior muscle strain” is not a real injury, but just something that sports teams say to placate the media until they want to release the real information. So: Is this a real injury? And what exactly is it?
Dr. Rose: Yes, it’s a real injury. A sprain is an injury to a ligament, but a strain is a muscle or tendon injury. You can strain an achilles tendon, for instance, but you can’t sprain it.
Now, saying it’s a muscle strain in the back of the knee is a little vague. There are a lot of muscles that run behind the knee. There’s the hamstring muscle, for instance, but the far more common injury is a strain of the calf muscle–which starts above the knee and runs to the achilles tendon. About 95 percent of the time, the strain will be in the part of the calf muscle that runs along the inside of the leg–the gastrocnemius.
CH: The team is saying KG will be back in two or three weeks. Is that a reasonable recovery time?
DR: It really depends on how badly it’s injured. A very mild strain takes two or three weeks to heal. If it’s a moderate strain, it could be four weeks, and if it’s severe, it could take up to six weeks.
If you come back too soon, you run the risk of aggravating the injury and starting from ground zero.
CH: And with rest, is this something you can come back from and be 100 percent, or does it always linger?
DR: Absolutely, he can come back 100 percent. There are some muscle strains that linger a long, long time, but those usually involve the hamstring–and usually the portion that is up higher in the thigh, not behind the knee. They say you never get cured of a hamstring injury. But for calf strains behind the knee–those have the potential for a full recovery.
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seems like good news so far
If what the team is telling us is accurate and true, it sounds like a mild injury and a good chance at 100% recovery
here’s hoping
"Would I rather be feared or loved? Easy. Both. I want people to be afraid of how much they love me." Michael Scott
That article manages to be worrying and comforting at the same time
On one hand, the ability to be back 100% in a few weeks is great news. On the other hand, is it really a very mild strain? Will he really stay out long enough to not aggravate it?
An excellent post
One thing to keep in mind is that professional athletes have access to the most modern techniques and therapies fro rehabilitation. The everyday person would probably take longer to recover. And I really doubt the Celtics would be anything but cautious with KG.
- JoeB
I still don't think
the team is telling the truth. Just the feeling I have. I’ve had some knee injuries in the past, I saw the game Thursday, and I’ve seen KG play all season.
Either way – like Jeff said, get well KG and go Celts…
God bless and good night!
We're doomed
In seriorness, there’s nothing to prevent a guy from ahving both a strain and a sprain, to some extent. I have no doubt some spin is going on. Cross our fingers …
"People don't understand, if you can't live the rest of your life off one year in the NBA, you can't live off 21." -- Keon Clark
sprains and strains literally have little to do with each other. Lay people and uninformed, ignorant gp's, and pt's use the terms wrongly all the time
But what the ortho said is right: if its a sprain, its a muscle, not a joint. PERIOD.
Doubt we're getting the whole story
- Why has he been favoring that leg for weeks?
- Why has he been wearing a brace on that knee since practically the beginning of the season?
- There was absolutely nothing on that play that looked like it could have caused a strain. Nor before it. It’s still possible of course, but it’s strange.
- When this happened, KG could not put any weight on that leg. He landed on his other leg, then hopped off on it. That’s not how a muscle strain usually behaves.
- Last year KG was out for a couple of weeks with another mysterious injury whose cause could not be discerned… “abdominal strain”.
- All in all… it’s POSSIBLE that we’re getting the whole story, but there are too many weird things going on, so I doubt it. Something else is going on.
- But I have no idea what.
One thing that makes me think they aren't lying though is that he is good one moment then limping BADLY down the run way the next
this is the hallmark of a muscle problem and not a joint issue.
Probably because he has a gimpy knee to begin with…like most players his age.
by SalmonAndMashedPotatoes on Feb 21, 2009 10:18 PM EST up reply actions
KG would play if this were they playoffs
mchale played with a broken foot in 87. KG would play if this were they playoffs/ but now rest up & get ready for another run. Lebron getting stronger by the day these C’s have their work cut out for them.
Paranoia!
You guys are hilarious. Seriously. It’s a strain of the muscle behind the knee. That’s all. Ice and rest and he’ll be fine.
Sure, KG’s right knee has given him problems in the past. Most pro athletes at his age have similar gimpy body parts. Big deal.
As for coming down on one leg after he injured it…what exactly should he have done to make you all feel better? He felt it strain, felt the pain, lifted it off the ground to protect it, grabbed and rubbed his upper calf after he had hopped to the bench, later hopped to the locker room, and then 20 minutes later—after the initial pain of the strain had subsided—he was walking on the court like nothing happened…and would have played had the Cs not held him out. Sounds like a big pile of nothing.
by SalmonAndMashedPotatoes on Feb 21, 2009 10:16 PM EST reply actions
Alley-oops
How about holding off on the alley-oops for while. Jumping on odd angles is a potential risk for pressure on the knees and ankles.
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