Hyperextended Knee Recovery Time

Athletes know how painful a hyperextended knee is. It is when your knee extends backward way beyond its normal range, leading to severe stress, pain, and swelling around the knee joint. In severe cases, a hyperextended knee may damage your nearby blood vessels, ligaments, nerves, and cartilage.

Female athletes are more susceptible to a hyperextended knee injury than males because of weaker joint stability. Fortunately, most cases are easily treated with RICE, while some may have to undergo arthroscopy. Orthobiologic methods, including cell-based therapies and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy, are also quite effective in treating this condition. 

The hyperextended knee recovery time usually depends on the severity of the condition. Mild to moderate cases typically take two to four weeks, while severe ones that require surgery may take six months or more to heal completely. 

Causes of a Hyperextended Knee

The primary cause of a hyperextended knee is a sudden, direct trauma or blow to the knee joint. It could be anything with the force that makes your knee joint bend backward against the normal range of motion. Some common causes include but are not limited to the following:

• Car accidents can significantly impact your knee, forcing it to bend backward.
• Sudden falls from foot caught or any other unusual situation.
• Unbalanced or incorrect landing after a jump.
• Jumping on someone’s back without warning can make them off-balance, leading to a hyperextended knee.
• Snowbank crashes that push the skier’s body forward while keeping their feet fixed in one place can also lead to knee hyperextension. 
• Physically demanding sports that include contact at fast speeds, including soccer, rugby, football, lacrosse, etc.
• Overdoing gymnastics or landing in the wrong position.
• Taking quick directional changes or leaping like in basketball.
• Taking a sudden break when running at full pace.
• A sudden tackle at the front leg can push your knee backward.

Symptoms of a Hyperextended Knee

The symptoms of knee hyperextension vary depending on the severity of your condition, whether the hyperextension has damaged your ligaments, and how far the knee has moved backward. You can know you have a hyperextended knee when:

• Your knee feels buckled.
• Your affected knee seems less stable or stiff than before.
• You feel a mild, sharp pain at the back of your knee joint.
• Your front knee experiences a pinching pain.
• You can’t bend or straighten your affected knee.
• There is intense swelling and weakness around the knee joint.
• Your knee makes popping noise or sensations due to torn ligaments in the knee.
• The swelling in your knee reduces mobility due to fluid accumulation called  “water on the knee.”
• You notice mild to intense bruising on the skin around your knee, indicating cartilage, ligament, or tissue damage. 

Treatment Options for a Hyperextended Knee

The most recommended treatment for a hyperextended knee is the RICE method, which includes resting, icing, compression, and elevation. It works for mild to moderate conditions, relieving in only a few weeks or months. The process includes:

• Rest. You should immediately stop moving and give your hyperextended knee rest. If you used to practice contact sports or physically demanding activities, avoid them altogether during your rest period. It’s best to consult a doctor for pain relief medications. 
• Ice. You must also add a piece of ice in a small towel and apply it to your hyperextended knee for 10 to 15 minutes multiple times daily to minimize swelling and pain. 

• Compression. It’s also best to use a compression wrap around your knee to support healing from pain. 

• Elevation. One effective way to treat a hyperextended knee is to elevate it above the heart. You can do it by lying on the bed and placing a pillow under the knee for support.

Surgery

In severe cases of hyperextended knee, the RICE method may not always work. Tendon tears, knee misalignment, and tissue damage require surgery to get better, including:

• Arthroscopy. This procedure involves making a small incision in the affected area and inserting a small endoscopic camera to view the damage. Once the surgeon gets access, they repair the torn ligament or tissue and close the incision. 
• Reconstruction. Reconstructive surgery helps repair tissue damage in a hyperextended knee. The surgeon extracts a tissue graft from another healthy tendon and replaces the affected ligament with it. The graft promotes the development of a new ligament.

If you undergo surgery, your doctor may also recommend physical therapy to regain range of motion and muscle strength quickly.

Cell-Based Therapies

Also known as stem cell therapies, cell-based therapies are based on regenerative medicine treatment. The procedure involves extracting healthy cells from the patient’s body, processing them, and reinjecting them into the injury site. Since the doctor uses the patient’s own cells, the process has less risk chances. 

At CELLAXYS, we perform two types of cell-based therapies:

• Minimally Manipulated Tissue (MMAT) Transplant. In this process, the doctor extracts cells from your adipose (fat) tissue and reinjects them in the injury site. MMAT can be performed at different locations in the same procedure. 
• Bone Marrow Concentrate (BMAC). BMAC involves harvesting highly concentrated cells from your bone marrow and reinjecting them in your hyperextended knee.

Both procedures take 1.5 to 2 hours to complete. The doctor uses live fluoroscopy/X-rays to detect the affected area and perform the procedure. Cell-based therapies are outpatient procedures, meaning you can go home right after. 

You must follow the post-treatment care plan for up to a week and be ready to return to your physical routine immediately.

Platelet-Rich Plasma Therapy (PRP) 

PRP is a popular and widely accepted treatment for sports, spine, and orthopedic injuries. The process includes taking the patient’s blood sample, separating platelets from it, processing them, and reinjecting them in the injury site. 

Platelets perform three critical healing functions, including releasing 10 growth factors, attracting healthy cells from the blood, and producing a web-like scaffolding called fibrin. They help in new tissue development and accelerate the recovery period in knee hyperextension. 

PRP is also an outpatient procedure, so you will be ready to go home after the treatment. It takes only 45 minutes to complete, posing impressive improvements in the patient’s knee condition. Like cell-based therapies, PRP also has a maximum recovery period of a week.

Preventing a Hyperextended Knee

If you’re an athlete or perform high-intensity activities, you can avoid knee hyperextension in the following ways:

• Wearing knee braces when participating in sports
• Resting and elevating the knee after having a knee injury
• Practicing RICE instantly after an injury

These steps will ensure instant healing and stability, helping you prevent hyperextension at most.