I started to play a lot of competitive badminton this year and I used to play about 4-6 times a week for a few months. My game involved a lot of jumping especially sideways with smashes and drives, and fast directional changes. I feel curious about the dull ache on my right knee and clicking/crunchy sound that my right knee produced. Recently been to a gym once a while, i did a weight lifting with my knees bent/squat, i could feel weakness and pain on my right knee. So I then have MRI to see the status of my right knee. MRI shows grade 1 acl and grade 1 pcl tear/sprain. Also, superficial chondral(cartilage) abrasion on inferior patella and opposing anterior femoral articular margin. It may mean that I have been playing with grade 1 sprain but surprisingly the pain is not to the extent, refraining me from playing. It's also kinda worrying whenever i raise my knee up at about 90 degrees, the crunchy sound of knee never fails to produce. I assume this may be due to the slight superficial cartilage damage. I have been playing with tight/stiff legs muscles as I rarely do a proper stretching, so this may be the causes. Thankfully with the result of MRI, it gives me a genuine reason to stop playing badminton at the moment and take a break from sport, otherwise the tear on my ligaments would further be aggravated. I am thinking whether I should give up on playing badminton regularly and competitively as I worry that my cartilage damages on kneecap and opposing joint may further deteriorate to the point that it may cause more pain and difficulty with activities in the future. Meanwhile, I have done physios with those stretching and stability exercises. My right knee is feeling well, except for the constant crunchy sound when my knee is raised and flex, which is really bothering somehow. Does anyone here with cartilage damages still play badminton regularly and with lower pace/intensity? I believe the pain (dull or sharp/discomfort) would resurface if I get back into activity or badminton at the same level I did before. Do yous wear any knee brace when you play? Any advice for me whether should I give up on badminton to avoid further damages?
If it's not painful, as in even slightly limiting your play, then it's most likely not too serious. That crunching is likely just patella femoral syndrome, just roughened cartilage. Best rehab is to bike lots. Doesn't matter stationary bike or road bike. Half hour everyday. Avoid any squats or kneeling.
ACL/PCL grade 1 tear do not cause crunching. And a more significant tear would require more significant trauma, eg. twisting injury in skiing, hit from the side in soccer/football, etc. And even then in those cases, completely healthy ligaments will still tear if enough force or trauma is applied.
There's evidence to the contrary from Li Xuerui's injury during the Rio games. She was playing quite normally until the ligament gave out suddenly. Damage to the ligament tissue can be cumulative in nature. I know players who have been training normally and all of a sudden "pop".
LXR's left knee did not "just give out suddenly". C'mon, did you actually watch the match against CM in Rio? If not, I suggest you watch it first before posting this as "evidence". Her left knee buckled sideways under her when she landed on it after a jump out to hit an over head shot on her left side. Score was 17-16 to Marin in 2nd game at that time after losing the 1st match. ACL injuries are much more common in female singles players for some reason. Wang Lin, Wang Xin, Sayaka Sato, to name a few. One possible reason is that females have greater knee valgus, which can lead to more severe stresses on the ACL, especially when pushed to the limits.
I did watch the match obviously, being a fan of LXR. She did make similar jump outs to the left over and over earlier in the match without issue. The buckling seen during the match did not precipitate the tear, but occurred as a result of joint instability after the ligament complex had already torn. Jump outs to the left are not severe enough events to cause a failure in any case. If one has participated in fighting sports where powerful strikes have thrown them onto the ground with incredible speed, they would understand that healthy knees simply don't give out like that easily. If landing off balance on one leg snaps healthy ligaments so quickly, I'm sure I'd be in a wheelchair already considering how many jump outs I do. In fact, I've had ankle sprains, stress reactions in the foot (distal metatarsals) and tibia etc. plus some incredibly painful quadriceps tendonitis from playing that way. No ACL tear yet, at least for me.
