while crossing the street more than three months ago, and I'm not sure what's wrong with my leg. The driver was going fairly slow (she had slowed to let me cross, presumably, and then took off as I stepped into the road) when she hit the inner side of my right leg. It knocked me about 8 feet I was told, and aside from other things, my knee hurt tremendously. I could still put weight on it, and at the ER the dr determined through x-rays that there were no broken bones. After feeling the joint, he told me that there didn't seem to be any major joint damage either.

My knee currently has a dent where it was hit, that has a shadow in it (bruise?), is still very sensitive to the touch, and aches or stings at random times--both when it's bearing weight and not. I've been wearing a drug-store brace on it, but it really doesn't seem like it should still be painful to touch right?? I know I need to see another doctor, but I am a college student with limited insurance, so I'd like to visit the right type of doctor the first time and have some idea of what might be going on... please help. :confused:

Hi!
You would do best to see an orthopedic surgeon (not that you will need surgery). Also if you state it is from a car accident, they will sometimes not hound you on insurance if it will possibly fall into a legal case. If you need additional care for the injury, I would suggest you contact your insurance carrier and let them know that it stims from the car accident.
Also, from past experience, do NOT settle your case with the car driver's insurance company until right before the year time limit runs out - you will sometimes not know what all is wrong with you for some time. This allows you to see if anything else crops up before then. Make sure though that you either settle with them prior to a year of the accident or get a lawyer if it will go past a year.
Hope this helps you out some!
hrtofluv

Dancin Queen --

Your problem sounds all too familiar to me. I was involved in a serious car wreck last year & suffered a fractured tibia (shinbone), a fractured femur (thighbone), a shifted pelvis, a fractured ankle and a spinal fracture (among other things). Long, slow, painful recovery!!!

What you are experiencing (the achey indention in your knee) sounds identical to one of my knee fractures. It is called a comminuted fracture because rather than the bone breaking clean (all the way through) -- and TRUST ME -- you'd know if that happened -- a chunk of it was broken off instead. The problem with these type of fractures is... they usually will not show up on an x-ray. In fact, when they x-rayed me they didn't see anything wrong with that knee at all... then when I started having problems my orthopedic surgeon ordered an MRI which shows a whole lot more than an x-ray can. I came to find out that the painful indent on my knee was caused by a chunk of bone breaking off (my tibial spine) and along with it my anterior & posterior knee ligaments (which stabilize the knee) were torn from the bone as well. It seems very likely that you experienced a similar fracture. Make an appointment w/ an orthopedic surgeon & NO MORE X-RAYS!!! They're garbage & not nearly detailed enough to clearly show this type of fracture. You should have either a CT scan or an MRI (your best bet) for proper diagnosis.

Good luck!