Van ran over my leg

[Missouri_Girl]

Believe it or not, my van ran over my leg 3.5 weeks ago.  Long story short:  I thought I had it in park, but it was in reverse.  I got out and it started rolling away backward downhill & I tried to chase it down the driveway.  I never made it inside & fell, getting my left left run over by the front tire.  Ouch, to say the least!  Miraculously there were no broken bones, but of course LOTS of contusions, swelling and pain.  After the initial ER trip, I have been seeing my Family Practice doctor and his treatment has been:  stay off my leg, keep it elevated, ice for the first two weeks & heat for the last 1.5 weeks, as well as narcotic pain meds, muscle relaxer & anti-inflammatory, plus Jobst stocking.  I've made a lot of progress, but as expected I still have some swelling as well as pain in the shin & inside part of the knee.  (The tire ran over the thigh a few inches above my knee.)  

So here is my concern:  even though the x-rays didn't show any broken bones at the time, is is possible (or even likely)  that some more severe damage was done to the inside knee area, such as torn muscle, tendon or ligament that didn't appear on the x-ray and that should perhaps be evaluated by an orthopedist?  An MRI?  Or should I maybe just go ahead and see an orthopedist anyway even though my doctor hasn't suggested it or referred me?  Because let's face it, I mean how many patients does a doctor see in his lifetime of practice who got their leg run over by a vehicle, and would actually know how to fully treat it?  Or maybe I'm just dealing with some really bad brusing & regular ol' tissue damage that takes time to heal, and doesn't really require an orthopedist.  I'm a 46-year-old female, and I sure don't want to treat this insufficiently and end up having permanent damage to & issues with my knee & leg the rest of my life.  

Any thoughts, ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[MJD1001]

I am shocked that you have not had an MRI also.  I would suggest getting into an Orthopedic doctor.  You are too young to risk having a damaged knee for years.  Even if your family doctor has diagnoses you correctly, I agree with goolia75, better safe than sorry......

[goolia75]

In my opinion, if you have been resting the leg and using ice, muscle relaxers, and anti-inflammatories yet are still having pain and swelling this long after the accident, you need to go in and have an MRI done on your leg to rule out any other damage.

In fact, I'm quite surprised that they didn't do an MRI anyways. There are major blood vessels in the leg that could have been damaged causing serious bleeding. Obviously that didn't happen, but the fact that they didn't do an MRI to rule out all the possibilities is surprising.

If you are suspicious that something else might be going on in your leg, it's best to just get the MRI. Better safe than sorry.