From : Yen Yen Tan (Scott’s mum)
Subject : Sharing my experience on Scott’s challenges
Date : 11 August 2015
To : Ms Joan Bing Bing Law
Scott’s Mum Testimonial
I am glad to share about my son’s knee injury and physio rehab treatment.
My son plays soccer frequently as it is his CCA in school and he often has trainings 3 to 4 times a week to prepare for competitions. As it is known that soccer players are very prone to injury, especially in their knees. Being a mother, I have to pray for his safety, especially so during the competitions.
Unfortunately, my son injured his right knee last June, 2014. He felt a sharp pain on his knee and he described the feeling as “ like the knee was giving way”. He had these feelings on and off, till he felt that his right knee was giving him significant problem. He knew by then that something was wrong and decided that he better seek treatment.
I brought him to see the orthopaedic doctor, Dr. Leslie Leong at Mt. Alvernia Hospital. Dr. Leong ordered for MRI on that day of consultation and the MRI was done the next day.
MRI reported that there was no significant meniscus tear but suspected a hairline tear. A surgery was not needed at that stage yet but my son was advised not to play soccer for a few weeks to see if he would feel better. He also advised my son to go for physio treatment and recommended Steps and Providence.
My son’s knee injury was very common for soccer player but his uniqueness was that he was a right leg striker with right knee pain and yet his right leg was actually significantly smaller in size. Our physiotherapist, Ms Law later explained to my son that the significantly reduced muscle “bulk” (size) is called “ muscle wasting”. The fact that my son was still able to strike with a reduced muscle size means that he is really working his right knee very, very intensely.
Despite the pain, he continued to play hard and give his best; it just showed how much a person would sacrifice just to play the sports they love.
The physiotherapist and my son worked hard to strengthen his right knee and build up those muscles. His knee got better and the pain got lesser and lesser. He felt that his right knee was stronger after each treatment. Physio rehab had healed his right knee without any need to go for invasive surgery to fix the hairline meniscus tear.
My heartfelt thanks to Ms. Law, the physiotherapist at Steps and Providence who treated my son’s knee injury for about six months. Since day one of physio treatment, Ms. Law had given lots of advice and did all the necessary things to treat my son’s knee. My son today is still playing soccer and has participated in further competitions. So far he is doing fine!
Regardless of our worries, we as parents just have to support our kids, who are into sports. And try to keep them as safe as possible, with physio rehab, whenever necessary.
Note: Testimonials from patients are not or only slightly edited for originality purposes.