I apologize if this is rant-ish. I slipped a couple of times a month ago while playing pickleball due to the court's grit being worn out on a specific spot. I was able to catch my self every single time I slipped(lost my footing) with my right leg's strength alone and didn't need to use my hand or anything. There was no popping sounds/pain/swelling so I thought it was nothing. Morning after, I woke up with sharp and dull pain as soon as I woke up on my left knee. I was able to walk but I noticed right away that my range of motion is not normal at all. The pain is all over including the back of my knee depending on the angle of my leg or if I'm putting force on the ground like walking up/down the stairs.

I had a partial meniscus tear 10 years ago so I thought maybe it was reinjured but back then my knee was actually noticeably swollen, barely had any ROM, and my knee was consistently buckling.

I was lucky to get a doctor's appointment within a week but I was disappointed with the diagnosis. Every single physical test was negative and everything was normal except for a "mild tenderness to palpation on medial and superior lateral aspect". His assessment/plan is that I got a "mild sprain" so recovery timeline is 6 weeks with PT then do a follow up if there is no improvement at all.

I only have 4 weeks left and the earliest PT appointment I could get is October. I called around PT centers around me and got another referral but insurance takes 1-3 weeks according to them so by the time I get an actual appointment it is way past the 6 week recovery timeline.

I do not know what my options are and I feel hopeless. Based on my experiences, you cannot just find a bunch of exercises for your injury and do them and hope you'll heal because you actually might be doing the opposite. I already tried slow leg swings, quad sets, arc quads, hamstring stretches and other mild rehab exercises. None of them improve my injury and they hurt as I do them so I just stopped altogether.

I feel like time is wasting away because I do not know what to do at all and when I do a follow up, I might finally get an MRI but that's going to take forever again, then finally PT if the doctor do not decide to immobilize my knee first.

It has been a month since my injury so what should I do? My physical activity right now is just necessary walking and I have been doing RICE for a month now.

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