Ping: TK (or anyone else) Knee/Leg Pain?

[SirFozzie]

(I pinged TK, because out of FOFC she's had the most experience with this kind of thing, but anyone with ideas is welcome)

Hey all.. I have apparently done something to my right knee/leg in my attempts to lose weight..

It was hurting last couple days, but I could walk on it, etcetera (once I got going it was pretty manageable, I even managed to walk the three levels of the local mall on Monday)..

Woke up yesterday, very little pain, but throughout the day, it got worse and worse (I'd say about a 3-4 on a pain scale of 1-10 normally, and a 6 or 7 should I move the knee side to side)

The pain seems to be on the lower edge of the knee cap, but didn't seem excessively swelled. I tried icing it overnight, bad things happened.. the pain increased, and the leg basically "locked" (I had to lean on the wall/stuff to get from the home office to the bed).

I'm waiting for my "local" (hour drive) doctor to open so I can make an appointment, but any ideas other than ibuprofen/advil/asprin to manage it, and what could it be?

[CU Tiger]

Is the pain associated with movement i.e. bending the joint, if so sounds like a cartilage issue with the meniscus being fairly fragile and easily damaged.

Or is the pain more side to side stability related, which would indicate ligaments.

That said, I've had 3 reconstructive knee surgeries and other than dislocating my knee joint the ligament inujies didnt hurt after the initial incident. Miniscus issues hurt everyday and nag and wear on you until it starts to seem unbarable. Then the offending piece of cartilage moves around and life is good, until it gets back in a bad spot.

Oh if you feel either side of your knee as you bend flex/extend the joint do you feel a popping or clicking in the joint? Thats supposed to be a good pointer at cartilage issues as well.

[wishbone]

I started having knee pain after landing wrong while playing basketball. The doctors did all the push/pull/twist tests and said to rest it and I would be fine. After the 4th time it failed while I walking participating in activities like softball, basketball or turning corners in grocery stores I insisted on an MRI. That's when they found the ACL was completely torn and that the meniscus was shredded. The surgeon removed 1/3 of the meniscus from one side and 1/2 from the other during the reconstruction. Every day since the surgery has been better than the month before when all the loose material wiggles around and you never know when it will go back to a non-painful state.

I recommend an MRI if you really want to know what's going on in there. Even if it's "too expensive", it's cheaper than having a knee that is likely to fail and inconsistent.

[Arles]

if the knee is stable (after talking with a doc), do some exercises with your IT band (it's on the outside of your thigh, on the side of your leg between your quad and hammy). I recommend a foam roller. I used to have terrible knee pain (below the knee and to the side) that would just come on with no notice. I found that it was related to my IT band after having a sports massage. Then, I started to use the foam roller when positioned on my side and rolled it from the base of my knee to my hip (while laying sideways). The pain I felt when certain spots landed on the roller was extreme - but after doing that for a couple minutes my knee pain was gone. Here's an example of what I'm talking about:


But, I would definitely get the the structure of your knee checked out first if it really doesn't feel well and locks up consistently. This is just if everything checks out at the doc and it doesn't go away.

[SirFozzie]

Thanks guys. Unfortunately, I won't know till tomorrow afternoon at the earliest what's going on, as the doc couldn't see me today and made an appointment for tommorrow afternoon. :/

From what you said, CU Tiger, it sounds like a cartilage issue..

[terpkristin]

It does sound like it could be cartilage, as CU said, or IT Band syndrome, as Arles suggested. It also could be something like Jumper's Knee. Does it hurt to touch, or just to walk on?

Sadly, other than taking anti-inflammatories (I find Advil/Aleve work better than Tylenol) and rest, there isn't much near-term you can do. If you have an ace bandage, you can try to wrap it up (give it some extra support) and see if that helps. Or you can go to CVS and get a sleeve, same diff. If it's jumper's knee, a cho-pat strap may help (e.g. Amazon.com: Duro-Med The Original Cho-Pat Knee Strap, Brown, Medium: Health & Personal Care ).

Long term, most knee injuries are treated at a first attempt by trying to reduce inflammation and make the muscles that support the knee stronger. The doc will probably be able to give you specific exercises to try at home and/or refer you to a PT. The thing to remember with PT is that it only works if you do it..most PT's assign "homework" for patients to do, and you'll find you get much better results if you do the homework.

Good luck, let us know how it goes!
/tk

[SirFozzie]

The area is tender.. and pretty much as things progressed today same as yesterday (near constant aches until I put it horizonatal, and no range of movement.

[SirFozzie]

update.... either two aleve do a hell of a lot more as an anti inflammatory then advil or ibuprofen (if It's a sprain or tear) or it WAS loose cartilage as the pain is down to a 1-2 and I can walk semi-comfortably with more range of motion. still going to the doc shortly to find out

[MacroGuru]

I had almost the same description of pain you have and was diagnosed with patellar chondromalacia..

Prescription strength Naproxen was given and I was told that I could not jump or run for a bit...if i needed to exercise it was eliptical or bike...

[SirFozzie]

The good news is that it WAS inflamation of the bursal area (around the inside of the knee and the back of the knee) and the action plan is rest, heat, strengthening the area with exercise, along with a prescription level dose of Naproxen/Aleve.. Which is good, because if there had been a tear, my summer GenCon vacation would have been a no go.

[SirFozzie]

Well, yesterday and this morning was.. well to use the phrase of Super Dave Osbourne, "record pain" I mean, making me want to scream out loud type pain.. up intil 6, where the pain has receded back to the low level I've had before.. I wonder if something popped into place, or something blocking was removed. Weird stuff.