Knee pain

BigStu1972

I’ve been having some knee pain recently which I only noticed when kneeling down, or I should say that I am unable to kneel down. Anyway after a visit to my GP, a hospital referral and an MRI scan I got the results today from the surgeon and he told me that I have a medial meniscal tear and a meniscal cyst on my left knee and the posterior horn of the medial meniscus in my right knee is torn a long with a rather large bursa which is on the lateral aspect of the tibiofibular joint. In addition a localised area of signal change is seen in the cartilage of the patella which raises the possibility of a cartilage defect.


This is quite a lot to take in. I have been offered keyhole surgery to repair the meniscal tears but the surgeon recommended that I only do that if I was in pain with my knees all the time or they were stopping me from doing certain activities. Now at present the only thing my knees are stopping me from doing is kneeling down, like when I bow at the beginning of a Judo class.


Has anyone else had this sort of injury and if so did you opt for surgery?

Any other advice appreciated.

porker

Hiya mate, I had a tear to my meniscus last year and delayed the surgery until I was really struggling to walk. The MRI showed a small tear in the red zone so the specialist couldn't understand why I was in so much pain. I had the surgery in February and when he showed me the photos there was a huge tear and it was folded back on itself!
I've had 40% removed and it was like a brand new knee after a few weeks rest, but I think I rushed back into high impact stuff like squatting and plyometric exercises and I've now got some pain again.....nowhere near what it was like before surgery though.
If I was you I would hold off until it affects your everyday life, as there are always risks with any surgery and there are always alternative ways to train.
My specialist told me it is quite common to have to perform further atheroscopies after the first due to repeated tearing.

lindamarch

If you still want to practice sport or you have a job that requires a lot of pressure on the knees, then surgery is required. But I wouldn't rush, see how you feel and if you are ready for this kind of surgery.

It's worth saying, if you will do the surgery, you have to take care on you knee and knee joint in the next month, meaning physiotherapy. If done right, you can be back on your feet and without many problems in the 3 weeks.

BigStu1972

An update on this.
I've been booked in to have surgery on my right knee on the 26th April. I've been getting pain in the front of my knee recently which hurts whenever I walk up or down the stairs. I therefore feel that surgery is going to be the only way to improve things as they appear to be getting worse left on their own.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't more than a little worried about surgery though.

Kailash

any other updates?
i'm getting knee pain, will be heading for an MRI in a few weeks to find out what it is
really hope its not the menisucs

did anyone have pain right on the bony part at the outside of the knee?
about here i guess
                                                                       

BigStu1972

My knee pain and stiffness was behind the knee.

anyway an update, almost 4 months after surgery. I'm able to do most things but its still stiff and I haven't got full flexibility back in it yet. I've been doing light squats, cycling and rowing and have also started BJJ (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu) which is like Judo without the high impact throws.

I'd say I'm back to around 70% full usage on my right knee. Not sure yet if its been a complete success.

I was told by my physio that the average recovery time is somewhere between 3-6 months so she wasn't at all concerned with my progress. My physio sessions have stopped now so I'm kinda flying blind and just hoping that if I continue to rehab I should get full usage back soon.

Kailash

good news
i'm seeing a consultant next week. hoping to get an MRI to see if there are any underlying issues
the pain on the right side has died down somewhat now
just mainly at the back of the knee where its flaring up
i suspect too much hard cycling has caused this, i've eased back a good bit on it. went out last night for a short run.

original jungle

How To Use BPC-157

worth a read

domtheone

Bumping this thread.

Can I ask of those that have had a scan (MRI I guess).  How did you manage it?  Nagging the Doctor for years?

Ive had knee pain on and off since I was a child.

Damaged my Knee cap (it moved right around to the side) several times as a teenager and my knees never been the same since.

I don't do any high impact stuff like Tennis/Squash/Badminton/Football etc etc.

I do walk/hike scramble though and I hurt my knee again in the Lakes over Xmas.

Something (left knee) behind my kneecap moved to the right very suddenly when I stood awkwardly on a rock (foot slipped to the side).

Happened a few years back (even worse) and I was out of action (serious walking) for 6 months.

Just going through the process of changing Doctors since I'm moving but, I hope to be able to make an appointment in a week or so.  Hopefully that'll mean I get to see a Doctor within the next month.

In my experience, they just say take pain killers.  Got referred to a Physio once before but they just told me to do some exercises.

What really frustrates me is nobody is able to tell me just what I did to my knee (no matter how I describe it).

I really want a scan to see what's wrong down there.

A month later (today) and I still have a faint limp and my knee aches.

Might even have to go private if I get the usual brush off from the Doc/Physio.

Any ideas on the cost of a private scan?

Kailash

i had private medical with work (very lucky to have!)
such a shame but you would probably need to nag the doctor, even to just get on a list. keep at them though it's affecting your quality of life so no reason why you should be fobbed off
no idea how much a scan would be private
consultants want around £180 per appointment at least (you generally need 2), so there's three or four hundred quid for about 20mins talking if you're lucky