My audacious dudes

[donnakebab]

Ok you guys I have a swollen , painful knee (about a month so far). Had trouble for about 6 months but only swollen for a month. Now getting pain that stops me from walking in any comprehensible way. Went to see a doc at local walk in centre this morning and she said I need an MRI scan cos a normal xray won't show anything. She said it could be arthritis, or ligament/tendon damage. Have change to a new surgery and couldn't get an appointment till Wednesday. New doc that I saw week before last said I can offer you Knee drain, Steroid injection, Xray or Physio. I went for physio cos I thought it would clear up pretty soon. Booked for middle of March. That was 2 weeks ago. Ever optimistic.

What do you reckon?

[Florence Fennel]

Bursitis DK? Housemaid's Knee, you been doing a lot of housework? I'd want the MRI scan PDQ to try and find out what needs to be treated. Has your new GP referred you for one? Hope you get some relief soon.

[Florence Fennel]

BTW, I've never been known as fearless and bold before, wow

[bramble]

I would wait for the results of the MRI scan and then decide what treatment to have.
You don't want to have surgery unless its absolutely necessary.
I hope it all works out well for you.

[_Chris_]

I'm not a doctor, but I don't like to let that stop me

If it's not obvious why it's hurting (e.g. you don't kneel a lot) it could be your footwear. When a joint hurts, it's often due to its neighbour joint not performing correctly.

So if your ankle is 'tight' (has a reduced range of motion -ROM), or your shoes are to stiff, the flexibility that your body expects from your ankle is transferrd to your knee. You knee likes stability, so attempting flexibility is not great.

Typically each joint alternates through flexible and stable... ankle - flexible, knee - stable, hip - flexible. Wrist - flexible, elbow - stable, shoulder - flexible.

Might be nothing to do with your case, but it's worth keeping in mind in general, often the source of pain is just a symptom of a problem that can be elsewhere.

Steroid injections work very well if it is inflamed, as long as you also address the underlying issue that caused it in the first place. Fish oil works amazingly on inflammation, not cod liver though, too much vit-a, just normal omega3 fish oil.

Hope the MRI shows something helpful

[mothhawk]

If you don't know what's causing the swelling, isn't it a bit risky to have physio on it? Could make it better, may make it worse.

[donnakebab]

That's what I was thinking mothhawk.

Chris I've always bought good support shoes cos I'm one of those ladies that can't do heels. When I go to work again I was thinking of wearing my walking boots. Comfy and warm but not matching uniform. At least I'll turn up. Hoping meds will sort me out for monday when I'm due in again. It's a stand up job with quite a bit of heavy lifting and no heat in stock rooms.

I have a scratch card in my purse but can't be asked to put my weight on bad knee and scratch it. How sad is that?

[Corris]

Is the pain ongoing, draggy and all the time - or sudden and searing?

[di]

Waiting lists suck! Hope you manage to find some relief whilst you're waiting. Ongoing pain really drags you down. In the meantime, don't put any pressure on yourself to do anything, as we all know, housework can wait.....at least to that moment it gets as bad as mine ....and there's really nothing much to do in the garden but drool over other peoples gardens/lotties and plan ahead. (and of course buy a pack or two of seeds from Ebay)

Take Care. x

[Mikey]

When it comes to knees I've a lot of experience of pain, I've had three surgeries in as many years, to correct problems with mine. What I would say is if your knee is swollen its for a reason. The swelling is there protecting damage, so personally I would avoid the knee drain.

You can have physio and still wait for an MRI I know some areas can have a 3 month wait for an MRI, from experience the physio will not getting you doing anything which is beyond your capabilities, but might give you examples of non load bearing stretches which can help ease the tension on the joint, and aid the natural reduction of swelling.

The knee is the most complicated joint in the whole body, its fully weight bearing has four bones, four ligaments, cartilage, tendons the works. There are so many possible things you could have done, that guessing is really not useful. Your doctor though is right, an xray will only show problems with the bones and patella tracking issues, the MRI will show an awful lot more.

Take it easy, and try not to overwork the joint, as you are only inflaming the swelling. Its a fine balance between keeping active enough, to avoid things like clots, but inactive enough to give your knee time to heal.

[morverngirl]

If you don't know what's causing the swelling, isn't it a bit risky to have physio on it? Could make it better, may make it worse.

Chartered Physios are qualified to diagnose. MRI would see if it is more soft tissue around joint ,X ray looks at bones. If swelling is surronding joint and not localised to a smaller specific area then physios would diagnose and treat accordingly

[donnakebab]

This has all been very interesting guys and has confirmed some of my own thoughts. However, it's not getting me back to work. I am using a crutch around the house and haven't been out since I went to the walk in surgery on Saturday. Roll on Wednesday morning when I have an appointment with GP. I think I need to be a little more assertive!

Consequently the fridge is nearly empty and the ironing I have accomplished (sitting in OH armchair with ironing board as low as it will go) Is about to assume the height of Mont Blanc. Have tried to juggle crutch and armful of ironing up the stairs at a steady pace but this method could take several weeks.

Decided to watch my River Cottage DVD's instead.

[Hilary B]

Get a spare crutch put at top of stairs, go up the stairs on your bottom (backwards) with the armful of ironing, and collect spare crutch when you get there to navigate to where the items belong.

[donnakebab]

You've done this before haven't you HB.

Did have a set of crutches but one was a bit rusty and OH applied his manly know how to it and broke it. (we're talking the metal adjustable ones. I did offer wd40 but was ignored). Managing with one so far but was thinking might be able to manage work if they'll let me take the one usable crutch and stay on the till for my shift. Will see what doc says in the morning.

[SarzWix]

Get the pair of shoes you wear most often, and turn them upside down. Check that the way the soles wear out is even, i.e. the centre of the heel has the most wear, following through along the centre of the sole. If the wear is more down one side of the soles than the other, then that may well be a contributory factor to your knee troubles. I and 2 of my sisters have a problem with the way we walk, and I get back problems from it, my youngest sister had a constantly dislocating knee, and my big sister has Osgood Schlatters in her knee. All improved beyond recognition by properly fitted orthotics x