My Life: Off to see the Wizard (aka orthopedic surgeon)
Tomorrow afternoon I will venture to see a doctor about my knee. I have been putting it off forever. Well, at least two years. My knee pain is not severe. But, it has stopped me from being able to run. I enjoy running quite a bit. The exercise is obviously important. But the stress relief is a big factor for me.
I can run now. But, I feel weakness and aching pain in my left knee while doing it. The next day is when I feel the sharp pain. When walking up and down stairs it is pretty bad. A stabbing pain in the front of my knee.
The knee also clicks when I walk down or up stairs. The clicking has just gotten worse and worse over the years. It actually is as loud as snapping your fingers at this point. And if you place your hand upon the outside of my knee you can feel the pop anytime I move my knee. Pretty gross really. From what I read I should expect some of the twisting and turning the docs do:
McMurray TestThey may also do an MRI and I am not really wanting that. I hope they can just figure it out by moving my knee around and let's get this thing done. Who knows?
The McMurray test is used to evaluate the presence of a meniscus injury. To test the medial meniscus, hold the leg in internal rotation and apply varus stress while straightening the flexed knee. For the medial meniscus, hold the leg in external rotation and apply valgus force while straightening the flexed knee. A test that elicits pain or a reproducible click is a positive test.
I guess I have gotten used to it and put up with it because of the baby. I really didn't want to have any kind of surgery on it because of him. But, now I am realizing that if I don't have this looked at soon I am going to have some problems working out and losing weight. That is becoming more of an issue the longer I use my knee pain as an excuse not to work out.
So we'll see what the doctor says. I am guessing on this: Meniscus Tear. It isn't super serious - I have very little swelling in my knee. But I think there is a tear of some kind in there. From what I have read surgery is definitely an option. So that kinda sucks.I have fractured my left ankle 4 times. Because of that my arch in my left foot has fallen and I have a heel spur aka - plantar fascitis in my left foot. That is also something I am going to mention to the good doc and see what he says about it. I have had that for about 5 or 6 years. But I just put up with it.
As I wait for tomorrow afternoon I am finding myself relieved that I am finally biting the bullet and going in to see someone. I can be real stupid that way. Also I have been telling myself that it's probably "nothing" and the guy will think I am just crazy. That's deep in my mind. It's a football thing, 'suck it up... it's only a little pain.' But, I know that this is something that needs fixing. Many years of pain isn't something you should have to go through. Hopefully the doc can fix me up.
I really miss running. There is a possiblity though that I won't be able to run anymore. And I am worried about that. If they have to remove the meniscus (which is really common) then the wear and tear on my joint would be a serious problem if I kept running.
A meniscectomy is a procedure to remove the torn portion of the meniscus. This procedure is far more commonly performed than a meniscus repair. Most meniscus tears cannot be treated by a repair for a number of reasons. Often the tear is in an avascular region of the meniscus, and will not heal even if repaired. Some tears are frayed and cannot be sutured together. In these cases, the meniscectomy is done to remove the damaged portion of meniscus. The meniscectomy has a faster recovery, but it can lead to trouble years down the road because of the absence of the normal meniscus.Crap. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
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3 Comments:
Did you say you were having a masectomy or meniscectomy? Just kidding. I had this surgery just last year, for the same reasons; popping, grinding noises and pain. The first couple of days after the procedure my knee hurt like hell and it was not fun. (my doctor played down the negatives) He also did a lateral release that takes the pressure of the kneecap off the joint. As of now, 9 months later, knee is silent going up stairs and pain free. He did recommend giving up high impact exercises - so no running for me. I find the cross country ski machine thing at the gym is a better workout anyhow and very little stress on the joint. If you keep jogging, just realize you'll be tearing up what you just fixed. Food for thought. Cheers!
I have had my right knee scoped three times since I was 15, all three times revealed frayed tears in the meniscus.
I now have about 15% of the original cartilege left in my knee. Running long distances for me is a definite no-no, but I've had no real trouble biking so that's good.
Just be careful when you're deciding on surgery. At 30 years old, I now have an arthritic knee...that's the only real draw back with the surgery.
Each time, I went out of the hosptial on crutches and only used them for a day or two tops until I was able to gimp around the house without them.
Good luck on whatever you decide to do.
Thanks to both of you for your comments. I guess it makes me feel better that lots of other people have gone through this.
I guess we'll see what he says this afternoon. But, I already have my mind turning on thinking about biking instead of running now. It might be a better idea for me anyway.
I don't imagine I would decide to keep my knee as it is. It is pretty bad right now. It has to be better than this. (fingers crossed)
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