Re: Hello all you knee pain sufferers! Am new here!

[Guest guest]

Hi Kayla. Welcome to the Group.

I think the main thing to do now if to try to figure out what your

problem really is. Is it tendonitis? A kneecap problem? A meniscus

problem? And, more importantly, what caused the problem? A strength

imbalance? A flexibility issue? Is it possible you injured or

overused it without you even knowing it?

Try to find a doc who will give you a thorough examination. It

should take 90 minutes or more to properly examine someone. You may

have luck finding an osteopath, a doctor of physical medicine or

something similar. My doctor calls himself a " pain resolution

specialist " which, I think, he made up. Call around and find someone

who will really examine you, not just look at your knee for 10

mintues.

Anyway, since you are new to this, you should try to learn as much as

you can about the anatomy of the knee, the types of doctors there are

and all the types of treatments available. Unfortunately, the knee

is notoriously difficult to diagnose and you, the patient, have to be

an integral part of the process. I believe that is the only way to

get better.

Spend some time looking through this Group's old posts.

Collectively, we know quite a bit about knees.

You will get better if you put in the time and effort. And it'll

probably take alot of time and alot of effort.

Good luck,

Doug

dougfromct2002@...

> My knee pain started about 6 weeks I would say....Just woke up with

it

> hurting...no injury whatsoever......I went to a family medicine

doctor

> and she told me I had tendonitis....and put me on bextra....well

about

> 3 weeks after that knee was still hurting, swelling, grinding,

> popping. So i decided it was time to see an orthropedic surgeon

> ....well they took an xray and it showed my rt patella was higher

than

> the other one....and he thought I had a torn meniscus so i went and

> did the Mri and come to find out as of yesterday I had a nomral

MRI.

> And the doctor told me i think ya got a knee cap problem ...what

the

> heck does that mean anyway...after the fact he told me I had

> chondromalacia of the knee......Haven't started any kind of physical

> therapy yet...and the doctor wanted to give me cortisone shots but

> what i hear is that they don't work.....Found out that my dad had

this

> exact same problem in his late 30's....well i am in my late

> 20's.....not even 29 yet......sucks.......

>

> I guess I will just have to deal with this pain forever or will it

go

> away with physical therapy?

>

> Glad to have found this group!

>

> Kayla

[Guest guest]

I think chondromalacia is an oft-diagnosed condition for many knee

pains that don't show up on MRIs... but I could be wrong. I've heard

that. I'm on bextra, too, and it helps a little. Did your father's

knee pain ever cease or decrease?

It seems a lot of young people, especially females, get this

condition, but my doctor told me that there are frustratingly few

options that are succussful, save PT. My PT guy said it takes 6-8

weeks to see results, so I'll let you know then! In the meantime,

my attack plan is:

-No more high heels (this one is terrible, i love shoes!)

-No standing or walking more than necessary until it gets a little

better

-Glucosomine, because, who knows, maybe it works

-Bextra for the pain

-Working out in water

-And most importantly-- Dutifully doing my PT

I don't use a knee brace, but there are a lot of people who love

them. I may after my next appt. Mainly, I have to strengthen my hips

to start. On the bright side, I'm relying on my arms more until the

inflammation subsides (if that is in fact true, which I'm not sure I

believe, it seems only to worsen) so I'm getting some nicely

developed " Alias Arms, " I like to call 'em.

> My knee pain started about 6 weeks I would say....Just woke up

with it

> hurting...no injury whatsoever......I went to a family medicine

doctor

> and she told me I had tendonitis....and put me on bextra....well

about

> 3 weeks after that knee was still hurting, swelling, grinding,

> popping. So i decided it was time to see an orthropedic surgeon

> ....well they took an xray and it showed my rt patella was higher

than

> the other one....and he thought I had a torn meniscus so i went and

> did the Mri and come to find out as of yesterday I had a nomral

MRI.

> And the doctor told me i think ya got a knee cap problem ...what

the

> heck does that mean anyway...after the fact he told me I had

> chondromalacia of the knee......Haven't started any kind of

physical

> therapy yet...and the doctor wanted to give me cortisone shots but

> what i hear is that they don't work.....Found out that my dad had

this

> exact same problem in his late 30's....well i am in my late

> 20's.....not even 29 yet......sucks.......

>

> I guess I will just have to deal with this pain forever or will

it go

> away with physical therapy?

>

> Glad to have found this group!

>

> Kayla

[Guest guest]

I completely identify with how hard it is to give up high heeled

shoes! But I would rather have less knee pain than have cute

shoes...

Are you sure you want to limit walking? Walking was the single best

thing I've done for my knees. I discovered this by accident - my

doctor told me to rest, rest, rest, which I did, but my knees kept

getting worse and worse. Then I moved to a new house and was forced

to walk a lot carrying boxes back and forth. After a hour or two, my

knees actually felt a little better. From then on, I tried to walk

some each day. I started very slow - 2mph - and wore my knee braces.

If I had pain, I stopped and tried again later. Very gradually I

increased the speed and distance.

Of course walking isn't the cure-all for everyone, but it really

helped my knees.

> > My knee pain started about 6 weeks I would say....Just woke up

> with it

> > hurting...no injury whatsoever......I went to a family medicine

> doctor

> > and she told me I had tendonitis....and put me on bextra....well

> about

> > 3 weeks after that knee was still hurting, swelling, grinding,

> > popping. So i decided it was time to see an orthropedic surgeon

> > ....well they took an xray and it showed my rt patella was

higher

> than

> > the other one....and he thought I had a torn meniscus so i went

and

> > did the Mri and come to find out as of yesterday I had a nomral

> MRI.

> > And the doctor told me i think ya got a knee cap

problem ...what

> the

> > heck does that mean anyway...after the fact he told me I had

> > chondromalacia of the knee......Haven't started any kind of

> physical

> > therapy yet...and the doctor wanted to give me cortisone shots

but

> > what i hear is that they don't work.....Found out that my dad

had

> this

> > exact same problem in his late 30's....well i am in my late

> > 20's.....not even 29 yet......sucks.......

> >

> > I guess I will just have to deal with this pain forever or will

> it go

> > away with physical therapy?

> >

> > Glad to have found this group!

> >

> > Kayla

[Guest guest]

I want to start walking (more) again soon, but I need to learn to do

it right first, it seems. Now that I'm aware, I noticed that

I " cheat " even when I'm kicking in the water! My legs wobbles,

flounders back and forth; it doesn't kick straight and strong. I

wish I had some sort of brace to train them. It's like I've never

used my legs properly, so I need to learn. It reminds me of The

Matrix, when Neo finally awakens unable to stand or something or

says something about his muscles and Morpheus says, " You've never

used them before. " That's me! I never use the correct muscles, which

is why I walk funny and heavy (and probably why I work out till I'm

blue in the face, but that one area is never toned-- it's never been

used!)

> > > My knee pain started about 6 weeks I would say....Just woke up

> > with it

> > > hurting...no injury whatsoever......I went to a family

medicine

> > doctor

> > > and she told me I had tendonitis....and put me on

bextra....well

> > about

> > > 3 weeks after that knee was still hurting, swelling, grinding,

> > > popping. So i decided it was time to see an orthropedic

surgeon

> > > ....well they took an xray and it showed my rt patella was

> higher

> > than

> > > the other one....and he thought I had a torn meniscus so i

went

> and

> > > did the Mri and come to find out as of yesterday I had a

nomral

> > MRI.

> > > And the doctor told me i think ya got a knee cap

> problem ...what

> > the

> > > heck does that mean anyway...after the fact he told me I had

> > > chondromalacia of the knee......Haven't started any kind of

> > physical

> > > therapy yet...and the doctor wanted to give me cortisone shots

> but

> > > what i hear is that they don't work.....Found out that my dad

> had

> > this

> > > exact same problem in his late 30's....well i am in my late

> > > 20's.....not even 29 yet......sucks.......

> > >

> > > I guess I will just have to deal with this pain forever or

will

> > it go

> > > away with physical therapy?

> > >

> > > Glad to have found this group!

> > >

> > > Kayla