Anyone know about knees?

Anyone know about knees?

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Discussion

Sheets Tabuer

Original Poster:

19,108 posts

217 months

Wednesday 15th May
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About 18 months ago I was squatting, had about 80kg on the bar working my way up to my working set. I put the bar down and walked away to catch my breath and my phone fell on the floor, bent down to pick it up and had the most god awful pain in my left knee.

Since then walking up or down stairs can be agony, walking down a steep hill in cornwall was excruciating. Lifting my leg when laying on my side can feel like the joint is coming apart. I can't do any leg exercises at all, even cycling is extremely painful.

I've had physio for months and it's made no difference at all.

Anyway I've had an MRI and the results came back like this:

've received the report of the X-ray and MRI of your left knee, it has shown minor age-related wear and tear of the joint, no ligament damage, no meniscal damage. One of the ligaments on the inside of the knee has shown some thickening which may have been related to a historical sprain.

Ongoing management of your knee will be continuing with physio/exercises and time, with painkillers if required.

Bearing in mind I can be in agony am I right in thinking this is rather dismissive? Give it time? it's been like this for 18 months, how much longer will it need? If I can have this much pain with something minor god knows what it'll be like if it gets worse.


ChevronB19

5,842 posts

165 months

Thursday 16th May
quotequote all
Speak to The_Doc he’s a member here.

White-Noise

4,374 posts

250 months

Thursday 16th May
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That doesn't sound right or fair on you. I had issues with my knees and until I found the right physio I made zero progress. If you're near West London I can recommend one I found helpful. Can't help any more but giving it time doesn't sound like the best route to me. Good luck.

The_Doc

4,926 posts

222 months

Thursday 16th May
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Thanks C-B19, I will try and help.
I can't treat people over the internet, but I can help with some general statements about knee pathology and injury, which will give direction.
But not right now, there are 62 people in my clinic and I am swamped.
I'll get back to this when I can.
W

Animal

5,262 posts

270 months

Thursday 16th May
quotequote all
"... minor age-related wear and tear of the joint, no ligament damage, no meniscal damage."

This is relatively good news. I'd suggest that maybe you need to try another physio: I've seen a few for my knee and the difference in approaches can be enormous, as can the difference in results.

RustyMX5

7,277 posts

219 months

Thursday 16th May
quotequote all
Probably not the same thing but I had excruciating pain in my left knee and a fairly constant pain in in my right knee. In both cases it turned out to be osteoarthritis and a few trips to the physio did seem to help. I don't know if this will be useful but it might be worth a look.

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/ex...

Although you seem to spend time in the gym I guess it won't be.

Sheets Tabuer

Original Poster:

19,108 posts

217 months

Thursday 16th May
quotequote all
Thanks for all the input, I don't do any leg exercises in the gym, Squats were ok on the way down but no chance of getting up, leg raise is an odd one, fine on the way up but on the way down it feels like my lower leg drops an inch if that makes sense, obviously it doesn't but that's the feeling.

Walking is fine mostly but step off a curb and my god!

Bending down is odd, I can't bend directly as that hurts but if I push my leg out to the left as if I'm going to sit on an egg it's fine hehe

Probably do need a change of physio as she gave me squats to do despite me being unable to do them.

The_Doc

4,926 posts

222 months

Friday 17th May
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Some statements.
Knee treatment is all about age of patient. Healing is seen in youngsters and none in 90 yr old. How old you are is key.
18 months of one treatment and failure to improve is failure, you need to do something else.
MRI misses the details 5% of the time (1 in 20) and finds things that aren't really there up to 20% of the time. It isn't about reading out the report, it's about looking at the images (often in conjunction with xray) and making an informed decision.
Don't trust the MRI entirely. Weightbearing Xrays are more useful in the over 50s
Coming out of a deep squat with load is a very indicative injury mechanism for meniscal injury. But then over the age of 50 the meniscii are often irrelevant and the covering on the end of the bone is the important thing (Hyaline cartilage)
If you have been treated by a generalist and not seen a knee specialist, then you've definitely earned the latter.

With respect, don't reply to this email with your answers, please, I can't treat you over the web, you need a targeted history, useful imaging and an experienced examination. Perhaps by a knee surgeon
If it was going to get better by now, one would think it would have.

Sheets Tabuer

Original Poster:

19,108 posts

217 months

Friday 17th May
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Thanks for your input, much appreciated, back to the docs for a referral I go.

The_Doc

4,926 posts

222 months

Friday 17th May
quotequote all
Great. Forgive me for pushing back, but remote diagnosis isn't possible.

EmilA

1,536 posts

159 months

Friday 17th May
quotequote all
Could it be this? I have this in my left knee, its a slow journey while I try to recover and get better. https://www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-condition...

Sheets Tabuer

Original Poster:

19,108 posts

217 months

Friday 17th May
quotequote all
The_Doc said:
Great. Forgive me for pushing back, but remote diagnosis isn't possible.
Yeah understood, my post was more about feeling dismissed, almost like nothing was wrong and I should give it time.

It's a pretty bloody painful "nothing"

Animal

5,262 posts

270 months

Friday 17th May
quotequote all
Sheets Tabuer said:
Yeah understood, my post was more about feeling dismissed, almost like nothing was wrong and I should give it time.

It's a pretty bloody painful "nothing"
For reference, having started seeing a different physio with a different approach I saw improvements in pain levels within 2-3 weeks.

biggbn

23,709 posts

222 months

Friday 17th May
quotequote all
I narrowed my stance quite significantly when squatting, and have deadlifted with a narrow grip and stance for many years because in my head, theoretically, my knees 'track' in a much more natural range of motion that way. I have a small problem with one of my knees from a bad fall several years ago but the gym does not exacerbate this, only jogging and anything impactful

Slowboathome

3,580 posts

46 months

Friday 17th May
quotequote all
Sheets Tabuer said:
The_Doc said:
Great. Forgive me for pushing back, but remote diagnosis isn't possible.
Yeah understood, my post was more about feeling dismissed, almost like nothing was wrong and I should give it time.

It's a pretty bloody painful "nothing"
Might be worth forking out for a private consultation with a knee specialist. Could you ask for a copy of the MRI images and report to send to him/her?

EVLATECOMER

150 posts

79 months

Friday 17th May
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Your symptoms sound like me 30 years ago.

Did some squats badly, knee flaired up and eventually couldn’t lift my heel.

NHS referral, private hospital arthroscopy done.

Was a tear to patella tendon and was pinching around the knee cap.
30 years on its stronger than ever.

Hope you get a resolution.