Richard Haynes PTA/CPT - 1/15/2009

Question
hello,
I am 22 years old. I haven't played sports or been very active at all since elementary school. About 2 1/2 years ago one day out of the blue my left knee started hurting. Paine when i bend it or go up and down the stairs. Mainly when i go down them. I went to a doctor who was of no use. about 4 months of off and on paine and it just went away. Well about 3 weeks ago same thing happened. It just started hurting out of the blue. Some days are worse than others. There was major swelling the last 2 days but has gone down now quite a bit. It is extremely painfull if i bend my knees to get low to the ground and then try getting back up. Also if i sit on the couch and slowly straighten my leg it is painful and there is a clicking feeling. there is also some tightness. I was hoping you could enlighten me a little about what is going on with my knee? Thank you so much for your time

Answer
Renee

If you went to a GP AKA a family doctor they will be of no help.
have you been to an orthopedic doctor? If you haven't I suggest you go and have them check your knee. If you have been to an orthopedic doctor I suggest try another.

An orthopedic can check the knee maybe due a manual test or two to check for any internal structural damage. Doubt if an x-ray will revel anything.

Its possible an MRI may show what is going on with the knee.
An MRI is used to check the soft tissue around the joint whereas an x-ray will only show abnormalities with the bony structure.

If there is in fact something going on inside the knee and I realize they do not swell for no reason the MRI should locate the problem or the cause anyway.

Let me know how you make out here. Could be a piece of cartilage that has frayed or broken off inside the knee floating around the knee joint itself and irritating it.

Good Luck
Richard Haynes
Punta Gorda, Florida.
www.richardhaynes.com