Meh, Knees. They're fine, why worry?

[Nuts]

No, very light stuff nada, feel like hitting a high gear, maybe by instinct. Not much point on a stationary bike : )

[Grabeach]

Thought I'd avoided knee problems. I spoke too soon .....

Walking up some stairs at home a couple of weeks ago. Right knee gave way, accompanied by moderate pain. Thirty seconds later all back to normal, so didn't give it much thought. A couple of days later and about 200m from the car at the Narrow Neck gate, same thing. Off to the doc, x-rays, MRI and a specialist.

An "intra-articular loose body", "joint effusion" and slight tearing at the top of the tibia are all pretty common stuff. Treatment is by arthroscopy to clean it all up. This is the back to normal in a couple of weeks you often hear about. Unfortunately I also have "irregualarity in the articular surface of the medial femoral condyle". Translated this means excessive roughness and wear of the round bit at the end of the femur. The treatment is still by arthroscopy, but requires drilling tiny holes in the bone to encourage bleeding and promote growth of cartilage to repair the surface. Sounds horrible, but I've been told I'll be walking out of the hospital, so I guess it can't be all that bad. Operation is next Monday.

Interstingly, the specialist couldn't understand how I hadn't been in pain for years. Makes me wonder what my other knee is like. Maybe we should all have a MRI ($150 x 2) every decade or so as a preventative measure.

[Giddy_up]

I'm not game enough!!!!!!!

[Nuts]

Good luck Grabeach.

[AlbinoNeutrino]

I had an MRI on Tuesday on my left knee, which had locked stiff the week before half way down a very steep track. It was a bizarre feeling, my brain telling my knee to move and my knee completely ignoring it. I hobbled the remaining 2km and made my way to the doctors a few days later. He suspects a meniscus tear, I will find out on Friday. It's really disappointing as I had plans to walk a lot this year, so hopefully it's nothing too drastic.

At the MRI I had to complete a long checklist about implants and surgery, eg have you had a pacemaker, any pins, cochlear implants etc. I ticked no for surgery on my spine, which was incorrect, so I crossed it out, circled the yes tick box and made it obvious so they would see it. A few minutes later the very attractive MRI technician is running through the checklist with me and says "so you have a penile implant?". I laughed in an awkward, Austin-Powers-like-penis-pumps-aren't-my-bag-baby kind of way and asked her what she meant.

She showed me the form and it turns out I crossed out the wrong line and put the big obvious circle around the penile implant checkbox. I spent the next two minutes trying to convince the technician that my Wang was OK.

[johnw]

...He suspects a meniscus tear, I will find out on Friday. It's really disappointing as I had plans to walk a lot this year, so hopefully it's nothing too drastic...

Every case/person will be different but I had an arthroscopy in 2010 to clean up a mensicus tear that had probably compounded from an untreated injury 15 years earlier. The knee had stiffened/locked to the point I had trouble walking, particularly downhill. I was back to bushwalking and running; more or less back to normal, within a month or so. The knee is not perfect and still gives some some minor issues and discomfort but I can deal with them. Last Sunday I ran my third marathon in three months, at age 59, so the future may not necessarily be gloomy. Best wishes with the outcome.

...I spent the next two minutes trying to convince the technician that my Wang was OK...

[AlbinoNeutrino]

Thanks, that's very encouraging. Congratulations on running the marathon, amazing effort.

[Strider]

I spent the next two minutes trying to convince the technician that my Wang was OK.

Only two minutes...? That's a whole different issue!

[AlbinoNeutrino]

I spent the next two minutes trying to convince the technician that my Wang was OK.

Only two minutes...? That's a whole different issue!

I spent the twenty five minutes after that wanting to kick myself while having to stay completely still

[MickyB]

He suspects a meniscus tear, I will find out on Friday. It's really disappointing as I had plans to walk a lot this year, so hopefully it's nothing too drastic.

Every case/person will be different but I had an arthroscopy in 2010 to clean up a mensicus tear that had probably compounded from an untreated injury 15 years earlier. The knee had stiffened/locked to the point I had trouble walking, particularly downhill. I was back to bushwalking and running; more or less back to normal, within a month or so.

Have to agree with johnw. If it's a minor tear you can get back to normal activities within a month or so and even walk out of hospital without the aid of crutches. I have done mine twice. The first time it was so severe I couldn't bend my knee at all. Instead of 'cleaning it up' it was stitched back up. Was in plaster for 4 or 5 weeks and hobbled around for another few weeks. About 3 months after the first operation I tore it again. The surgeon decided to remove it (3/4 of it) and I walked out of hospital the same day. I was back to running within a month. As I said, the first time was a severe tear and not trying to freak you out.

[MickyB]

double post

[AlbinoNeutrino]

Got the MRI results. Meniscus is fine, it's illotoidal band syndrome. So no surgery thankfully, just physio, anti inflammatory cream and rest.

[MickyB]

Got the MRI results. Meniscus is fine, it's illotoidal band syndrome. So no surgery thankfully, just physio, anti inflammatory cream and rest.

Great news AlbinoNeutrino. Must be a relief!!

[GPSGuided]

Iliotibial band syndrome and locked up your knee? Wow! Rather unusual.

[AlbinoNeutrino]

Iliotibial band syndrome and locked up your knee? Wow! Rather unusual.

Is it? Don't ask me, I can't even spell it. I hope he's got it right because the pain is in the front of the knee but the iliotibial band runs down the side.

[GPSGuided]

Is it? Don't ask me, I can't even spell it. I hope he's got it right because the pain is in the front of the knee but the iliotibial band runs down the side.

ITBS is somewhat generic and pain is common. But as I said, locked knee is the first time I've heard to be associated with it. Locked knee is synonymous with a "hardware" issue, not an inflammatory and associated processes. Ummm...

[findbuddha]

I would be more likely to suspect patellofemoral pain syndrome. ITBFS pain should be fairly localised to the lateral (outside) knee (where the ITB is, and where it rubs on the lateral epicondyle of the femur). You may well have a tight ITB contributing to the problem - some of its fibres merge with the connective tissue that helps hold the patella in the right place.

Have you been to a physio for it yet? Curious to hear what they think.

[Nuts]

Don't hesitate to get a second opinion Albino, I had similar referred pain and turned out the diagnosis was right but it wasn't sounding that way. By all accounts, in my case, the confidence of a second opinion would have meant traveling abroad.

I was a bit shocked to get the final reports from the surgery last week. Built up to walking 5k's (discovered day-walks haha) but the prognosis was deflating.

It was a bit of a surprise to the surgeon to find no mal-tracking.. moreso to me, I spent months doing tedious tracking exercises and $$ on orthotics and custom braces to try to correct gait and tracking..

'removed cartilage from femur the size of a 50c piece', 'medial & lateral meniscus degenerated, removed in part' 'expect knee replacement, perhaps 10-15yrs if a change of lifestyle is made' (ie. stops carrying things on his back.. yeah.. right.. done Much less in the past couple of years, didn't seem to help..).

All these surgeries will differ, obviously the first port of call is a diagnosis. Perhaps these anecdotal references here will help the next person on the forum that gets creaky knees. Surgeons aren't famous for communication (or chewing the fat) so reading about the process of such injuries I guess at least gives others a place to start. It does help to have a good GP between you and the surgeon.

The bill was almost 3k/private surgeon. This cost was discussed beforehand so i'm thinking such surgery has prescribed costs? (those involved in my case (both walkers/climbers) or anyone welcome to join in with more insight on any of this...) The public system would have been available but the waiting period would be much longer. No doubt surgeons are all of similar training but obviously no choice or history of who does the job.

Overall the outcome (for me) has been fairly positive. Pain & rust lived with for years can be gone in hours.
Carry much less than you can manage. When the time comes- get a diagnosis early.

[AlbinoNeutrino]

Ouch! I'm glad it worked out for you in the end Nuts but it sounds like a long road. They really are worth looking after by all accounts. I have avoided the kind of activity that triggered the pain since the MRI and there has been some improvement, though I am not yet confident to load up a pack and get 20kms away from help.

Interestingly mountain biking seems to help in my case, or at least does no further harm. It seems to mobilise the joint and the whole thing feels better after a good ride. I have been cross training with kettlebells and doing upper body strength work in the mean time so I am managing to keep up a minimum level of fitness. Stretching and foam rolling has also helped.

I will test it out again in a couple of weeks, but hopefully the knee was just firing a warning shot at me and i'll be able to walk steep inclines again soon, albeit more slowly and carefully.