Just wanting to see if I should go to the ER after work tonight or see my doctor tomorrow and get a referral or something.
My left knee has been sorta sore for a couple of months. Up until today, it felt stable, didn’t hurt to walk or stand, and felt just “sore” when using stairs or when sitting on the couch in that “girl” position with legs to the side. Once in a while it felt maybe a little fluid-y but not noticeably swollen or anything. I wasn’t too worried about it, had started walking more in the last couple of weeks and it wasn’t getting any worse or better.
Today I broke into a jog to catch the train and there was a “pop” and pain. I didn’t lose my footing, but had to stop running and limped into the train. I can still walk on it, I have to walk on it! And made it three blocks to work OK. It’s super sore if I try to rotate my leg in or out - worse to rotate inward. Nothing hurts to palpate anywhere, applying pressure to any part is completely fine. I can do a full squat with no sharp pain or instability. There’s a little more of a popping than usual under the kneecap when swinging my foot back and forth (all my joints make a grinding/mild clicking/popping when moved - all of them since I was a teen - so this is just a little more than usual). Weight bearing is ouchy, so it’s making me limp to walk. I don’t think the joint feels unstable, but it hurts worse when rotating, like to go though a door. It’s probably a 5 or 6 on the pain scale, with 10 being laying on the floor and screaming.
I took some ibuprofen and am sitting at my desk. There isn’t any noticeable swelling, though that fluid-y feeling is back. If I need to elevate and ice, I can probably figure out a way to do that.
I’m sure I’ll know in a few more hours whether I’ll be OK to just go home or not. I need to pick up kitty litter and walk home still, (I do this regularly, pick up about 20 pounds of groceries and walk 5 blocks home) so I guess if I can’t do that I’ll know I need to see my doctor tomorrow or maybe even just go to the ER.
Just wondering what kind of damage might be going on, or if anyone can even tell from the description. No one here is a doctor, this is not medical advice, yadda yadda. It just doesn’t seem to fit the descriptions of meniscus or ACL issues that I can find. I’ve never had knee issues as an adult, just mild osgood-schlatter’s as a pre-teen. Dangit.
Definitely go to the doctor tomorrow, although I can already tell what what they’re going to say: Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation. Unfortunately with knee injuries the doctor usually has to wait a couple of weeks for the swelling to go down before a diagnosis can be made. Still go because they might be able to diagnose it, and IMO if it’s something serious it makes the most sense to get the process going ASAP even if they can’t do anything for you in the short term.
IMO an ER visit would be a waste of your time and their resources, as again they’re likely not going to be able to tell you anything concrete right away anyway, and you’ll be triaged behind people with more urgent problems.
And to any other Dopers reading this thread, learn from SeaDragon’s (and my, sigh) experience: knee are not to be messed around with! If the pain isn’t clearing up on its own, get it looked at before you suffer a more serious injury.
you mentioned it was sore, any prior injury or just all of sudden sore?
can you straighten your leg? if not what is stopping you? pain, swelling. Where is he pain centralized, center inside, right side outside, left side outside?
ice it get the swelling down
no need for the er
a quick jog and sudden pain can be a couple things…meniscus tear or loose particle floating about but rare without prior trauma.
TriPolar, Rysto, I will! My doctor is only there until 12:30 tomorrow, so I might not be able to do more than a phone call until Friday. Ibuprofen seems to have helped. Still pretty darned sore when weight-bearing and limping on it quite a bit. I won’t know if I can make it from the store until I walk a block to the bus first, I’ll see how it goes. At any rate, getting home is going to be interesting. I suppose I can hire a cab if I really can’t make it, it’s four blocks total without stopping at the store.
Stoplight, no prior injury at all. (I sprained my right ankle once when I was 12.) Just a mild soreness that started a couple of months ago, not enough to notice when it started, and only bothered me on stairs (which I use a lot - 4th floor walkup plus the el stairs which equate 3 stories) When sitting, I can straighten my left knee or bend it with no problem, just a tiny pop behind the kneecap that’s not painful, more like a silently cracking knuckle. When sitting, if I move my knee to the right, it hurts and not so much to the left. When standing, it’s pretty sore but can bear weight, and when walking it’s more sore, especially at the the highest load-bearing points, and if I try to swivel it like to turn a corner I have to be careful, that hurts the most.
The pain seems to be centralized to the outside right and behind the kneecap, but radiates to the inside sharply when turning the leg/knee that way. There’s really no visible swelling ( I admit my legs/knees are chubby, but to look and feel both knees right now they’re identical). No sharp pain unless I make a twisting motion going in and out of doors, especially when rotating the leg/knee toward the right/inside. We have a lot of doors and corners to go around here at work.
I hope it’s something that can be helped with meds and physical therapy. My weekend part time job is physically demanding and I’m on my feet for 9-11 hours. Boo.
I disagree … there are quite a few diagnostic procedures that can be done if you have a decent doctor. I’ve been to see the “wait until the swelling goes” type and don’t go back. They wouldn’t say that to a top sportsperson because they know more damage can be done if it is not diagnosed properly immediately.
I’ve got one very damaged knee, it was reinjured and it took me three doctors to be taken seriously - and then a lovely surgeon did amazing things and it’s better than it has been for years. Sitting around waiting for swelling to go down would have been the worst thing I could do.
wonder if you have any history of osteoarthritis in your family?
The sudden pain when using it to pivot off of sounds like a ligament issue or a meniscus tear but no prior history of trauma is perplexing. Be interested in what your Orthopod has to say…keep us up to date!!
Saw a doc, mine is on vacation until Wednesday, so saw her relief. Got xrays to make sure nothing is broken, and then to stay off it until Monday. Take ibuprofen, see how it goes, follow up with PCP about physical therapy.
I’ll stay off as much as I can, I live by myself, so some walking and the stairs still have to happen. Joint still feels stable, though painful, so while tears are likely and we don’t know which ligaments, I’m kind of in limbo until next week.
Facing the stairs as you go down (yes, backwards) may be easier than the conventional way.
Maybe a bit safer, too – if you stumble, you fall onto the stairs rather than down them. Hold or touch rails/walls on both sides (helps with balance); look under your arm if you have to see behind you.
Which leg to move first on stairs? “Up with the good; down with the bad!”
If you try using a cane, recommended technique is: hold the cane on the side opposite the impaired side, and move cane and impaired leg together, so that the cane supplements the impaired side.
I will remember that advice. Thanks! So far, backward is just as bad as forward. I did find myself instinctively using the rail much as your advice with a cane. Better leaning on the right, though the bad knee is left. My building was built in the 1920’s, so nice big 4-6 inch and sturdy wood rails and balusters. I had to pick up groceries and cat litter on the way home, and it wasn’t as bad as I anticipated with the extra load.
My weekend job is willing to park me at a computer to do input for all the outpatient teams if I’m no good to walk much. My job for tomorrow is OK with me taking the day off, but I might go in for a couple of hours, I’m the only one who does inventory and it won’t do itself. We’ll see.
I’m anticipating an MRI in the near future. My physician friend and the intern who did a sweet and clumsy exam on me today both mentioned it.
Sounds like a problem with a ligament or meniscus to me. If that is the case you could probably get away with not seeing a doctor, but you’ll probably need to eventually, so might as well get it out of the way sooner rather than later. I am, of course, not a doctor and this is just my humble opinion. May the knee pain gods hold you in their favor.
Doc says could be 2 to 3 more weeks to heal. Do gentle leg extensions, hamstring and quadriceps strengthening exercises in the meantime. Will address need for physical therapy if still painful and not better in a couple more weeks. That’s it.