Topic: Knee Pain

[rhos1355]

Wonder if any of you guys have experienced this.
About a fortnight ago I was doing some work in my shed and I had to get down on my knees to crouch down far enough. Well the left knee was alright, but the right one, man, when it made contact with the floor it felt as if someone had hammered a white hot 6 inch nail into it! Jeez did that hurt! Just out of nowhere. I haven't banged my knee, fallen on it or anything. I can walk for hours without any problems, but when I try to kneel on it, I see stars.
Can someone shed some light on this and what I should do to remedy it?
And any smart-ass who's thinking "go see the doctor" consider that there's a week's waiting list to see my family doctor.

[JAG]

Well, I'm not sure about a knee pain coming, "out of the blue", so to speak.. It may go away soon. The body is pretty miraculous.

My only experience is my chronic knee pain, that I have had for years, and it was torture at times to get up and down. The only remedy I have found is using Glucosamine, which you can find just about anywhere. It's great for joint pain. Helps to lube up that cartilage again.

After about two weeks of taking it (As long as I continue to use it), there's no more knee problems..

just my 2 cents worth..

Hope it gets better.

[martino1972]

i wonder if you didnt pull a tendence in your knee  joint..

[Uncle Ernie]

Reminds me of the time I bent over to pull a weed and fell over.  I was like a turtle on it's back.  After a while, I thought about just yelling for help.  Welcome to my world...

Anyhoo- if it's sharp and you wonder if it might be broken but WTF you don't remember banging it hard enough, it's probably arthritis.  Hurts like crazy.
If it's just tortuous and you wish you were dead after a couple hours, try glucosamine.  Amazing stuff.

[Venturous]

And any smart-ass who's thinking "go see the doctor" consider that there's a week's waiting list to see my family doctor.

I am the smart ass who is thinking that. It could be the sign of wear or damage that if corrected now won't be too terribly bad, but if left go could be more a major deal to fix. My mom ignored her knee pain for years. She is now awaiting dual knee replacements. Go see the doctor. 

[S-Dog]

I LOVE glucosamine/chondroitin  I also take another pill called MSM and that REALLY makes things all better....

[Johnie]

Remedy: Do not kneel on concrete.     Seriously, it is very hard on the knee and ligaments / tendons.  Not only does it close off circualtion to the lower leg, the pressure is bad for that area.  I always use a pad or old cushion on concrete.  Hope it feels better.

[rhos1355]

i wonder if you didnt pull a tendence in your knee  joint..

I'm wondering that also. There's no swelling or pain except when I kneel on it. I've just got back from a 1 1/2 hour walk over the south downs with the dog. Got back and the mutt was a bit muddy so I hosed him down, forgot , knelt on the knee, remembered, swore, and waited until the vision of stars went away. I reckon it's akin to having a heart attack in the knee!
Gonna try a cold pack tonight. The a hot pack. and then maybe go see the doctor.

[troppo]

Go see a doctor and get an ultrasound on it....
When i did my elbows the ultrasound also showed that a couple of tendons has "slipped" and were not in the groove they should be, the physio couldnt explain it or recomend treatment apart from "be careful".
So the simple thing is try not to kneel on that knee.

[rhos1355]

Thanks for that Troppo, but er, I forgot to mention I'm 6ft 3ins so I do end up doing a lot of kneeling to get down to floor level. If I crouch, my big belly gets in the way.
Ultrasound?
Here on the NHS?
Ha!
6 month wait, mate.
Sorry, don't mean to be churlish, but that was one of the reasons I posted the thread; so's I could cut to the chase and maybe someone here would know what I'm talking about and I could get it sorted.

[troppo]

Here on the NHS?
Ha!
6 month wait, mate.
Sorry, don't mean to be churlish, but that was one of the reasons I posted the thread; so's I could cut to the chase and maybe someone here would know what I'm talking about and I could get it sorted.

No worries mate, forgot to check where you were..
My elbows were treated under work cover (compo) and so i got treatment quick (insurance companies dont like long payouts lol).
I cant offer anything better than be careful mate, i had to learn to think before i moved my arms when my elbows were playing up, your going to have to do the same i think only with your knees.
Hope you sort it out soon.
Cheers
Troppo

[Chad]

You may have a bone spur in your knee, or your patella. Also you could have patellar tendon damage. Try poking around your knee cap and the tendons that connect it to your leg (both up and down) with your fingers. Try to find what hurts.

Make that appt and if it still hurts in a week, you should go. I had an MRI on my knee last week, and they found a calcified loose body floating around in there causing pain. 

[rhos1355]

You may have a bone spur in your knee, or your patella. Also you could have patellar tendon damage. Try poking around your knee cap and the tendons that connect it to your leg (both up and down) with your fingers. Try to find what hurts.

Make that appt and if it still hurts in a week, you should go. I had an MRI on my knee last week, and they found a calcified loose body floating around in there causing pain. 

Now that they've found out what it is, Chad, what are the options? Key-hole surgery, physiotherapy or just plain "take two of these.............."

[super pasty white guy]

I had symptoms similar to what you're describing earlier this year.  Mine came from my desk at school that had a support bar right at knee height.  I kept knocking it in the same place for months on end.  I'm not talking bashing it, just every now and again I'd tap/thump my knee on it.  One day, there were stars. I'm talking like take your breath away invountary vocalizations, what the hell was that pain. It seemed to be coming out of the blue, but it was probably just building up the damage (bruised tissues right over the bone).

I took anti-inflammatories (naproxen 500mg twice daily) for about a month and made sure not to touch my knee to that bar and the pain went away.  In you case, I'd consider staying away from kneeling, and a neoprene knee brace just for padding in case you forget.

Course my medical advice is probably worth what you paid for it, so do with it what you will.  Probably a good idea to see the MD just in case, though I'd bet he'll prescribe anti-inflammatories for a couple of weeks and tell you to come back and see if it's better.

spwg

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

I've had major knee problems and minor problems. From tearing the ACL and MCL (ligaments that hold the bones in the joint together-major) in a skiing accident to tearing the cartledge (lining on the ends on the bones where they rub together-minor) 3 times just doing stupid things in my older age. If either of these issues relate to your situation, your family doctor can not help other than refer you to a specialist. He can provide anti-inflammatory meds and pain meds but these will not resolve any damage. I don't know about your health care coverage but the last time I came down hard on my knee I knew from past experience I had done damage. My insurance will allow me to see the specialist without the family doctor so I did this. He did a MRI and found the cartledge tear I suspected. He cleaned it up by scoping it (arthroscopy) and in 1 week it was great. I will say that if you do go to your family doctor he is going to try to keep you from going to the specialist unless there is some seriously obvious damage. "Take these anti-inflammatory meds for a month then come back". Can you access an emergency room at a hospital? That can get you to see someone and bypass the family doctor.

Without actually being able to see inside the knee you'll never know. A MRI is better than a ultrasound. From the sounds of it I'd suspect a cartledge tear. See a Orthopaedic guy if you can. Call them up and tell them you've JUST TODAY had a terrible accident and your knee is really bad. They will likely get you a same day appointment.
 

[malcolmgb]

The description sounds exactly the same as someone I knew who had a new knee joint, It was diagnosed as the new joint touching a nerve, It was fine if he knelt on a cushioned surface but painful on a hard surface. He didn't complain too much because the new joints gave him a whole new life.

To those in the US the method of getting treatment in the UK is not so easy, you have to go to GP for a referal to a hospital, and often a wait to see GP as he mentioned. Unless you are fortunate/rich enough for private treatment which in my experience is not always good.

[rhos1355]

Thanks guys, you have, as always, been a real help. I think I just might gird up my loins and put that call in to my GP ( means MD this side of the pond). But I think it'll be a case of; " all our receptionists are busy right now, but your call is important to us, so please hold the line until someone is available to speak to you. You are currently no. 132 in the queue."

[Demon67]

Jesus I don't know I worked as a bike mechanic for years and we didn't always have bike lifts so knelt for long periods of time and then worked as an a appliance tech for twenty years and put up with it for about 14-15 years of pain went to the doctor who prescribed anti inflammatorys and it worked for a while was great then it took more of them to work and more, then my stomach started to bother me, lot of heartburn and after about 3 years I had to take pills to keep my stomach together and finally the pain in the gut wouldn't go away so I stopped all stomach meds and it got better, but after all these year my stomach can't handle anything with acid in it, I come down with the howling #$%*s and beer works about as good as any thing as a pain killer I've found also you don't need a prescription for it and cheaper, but get medical advice, just remember anti inflammatorys can and will screw your stomach no matter what the latest and greatest hype says so its a trade off between how long can you stand the pain and work around it and how well your innards can last.
Bill the demon

[malcolmgb]

Hi Bill the demon
I might be able to help here, I had the same problem probably caused by over use of aspirin for pain killing, stomach ulcer problems, this was eventually diagnosed as being caused by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helicobacter_pylori after a course of strong antibiotics I was finally free of pain, which as well as the stomach included migraine type headaches and general tiredness. At the time my GP hadn't heard of it, I had read an article about it myself, he sent me for blood tests where the bacteria was found.

[fuzzybutt]

i'm the same way with any of the nsaids (non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) they make bad things explode out of both ends for me.

[Demon67]

Yeah Fuzzer me son ain't that a bugger, with me, if I'm not careful 25 steps is to far away from the throne, disgusting and embarrassing, god I love getting old ! I'll have to speak to someone about a road map for old age or a use care guide.
Bill the demon.

[Demon67]

Malcombmgb thanks for heads up, I'll go bug my Doc and see what he says (we may have had this discussion before, I'm old ) he's the high priced professional, but he's also a Newf, so he has a sense of humor and will tell me if I'm being an idiot, as an aside he's also a bike freak and when I showed him the Classic Bike Guide with Guzzi 4 on it he drooled and said he didn't think his wife would understand, we agreed.
Bill the demon.

[robster]

I had exactly the same thing happen to me a few years back... went down on one knee a little rough and I got this excruciating pain. Turned out it was a ruptured bursa sac... I believe they help to lubricate the knee joint. It eventually got well... took several months and to be honest I still kneel down pretty gingerly after all this time....

[tramp]

i'm the same way with any of the nsaids (non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) they make bad things explode out of both ends for me.

 that i'll bet is not a pretty sight

[Demon67]

Fuzzybut case in point, I, we passed our electrical rough in today so I phoned my dear wife and said hey love bring home a bottle of Prosecco so we can toast the gods of good fortune because now we can insulate (strange things amuse you when your 69) and I paid dearly because of the acid in the wine, so the thing about nsaid's is true in spades,if only I had realized what anti inflamitorys do to you.
Bill the demon