R Knee, Other
2010-10-31 – 2011-01-22
Grade: 3
10/31 - went out for a run but sudden electric pain inside of right knee stops me cold and reduces pace to a walk; tried again and nothing for a few hundred yards, then it hit me again, suddenly and severely, and reduces me to hopping on one foot. continue at a walk. Now, I have pain on inner medial side of right knee. hurts upon bending the first few degrees but not at 180 or 90. some strange popping feeling behind the knee. some swelling. greatest fear is meniscus tear.
11/4 pain is better now; down to a twinge when walking. able to feel the discomfort when balancing on right leg and rotating knee slightly. Only seems to happen with knee at certain angle. can flex from 90 to 180 ok.
11/10 ran on sunday at the track w/ some small problems in the same side of the knee. then tried to run monday with bigger problems. then did quad lifts at the gym and ended up w/ a swollen knee that would not bend. Been doing exercise bike and siwmming only since. Today (wednesday) I feel better w/ no residual pain in the side of the knee but it is still swollen and has limited range of motion.
11/11 my self diagnosis at this point is that I sprained a ligament in the back of my knee, and the pain on the side was caused when the joint shifted slightly due to loosness in the sprained ligament. its in the back that I now get a "pulled" feeling, particularly after I sit for a while. Also it was around there that I now recall that I felt some preliminary unexplained pains and tightness during the week before the big "episode" that stopped my running (10/31). today, the swelling and apparent muscle spasm around my knee is subsiding, and there is some return of medial pain. the fact that while my knee was spasmed I had absolutely no medial pain is what makes me think that was a secondary result of some shift in the joint.
11/23 - discomfort ranges from 1 to sudden 4 sometimes. Dr. says its probably a torn meniscus. MRI done today.
11/26 tried running at Tilghman, but I could not run more than a few steps w/out "3" pain that left me limping and hopping on my other leg.
11.27 - Dr says that there is NO torn meniscus and that I have a "stress injury" to the bone. He says it will get better with time, and suggests it might be caused by age/wear. However, this is the same diagnosis I got on my foot/ankle years ago - and I was sceptical then. On the other hand - that injury ultimately did heal.
11.30 - pain has reduced to a 1 or 0 with walking, including walking up and down stairs. I also have occasional "clicking" feeling in the knee, similar to when my formerly injured ankle clicks now.
12/2 today more of the old pain and stiffness - possibly from increased biking. I think the area around the inner, front of my knee is also a bit swollen. this coincides w/ the location of the 'edema' seen in the MRI.
12/7 no significant pain. maybe a .5 on inner side after exercising. knee clicks and pops, feels like it is shifting (painlessly) in and out of "groove". My interpretation is that I sprained the ligaments, and as they heal or swelling subsides, they shift position - this is sort of what happened to my ankle after I sprained that.
12/09 ran around the basketball court once w/ no problems
12/10 ran around the b-ball court 8 x or so w/ few problems. no pain, but sort of a weak feeling on the rt knee
12/20 ran for real for a few minutes on the treadmill and felt ok. not really perfect b/c theres still some feeling of "weakness" around my knee but no actual pain. The tendon "clicking" seems to have gone away too.
12/22 ran some more on the treadmill today - this time at a 9 min pace for 22 min. my right knee still feels "weaker" and my left leg "heavier" so I get a sort of unbalanced feeling. occasionally my knee would click, and feel better. So far no actual pain.
12/23 water running and then a mile on the treadlemill. the "weakness" is still there but maybe better; no pain.
12/26 - still kind of loose and noisy on going up stairs and still a 'pulled' feeling in the back. no knee pain.
12/28 - ran 4.7 miles outside. level 1 to 1.5 discomfort mostly at last mile, along w/ clicking and snapping and "out of track" knee
12/30 - I think the run the other day (12/28) helped jar the knee enough to remove some of the "weak" feelings, and now what it wants is to be worked hard enough to strenthen the muscles, but doesn't like the 'pounding' involved w/ running. back of the knee has same 'pulled' feeling, but now seems workable/stretchable. started w/ the bone stim again, and that produced no ill effects
1/5/11 a slight return of minor swelling and stiffness. I think the description of "pes anserine bursitis" meets my symptoms most closely
http://www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/cybertherapist/front/knee/pes_anserine.php - note that 2 activities likely to cause this is running, and Kicking during swimming, especially breaststroke - this is an "ah-ha" moment i think
1/6/11 ran on the treadmill at a 9min pace w/ high hopes of going for 4 miles. Felt at 95-98% until 2 miles when my knee suddenly felt uncomfortable. not really painful, but like the the tendons were "caught". this morning I swam w/ the leg float to avoid twisting the knee.
1/8/11 swam again - w/ the float
1/9/11 O race at Wheaton. started ok but later felt in poor "unbalanced" form and did have knee tenderness after a few miles. based on this I will make an appt on Wed to see the dr for a shot.
1/11/11 swam this AM w/ the float; later ran on the treadmill 2.5 miles at an 830 pace, "trying" to make my knee hurt and really had no significant problems during or after. based on this I have postponed my dr appt for a cortisone shot for another week. i think that limiting my kicking duirng swimming has resulted in a breakthru.
1.16.11 - ran outside for 6 miles. Fair but not great result. needed to ice the knee after, but mainly for the 'clicking' and apparent inflammation, rather from any pain. some discomfort on the run but i'd put it at a 1 to 1.5
1.19.11 - ran yesterday on the treadmill for 4.5. only problem was really in getting my left leg to even out the stride.
1.21.11 - ran 6 on the treadmill at 9:20 pace. felt in rythm and w/out pain
3.1.11 - note: went back to the dr today b/c running has been intermittently bothering my knee again. apparently they had decided I had an osteochondral defect in my knee before (nice of them to tell me - cause i did not know that) which was the same diagnosis as for my ankle. good thing about that is maybe my bone stim and or a shot of sino fluid will help that.
3.20.11 - been using the ultrasound for 2 weeks now b/c they said this was a similar injury to the ankle
cause: a strain to ligaments on the inside of my knee; inflamation of the ligaments and the bursa
helped: exercising during the recovery; advil during later period;