fluid on the knee after trauma

i've had two 'incidents' recently resulting in some damage to my knees. The first was putting my right knee into a rock during a bit of a FAIL at the wormhole, Glentress. This resulted in a bit of bruising, some broken skin and seems to have settled down to just a slightly lumpy knee (on top of the kneecap) and a bit of pain when i kneel.

The other knee was slightly more dramatic and although i was wearing pads at the time the crash was at speed into the relatively hard surface of the chicksands 4X course. This knee has developed a 'squidgy' feel over the joint and is still pretty swollen 2 weeks later. It's only painful if i put pressure on it so i am loath to go to the doctor about it. is this likely just to be a simple case of swelling to protect the joint (i have no muscular/joint pain) or should i have it checked out?

Sounds like classic housemaids knee to me, i did the same,

I left it for a few weeks thinking it would go away of its own accord but ended up at the doctors and leaving with a months worth of anti inflamatory pills to get rid of it.

i take ibuprofen regularly anyway so maybe that'll do the trick

Bursitis?

These were monster 100mg ones and 4 a day at that !!

Go see the doctor to be on the safeside.

I used to play alot of football on the yard at school, diving on the concrete. Had fluid buildup behind my kneecap a few times and went to the docs a couple of times about it.

Mine was never too serious and they always just recommended that I stopped playing footie for a month or so nad it always went down….and then I did it again!

Bursitis?

AKA Housemaids Knee !!

Sounds like Impact Bursitis to me.

Mine took about 4 months to subside, and even now, its slightly puffier that my other one.

I have had various ongoing knee problems and also have rutured my post. cruciate lig. on a race. Major tendon damage usually results in instability i.e cruciates or collateral lig. Meniscal tear (a cartillage cushion in the knee) would also be fairly noticable if major. I do have bilateral effusions in my stifle (knee) joints which wax and wane which you can feel just next to the knee cap.

Sounds like this is not what you are dealing with but I am not an expert in human knees 😉 I would say if it doesn't go away in the next few weeks esp with anti-inflammatories I would see your GP – as BJ said it maybe bursitis (inflammation of a covering around the tendon) or an organising haematoma/seroma and they maybe painful when pressed. Did a big lump come up initially and is now going down or has this developed slowly like an effusion (fluid accumulating in a space) would?

BTW I am not a doctor so this is only my impression/opinion 😉

thanks, i'll up the ibuprofen to 1600mg a day and hope it's ok for a 700 mile cycle tour in less than 2 weeks!

FR – it's developed slowly i think

i kneel down a lot at work (no sniggering at the back please) and i guess this doesn't help

sounds like a very high dose of ibuprofen – there are side effects to high doses of ibuprofen – be careful!

Got exactly the same problem with my right knee/thigh after parting company with the bike at relatively low speed last week. Biggest problem was that it took a couple of days for the knee to get inflamed and driving became very difficult.

Gave up on pain at the weekend and went to see the doc on Tuesday.

Prescribed me some anti-inflamatories, which appear to have a side effect of a laxative, but the swelling is slowly going down and I can drive without too much pain.

Don't bother MTFUing, get thee to the quack and get some happy pills. 😉

Prescribed me some anti-inflamatories

What's the name of those then jova?

thanks, i'll up the ibuprofen to 1600mg a day and hope it's ok for a 700 mile cycle tour in less than 2 weeks!

Doc told me that ibruprofen was no use for inflamation which is why he prescribed the anti-inflammatories.

He also told me I needed to lose a bit more weight and I should get back on my bike as soon as possible.

What's the name of those then jova?

Volsaid Retard 75 (Retard? – probably only a coincidence)

foxyrider – 1600mg is non prescription dose, i regularly take 1600mg ibuprofen, 64mg of codeine and 4000mg of paracetamol a day 😀

He also told me I needed to lose a bit more weight

Crikey – a very honest GP then 😉

Ibuprofen is an anti-inflammatory but probably not as potent IMHO as drugs like diclofenac (Volterol) –

What about stopping the ibuprofen and use some Volterol gel – less side effects and sounds like a superficial problem? Thats what I use on my knees sometimes – DONT USE WITH ORAL ANTI_INFLAMMATOIRES though – says that on the packet. Don't use on non-healed wounds though I would assume!

I would have to agree with jova54 that if its not improving then go to docs to get some presscrition meds?

Volsaid Retard 75 = Diclofanc BTW

1600mg is non prescription dose, i regularly take 1600mg ibuprofen, 64mg of codeine and 4000mg of paracetamol a day

Blimey – didn't say it was too high but still… Have you got underlying or other problems then?

i have a repeat prescription for Misopryl (sp) which is dichlofinac and something to protect the stomach lining, i'll stop the ibuprofen and take that up again 🙂

anti-inflamatory gels are a waste of time, just a placebo.

all non-steroidal anti-inflamtories have similar side effects, for me it was dissolving my stomach lining, constipation (seriously, 2 ibuprophen and i wont poo for 3 days!), and feels like ive got the flu.

Paracetamol will mask any pain, but your not in any so no need. best head to the docs and get it checked out, mines been feked after a similar sounding accident on bamford clough. And that was nearly 4 years ago!

Have you checked with the GP that its OK to take diclofenac, codiene and paracetamol concotion? I know they all act differently but best check?

If you have underlying knee / jt disease it would be worth talking to your GP? 🙂

anti-inflamatory gels are a waste of time, just a placebo.

Work on superficial conditions but you do need to keep re-applying im my experience 🙂

Go to see someone who can assess your knee properly. At the very least you should be icing it & doing basic balance/strength exercises. The swelling is there for a reason – NSAID's only address the effects, not the cause.

foxyrider – yes, i take those meds for back problems when necessary on doctors advice. It's all to avoid taking diazepam which is a) addictive and b) invalidates my public liability insurance. It's a shame as they are really quite nice 🙂

OK – no probs – one doesn't know all the background on posts and people jump in with suggestions without knowing the full story. If it persists I would go to GP as it may need further Tx if NSAIDS dont settle it down?

hmmm, if by superficial you mean skin? There's no evidence any of the drug gets into the blood or muscle (its disolved in alcohol so you'd be pretty pissed if it all went in!)

1600mg of ibuprofen is the standard starting dose. 400 mg 4 times a day. Thats 2 neurofen 4 times a day.

Ibuprofen gels act like deap heat only at best – setting up a counter irritant. they do not get significant absorbtion.