knee problems :(

Just been to see a GP about my knee pain basically had it for a long time now and its got worse. Its now at the point where just getting up off the floor and walking up stairs causes shooting pains behind my knee cap to the inside where it meets my quads. He said he thinks it ligament damage but I need to see my proper GP and get some scans. I am gutted anyone else had a similar thing and how long did it take to recover?

The thought of being off the bike for months is driving me mad im only 27 and praying it wont be to long…

Being young you’ll probably recover reasonably quickly so I wouldnt sweat it. Just get the best guy/girl you can to look at it.

Im 42 & Ive had Patello Femoral Syndrome (overuse injury to cartilage) for nearly a year & its finally starting to improve.

Best of luck!

Get a referral to a private orthopaedic surgeon from your doctor.It’ll be the best £150 you ever spend and better than waiting 6 weeks to see an nhs specialist.Followed by 6 weeks waiting for a scan.Followed by 6 weeks waiting for another consultation…….

Look up anterior knee pain and patellofemoral pain syndrome.

Go see a physio.

Did you guys do any sport while its healing is swimming ok or is it literally just rest it?

No swimming will put strain on knee I had ligament reconstruction and medial menicus tear in last two years

Swimming might be fine, it is for most injuries, I was told to stick to front crawl and use a pullbouy if possible. Stay away from breaststroke as it twists the knee. I was told to start swimming as soon as the incisions form the operation had scabbed over (and liberally apply plastic skin beforehand).

Get a referral to a private orthopaedic surgeon from your doctor.It’ll be the best £150 you ever spend and better than waiting 6 weeks to see an nhs specialist.Followed by 6 weeks waiting for a scan.Followed by 6 weeks waiting for another consultation…….

+1 took me almost 2 years to get through the NHS system, first there’s the “take some painkillers and rest it for 2 months” phase, then several different physios get a go at it, then you get on a waiting list for a consultant, then finally for the operation, throw in a few “it might be OK now” pauses in the process and it takes forever!

Neighbor (farmer / NT warden) paid £80 to see a BUPA consultant (who is also the NHS consultant the other 4 days of the well), got it diagnosed properly and was on the surgery list straight away, basically he was told £2k for the operation on Monday or wait 6 weeks on the NHS list.

Mine’s just started aching and locking up again 🙁

you do not mention if you do other sports or just cycling, cycling uses a specific group of muscles and can lead to poor alingnment of the knee cap, strengthening the
underdeveloped ones and streching can help if this is the case.

either way rest and recovery is vital initially, read up and talk to a specialist.

this website might give some clues?

http://www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/sport-injuries/knee-pain

I have been doing gym work over the last year including squats, deadliest etc with leg work added but still no joy it’s just got worse

Stop doing them then.

Go see physio.

I have I’ve stopped everything no squats, no running, no cycling for the past 2 weeks. Cheers for giving us the heads up on how long treatment can take I will ask for a referral without doubt for £150 I would rather avoid 12 week’s waiting time…

Go see a (good) physio.. could be as simple as a tight IT band causing a displaced kneecap.. takes time to fix but better than surgery!

Don’t see a physio until you have a proper diagnosis from GP/consultant.

FWIW NHS had me seen and scanned for an ACL tear in 4 weeks.

Don’t see a physio until you have a proper diagnosis from GP/consultant.

Any reason? I’d suggest a (good) physio is more equipped to diagnose tendon tears and other knee injuries than many gp’s.. And 4 weeks is a significant amount of time to address weakness and improve alignment or muscle tone and better to prevent distrophy while you wait those 4 weeks.
Gp who failed to diagnose my wife’s depressed tibial plateau fracture advised she come back to see him in 10 days with zero joint use until the swelling had gone down so he could then see if he could then diagnose tendon damage.. That was absolutely the wrong thing in her case.

Good Physio and Good Specialist then get scans. As above if you can afford it side step the NHS for a bit you can always drop back in (further up the queue as you will have a diagnosis) injuries and time off the bike happen. It’s what you do with them that is important. You will have time and energy to do rehab properly and to look after yourself. As each injury can be different then you will need your physio to let you know what you should or shouldn’t be doing.

I have I’ve stopped everything no squats, no running, no cycling for the past 2 weeks

A joint like the knee is likely to require a minimum of a months rest before youll see any improvement. Youre young, take your time & get this fixed properly or youll regret it later..

I had patella tendionitus in my knee and still suffer with it, I saw one pysio who basically ripped me off and took me for a ride till I had enough and saw no improvement so went to another who fixed it very quickly with just massarge. It flairs up still but at least I can ride and control the pain.

I was off bike for about a year in total and was so happy when I could ride again.

Got an ace book called

‘how to fix your own knees’ got it off amazon for about £5

I’ve had similar(ish) symptoms to you and have recently been diagnosed with osteochondral lesions on tibia & kneecap . Initially I thought it might be a cartilage tear ,you will need a MRI scan to find out for sure.
As others have said , get it checked out asap.
Consultant prescribed physio which is helping massively – it seems my leg muscles are pulling knee cap to one side!
I’ve also had ligament replacement surgery and tbh if you have damaged your ligaments it causes more problems when turning…..

I don’t understand why you’d follow any of the advice on here without having a professional diagnosis first. You don’t know what the problem is yet. And when you do, you’d be better served to follow the advice of your doctors and specialist over anything you get told here.

I had patellar tendonitis, didn’t bother with GP but went straight to the Physio. He did ‘shock wave’ therapy on it and after 3 sessions it was good as new. I’ve got trouble with my other knee now, so he’s treating that.

what Rorschach said +100000
partner had this problem for 8 years, and a private appt we paid, and then an operation later (done on the NHS) and she has no issues since.
DO IT!!!

Swimming will be great. Do front crawl and have a float held between your knees if you feel it’s necessary. You shouldn’t be kicking anyway when swimming long distance crawl.

I don’t understand why you’d follow any of the advice on here without having a professional diagnosis first. You don’t know what the problem is yet. And when you do, you’d be better served to follow the advice of your doctors and specialist over anything you get told here.

This, without a proper examination and diagnosis the contradictory advice could cure, make worse or waste your time.

If you’re in acute pain, stay off the knee where possible for at least two weeks. Don’t exercise.

Your knee issue sounds more complex and potentially worth spending time getting fixed up by a professional. Mine seemed to resolve quickly after complete rest and RICE procedure. Check Youtube for stretches and strengthening exercises. Deep squats may have been exactly the wrong thing to do with a chronic knee problem.

However, all knees are not the same, and your specific injury will not be diagnosed properly on a thread like this! Seek expert advice.

Still, I couldn’t afford a physio so just followed RICE, bracing with a donut knee strap, NSAIDs, and then when it felt healed a very slow reintroduction of moderate intensity cycling and running on grass.

Good luck.

A lot of the advice here is a little questionable.

Rest will do you no harm at all until you find the source of the problem- take it easy and get it sorted. A few months of patience now is very much worth it in the long run. A week or two off does very little for a lot of the possible underlying issues you may have.

An MRI is the only way to determine soft tissue damage. Plead with your GP to get one ASAP or go down the private route.

In the mean time a decent cycling physio is the next best person to go to to learn more about your possible problems and non-surgical solutions.

Look up anterior knee pain and patellofemoral pain syndrome

Anterior knee pain is notoriously hard to get to the bottom of. Personally I would trust a physio (a decent one not a rip off merchant) to help with anterior knee pain rather than a surgeon if nothing is easily visible on an MRI. PFPS is exactly what the name suggets- telling you that you have pain aorund your patella. The underlying problem is not described by a diagnosis PFPS so is a bit of a cop out diagnosis wise but then I am very cynical 😉

You could do worse while you’re waiting for GP/Physio appointments than trying Jill Miller’s ‘Kneehab’ DVD.

Sometimes stubborn knee problems can be caused by weak muscles either up or down the chain (e.g. ankles, calves, hips, glutes)

This DVD covers the whole lot and starts off super gently for people in a lot of pain.

It helped me!

Thanks very much for your advice all. I have an appointment for tomorrow evening and once that’s all done at least I will know where I stand.

Hello

http://www.armyranger.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=25799

this helped me out, do it as the old chap in the picture, and it is also very good, doing the same, just standing, leaning in over a table

Chin up 🙂

I’ll echo the good physio comments above.
A good one will probably get to the bottom of the problem very quickly and a least know if a scan is needed and if the injury is beyond specific targeted exercises to remedy the problem. A GP isn’t really equipped to make that diagnosis,,what if you wait ages for a scan and its not a joint issue but a muscular one? (I had knee pain that was muscular but one link away in the chain (glutes ))
They are worth every penny if they get you back cycling.

I m 9months post op on acl reconstruction and mcl injury. When I first hurt it I went to a and e who said no major damage rest it. How wrong we’re they! 6weeks later still no better I got doc to refer me to a physio. They looked at knee and said you ve snapped your acl and sent me straight to specialist.

Go to see a good physio and see what’s causing it. In my case doc s and a and e were a joke!

Another one recovering from a knee injury. I suffered Grade 2 Lateral Colateral,Medial Colateral, Anterior Cruciate Ligament tears. Grade 2’s are Partial tears and require no surgical intervention but need resting for 12 weeks and the use of a Hinged Knee Brace. Also suffered fractured Fibula and Medial Meniscus. Have to see the consultant in 3 months if the Medial Pain and swelling doesn’t go.

I was diagnosed with just a sprain by Royal Blackburn A&E and got a sick not from the gp for two weeks, the pain didn’t improve and got worse when i tried to weight bear. Back to the GP, did some stress tests and sent me for a MRI scan, week later results are in and I get a next day referal to see a Orthopeadic Consultant.

Hit and miss with the NHS (Yes i work in it so I’m not being biased)
Royal Blackburn, not very good at all and poor advice and diagnostics by the A&E consultant.

GP and Royal Bolton, swift and got things done quickly.

Managed to see a nurse last night after work she said diagnosing knee problems is very difficult and she wouldn’t like to guess so booked me in for an mri scan. She said the wait can be up to 6 weeks but sometimes quicker. I am going to just take it easy for a while now any bike Riding will be done in the granny ring and my shimano spds are coming off and a pair of time pedals going on just incase.

What did the physio say?

Diagnosing knee problems probably is very difficult for a nurse as they probably arent trained in it. Physios on the other hand are trained in it and knees are their bread and butter.

Seeing a nurse about your knee is a bit like asking the guy at the carwash to tune your car up.

Depends what type of nurse he saw-practice nurse?
If it was Emergency nurse practitioner he saw, knees would be part of there bread and butter.If they weren’t sure of diagnosis they would refer you on anyway.(not advocating going to A/E with chronic knee problem by the way)
I would be more prone to listen to them than some of the physios i have seen, and that will be £50
Best bet is Orthopedic doc preferably one with an interest patellofemoral issues
Rest meantime until you have diagnosis,if squats ect are causing pain its body giving prompts not to do them

If it was Emergency nurse practitioner he saw, knees would be part of there bread and butter.If they weren’t sure of diagnosis they would refer you on anyway

Nurse practitioners are still way behind decent physios at diagnosing knee injuries or any msk problems for that matter. There’s a reason that physio is a full degree course separate from all the other professions…

And that will be another £50

£50 – only wanting the half hour are we?

Its been a while- inflations a killer

Isn’t a visit to a (good) physio worth the cost if theres even a chance that they can address the underlying cause of your pain and give you the tools to work on to reduce/remove the cause of your pain?
This potentially could happen even before your mri appointment comes around and certainly LONG before you get to see a ortho knee specialist
Your non knee specialist GP will likely reach for the cortisone needle.
An orthopedic surgeon.. being a surgeon will most likely reach for the knife.
A (good) physio will help you understand your treatment options, be able to diagnose the injury/cause of pain and if surgery is something you still want/need to explore then they will be able to give you pre-op help that will speed your recovery and likely reduce your post-op visit requirement/costs anyway.
Ultimately you’re going to have to see a physio at some point, may as well see a (good) physio now 🙂
imo/e