Reducing swelling – ibuprofen not working

Okay, it has been nearly a fortnight since I banged my knee. The scabs have healed and the pain in the joint has subsided but it is still really swollen and the skin surface us very sensitive (hurts when clothes touch). It is still swollen enough to make it hard to bend my leg enough to pedal.

Technique so far has been gentle movement, 400mg Ibuprofen for breakfast, lunch and tea.

Any better suggestions for reducing the swelling before I go and see a proper Dr?

Umm. I did something similar almost a year ago. Although I’m guessing a little worse as I was on crutches and told to lie on my back for a week with my knee above my heart.

Rest, Ice, Compression and Elvation is pretty much your solution.

Is there a hematoma at the impact point? There is a real danger of these calcifying in the soft tissue of the legs.

Have you been to see a doctor/hospital? What if there’s a broken bone or something similar?

If it has been 2 weeks and you are still in quite a bit of bother i’d go and see a doctor.

When i dislocated my knee the swelling took quite a while to go. Ice on it regularly really helped mine.
I got the gel ice bag things from boots and had one at home and one at work, i would ice my knee at tea breaks and lunch at work and in the morning and a couple of times in the evening at home.

Have you tried arnica tablets – boots/holland&barret etc sell them. Works for me.

just been to the docs for a wrist injury. no real pain but turns out there’s a fracture. get to the docs.

Might wander over the A&E for a check

Have you tried arnica tablets* – boots/holland&barret etc sell them. Works for me.

*Other placebos are available.

Even the cream is nonsense, but the tablets are homeopathy. Have you considered that your body just recovered?

Might wander over the A&E for a check

they’ll send you home with a flea in your ear, I’d hope 🙂

‘my leg’s a bit swollen 2 weeks after an incident’ does not require very expensive emergency intervention.

visit a GP. They’ll assess and refer if necessary.

Thats not good is it 2 weeks is a long time.. off to the docs.

Oh, and you have ladies legs.

As above, don’t go to A&E, go to your doc, or book into your local minor injuries clinic.

me again.

I did something similar a couple of years ago.

swelling took a long time to go down and I still couldn’t bend my leg pain free after 3 months.

ended up with an MRI (clearish) and a course of physio for a dodgy tendon in the back of my knee – I’d torn it and when it had healed there was a little lump on the tendon that was irritating surround tissue as I moved my leg.

Physio basically rubbed the tendon until the lump went. This was quiet a painful experience.

All above following referal from GP.

Right leg looks fine I’d be more worried about how skinny the left one is.
Get to the GP, you need to be fit enough for your stage dive at you know what in a couple of weeks 😉

Even the [arnica] cream is nonsense

It’s not exactly nonsense IIRC, it’s just unproven either way. So file under “highly likely to be nonsense” rather than “conclusively nonsense.”

I think.

you have ladies legs

Really? Wow. I don’t fancy yours much.

Dr booked for just after 4pm. Amputation booked for 5pm

Can I have your bike?

After saying that you didn’t like my legs? No!

WorldClassAccident.. Are you totally rubbish at riding or just really accident prone?

I didn’t say I didn’t like your legs, I said I wouldn’t like your legs if you were a girl. Which you’re not. So I was defending you, from a certain point of view.

Now, about that bike…

Turmeric is supposed to be quite good for an anti-inflammatory

You want to be careful though, overdose and you could slip into a korma.

Might be an infection

the skin surface us very sensitive (hurts when clothes touch).

I went to A and E with something similar (to diffcult to get to doctors appointment) in my elbow. Had nearly 3 weeks of antibiotics. Didn’t clear it went on rugby tour and I assume because the blood was pumping round hard for the 2 games it spread the infection. My left knee and all below became inflamed and my kneck was agony I ended up calling an ambulance after a few days at home. Spent 8 days in the hospital the doctors decided I had some sort of Arthritis spent 2 weeks at home unable to get off sofa. Found out I had an infection in spine (MRI scan) when it got there or how it got there is anyones guess, certainly doctors couldn’t think of no reason for it to get there. Ended up another 5 weeks in hospital and been on crutches for 4 months (septic arthritis in right knee). hoping to get back cycling soon. Although walking without crutches appears (judging by the pain to be creating more damage) So have bought walking poles to get me in the pubs once I get to one.
I think you need to check for an infection “the skin surface is very sensitive (hurts when clothes touch)” sounds suspciously like an infection although it also matches Gout?

TSY – Both

Cougar – since the operation….actually, I just didn’t read your post properly. Of yource you can have one of my bikes when I die. Amputation is but a flesh wound so I will be adapting my bike to work for just one leg.

PS Diclofenic (spelling may be iffy) is the prescription anti inflamatory although I use Arthretic 75 which has another ingrediant as well. Alowes me to spend an hour on the exercise bike everyday although my knee is bit swollen afterwards. Mind walking/standing for short periods has the same effect.

Cougar – Member

Now, about that bike…

Nobody would want an ex-WCA bike. Of that I am certain.

Dr drained quarter of a litre of fluid out of the knee which has helped a bit. He will do it again next week if it is still swollen

Looks like bursitis to me. I also had it after a crash on my bike. It took 6 weeks of continual draining and an operation to get the congealed stuff out before I was able to walk properly again.

The stuff in the syringe was quite liquid. just like watered down blood

Ay caramba.

christ – I’d rather have the amputation, never mind photographing the procedure.

bloody hell.

Cougar, is this your coat?

Taxi is outside.

Blimey!

Re arnica, TSY, Cougar, you are both correct, Arnica itself may be useful, it’s unproven though, but it’s often prepared as a homeopathic treatment, rendering it definitely useless…

Secondly, cougar are you being ironic/sarcastic as the evidence for arnica is about as strong as that for acupuncture and I said pretty much what you did above and you tore a strip off me.

I can get hold of dozens of plastic knives from the work canteen. I can be round this evening to perform the amputation. Please CLEARLY mark the one to be cut off – that was such an embarrassing mistake to make last time.

When it’s done, I suggest hanging it up in the garden for the Blue Tits to peck at

I quite fancy getting some syringes and draining the rest myself.

How hard can it be?

Has your GP organised for an x-ray/MRI at any stage??

The stuff coming out of there looks remarkably blood stained; you don’t tend to get blood in joint spaces without fractures or damage to the big ligaments holding it all together (in this case I’d worry about your cruciates)….

Just a thought, with all the usual about not knowing how you did it, or having seen/examined it, or had a good look at the stuff coming out of it….

I have the plastic knives and also picked up some spoons to scoop out the gunk.

What time shall I start hacking away?

Oh, and wear some well fitting shorts, I don’t want any accidental touching of dangly appendages whilst I’m cutting

What Dr Death said, that’s very dark it’s not normally that colour without some sort of bleed.

Maybe the Dr missed and hit a vein. 😆

I definitely had bleeding.

This got bigger and blacker and starting from just below my groin and over the next couple of day moving down my leg giving me swollew and bruised looking ankles.

Injury was cause by the chain coming off the bike followed rapidly by me coming off the bike and using my knee to stop my entire body. Must have been reasonably hard as the people watching all went quiet until I moved rather than the normal laughter.

No real pain in the joint, just tightness from the swelling which is much relieved today. The skin is very sensitive though, short rubbing against it actually hurt.