On Tue, 3 Feb 2004 14:03:43 +0000
(UTC) said:Not looking for a medical diagnosis but would like to hear from someone who has suffered similar
knee problems. Have been to a specialist who diagnosed arithis. But i feel that there is probably
alot one can still do to avoid resulting pain (though he said its just wear and tear and there is
nothing I can do about it). To be honest i'm not sure I believe the arithis is the complete cause
of my problem nor do i have alot of faith in the specialist (a national health system specialist,
free in the UK) I saw.
What was the specialist?
I've had knee problems off-and-on since the growth spurt you get in early teens. The first round of
problems was the worst - my knees got to the point of sometimes just collapsing beneath me, even (on
occasion) when I was standing still (mighty embarrasing when you're standing in a shop and just drop
to a heap on teh floor, especially when you're at the teenage "please don't anyone look at me under
any circumstances" stage).
The root cause for me is twisted bones in teh lower leg so teh joint doesn't work quite as it does
for everyone else. If I'm lucky and do everything perfectly (perfect seat setup, crank length, the
right gear every time, no funny twisting and so on) I can go years with no problems, then something
sets it off and it snowballs and I need some assistance to get it back to pain-free.
In my opinion, avoid (or get past as quick as possible) doctors - they do things like send you for
x-rays, then you get a message that teh x-rays were fine, and then they seem to think that's it -
x-ray is fine, so problem is solved. The fact that I'm still in pain and it's getting worse doesn't
seem to occur to them. That or they put you on anti-inflammatories, and I can't face taking pills 3
times a day for the rest of my life.
Get to a physiotherapist (preferably, get your GP to refer you and then it should be NHS and thus
free) and find out what will help (even if it won't cure). Every time I've had problems, a physio
has come up with an exercise routine that's overcome the pain and got me back to shape. It might not
be so good with arthritis, but I'd let them have a crack at it, if you haven't tried already.
If you can get a referral to a sports physio, so much teh better (even if it's not a sports injury)
- they're more likely to have the needs of active people in mind. A general physio probably spends
70% of their time with frail old ladies, and while they've always done a good job on me, a sports
physio may well be better if you can arrange it.
One thing I've noticed is that my knees basically are just marginal as to whether they work right,
and there seem to be all sorts of imbalances that can occur. One time I get an exercise to build up
a particular muscle, another time I say "I've been doing blaah exercise, which is what I was given
last time (2 years ago)", and they twist or lean on or manipulate something and say "does that
hurt", I say "no", they say "well blaah exercise builds up thingy muscle, to overcome such-and-such,
but if you had that then when I do this it would hurt a lot, and since it doesn't, it's not that
this time" and give me something totally different to do. The one time a GP gave me an exercise to
do, I got to teh physio a few weeks later, they gave me a load of things, none of which was what the
GP had given me, so I questioned them, and teh physio assured me teh GPs exercise would make things
worse (it certainly hadn't helped). The point of all this waffle is to say - get an actual physio to
look at it, and don't rely on people saying "I had a pain like that, I did this exercise" - I've had
pains that seemed teh same to me, but which responded to different exercises.
Sometimes an exercise works wonders - I've had pain that's been nagging continually for 6 or more
months before I get round to following my own advice clear up inside two weeks of doing what the
physio told me (that was a 'hyper mobile' kneecap, apparently). Sometimes it's a long slog through
10 repetitions 3 times a day for months before a big improvement occurs.
Good luck.
regards, Ian SMith
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