awful constant knee pain and knee going out

[badkneegirl]

I have constant knee pain, swelling and my knee gives away.  The pain is primarily on the inner side of the knee.  I have had several kneesurgeries, one in the last 6months that was supposed to fix all these issues.  I have been told its just arthritis, however after surgery i was told no signs of arhritis.  a physical therapist told me i have a loose mcl. what to do?

[badkneegirl]

No i live in the USA.  However what your describing the manipulating is what my chriopracter did to the muscles in my thighs and it did improve my pain.  I had a acl repair, MCL repair, and 2 meniscus repairs and now my ACL has torn again, although the dr has said thats not why my knee gives way. By giving way i mean i can just be standing talking to somone and a electrical jolt like thingy goes through my knee and i almost collapse as my knee shifts out of place.

[Soggymoggy]

Find a good musculoskeletal physiotherapist (probably not the one who's diagnosed you with a "loose muscle"). I don't know where you are, but if you're in the UK let me know and I can recommend a couple of people who I know are good.

A decent physio should examine the stability of the joint, compare the musculature to that of the other leg and may want to do a gait pattern analysis. As a guide, a good physio will cause bruises when performing soft-tissue work - if their treatment doesn't hurt, you're wasting your time... and if they even suggest using ultrasound as a treatment leave and find another practitioner.

It sounds to me like you've been very poorly rehabbed after your surgeries; do you know exactly what each of the surgeries was intended to do? You say your knee gives way; is there any particular movement that prompts this, or do you mean that you simply can't lock the joint out?

Best of luck with it; I can testify first-hand that it IS possible to have knee surgery and come out of it with a better joint than you had to start with, but you need to find the right person to look after you.