knee help

[daverude69]

im 44 6 ft 5 325, Ive had 7 operations on my left knee. ACL repaired and both cartlidges removed. I cannot stand more than a couple of hours because of the pain. I cannot straighten it nor bend it more than 45 degrees. Would a knee replacement be my best alternative to getting my lie back?

[S. Kaul, MD]

Hi there!

Well, it would be difficult to comment on the situation without knowing the relevant clinical details or a detailed clinical evaluation. A knee replacement is usually the last resort in most cases when other modes of treatment including conservative and interventional/ surgical have failed. Also knee replacement may not be a feasible option in all cases. I would suggest considering a detailed evaluation by an orthopedician for suggestion of an appropriate management plan.
Hope this is helpful.

Take care!

[Alison4444]

Hi, I hope my situation may help some of the people suffering the same knee problem as me. I'll describe my issue first so you know if we're talking about the same thing or not...!

My knee problem came on within a week. At first, when kneeling, I felt like I had a prickle stuck in my jeans that was scratching the side/lower part of my knee. The next day, when kneeling, it felt like a pin was sticking into me. Two days later it felt like a nail hammering into my knee, then finally when I tried to kneel a few days later (again forgetting the problem because the only time pain was felt was when I knelt) I felt a rip inside my knee.

I've had an x-ray and an ultrasound. Bursitis has been ruled out so I saw my 'back guy' who is a 'manipulative therapist' - or in basic terms, he's an 'old style' masseur. He believes the problem is that my ITB tightened somehow. As I think others have mentioned, ITB stands for Iliotibial band syndrome, which involves the band that stretches down from the hip to just below the knee and sits between the quadricep and the hamstring. I've seen him three times now and I have no doubt it's helping, although that's not to say that it will prevent me from needing surgery. When I see him he sort of 'pushes' the ITB along my leg, basically forcing it to stretch. It feels great afterwards but I must admit that I haven't knelt on my knee for a couple of weeks so I don't know if that is still a problem or not (too painful in the past so I'm too scared!). I'm seeing a surgeon next week on the advice of my GP so I'll let you know what he says, however in the meantime perhaps if you look up ITB you might find something that sounds similar to what you're dealing with. Hopefully anyway!!