Can't diagnose knee leg pain

[cestmoimia]

Hi, I am trying to get a doctor's appointment ASAP, but I am having trouble matching my symptoms and correspondingly the best action I should take to heal my leg in the mean time.

I have  a constant burning sensation and soreness around my right knee particularly where the thigh muscle joins the leg. There is also a constant soreness on the bottom edge of my knee, just above the tibia. It has been like this for over a week following a run and has not improved significantly in that time.  

It is somewhat uncomfortable, but not painful to bend my leg. If is painful to flex my leg muscle, which I notice more when extending my leg. The pain level is bearable. It feels somewhat better (temporarily) if I perform light exercise with the leg - although I am worried that I am actually causing more damage so I have been avoiding this until I know what is going on.

The knee is not very swollen (it looks fairly normal, but I can feel that it is slightly puffy. It is somewhat tender where I feel the burning sensation. Icing the injury provides some relief.

Any help or insights as to the likely cause/treatment would be greatly appreciated.

[cestmoimia]

Hi Dr. Kaul,

Thank you for the prompt response! I was on a business trip so I could not make it to the PCP last week.

I finally made it to the PCP which resulted in a referral to an Orthopedist (as expected).

Thanks again for the advice in the mean time,
Mike

[S. Kaul, MD]

Hi there!

Well, without a detailed clinical evaluation it would be difficult to determine the cause of your symptoms. Possibilities that may need to be considered include inflammations, bursitis, infections, degeneration with joint effusion, injuries to tendons/ ligaments/ internal knee structures, neuro-muscular causes etc. It would be best to have this evaluated by a primary care physician or an orthopedician for an accurate diagnosis and appropriate management. Meanwhile I would suggest resting the knee and limiting weight bearing. If the pain is more than mild, Tylenol may be helpful for pain relief.
Hope this is helpful.

Take care!