When I was 17 I tore my MCL playing softball. My parents elected to have my entire leg caste for 6weeks rather than surgery. In the last two months, I began having pain on the inside of my knee that is tender to the touch. Even when I palpate the bone it hurts. My doctor sent me for an X-ray and it reveal mild osteoarthritis. Well, in the last week, the are between my patella and thigh began to hurt badly, along the outside of my knee hurts all the way up into my thigh, on the inside the tenderness has progressed, also on the inside of my knee midway up my inner thigh I have a severe line of pain that I can also palpate. My knee and thigh are noticeably larger than the other other one. I am in so much pain. A few minutes ago, I laid on my left side and proceeded to bend my right knee and the clicking and popping was very audible and painful.
I know that swelling and pain accompanies osteoarthritis, but the doctor said that it was mild and that I can continue to exercise (Cycling). It does not matter if I am standing, sitting, walking, or lying down, I am in pain constantly for the last week. I am wondering if I have re-injured my knee or is this how mild osteoarthritis feels?