Knee pain

[latha98]

Hi,

I had my physical done last week and the Dr said everything is fine. However from the past few months I am experiencing pain in my knee whenever I bend it. It is not a continuous pain but its like a shooting pain when I bend my leg (like in the bathroom or climbing stairs etc). I mentioned this to my Dr and she checked and said the ligaments are perfect and there is no swelling. But I want to know what this pain is if everything is perfect. I am 32 yrs old and it is getting hard for me to sit on the floor or get up. This is obviously not normal. Please let me know what care I need to take.

Thanks.

[Tuckamore]

Good luck latha.

Please let us know the outcome of your MRI. I think you are being wise to follow up with your knee pain. Often the earlier a condition is caught the better the outcome.

Tuck

[latha98]

Thanks again for your input. I will get it tested as per your suggestions. Also I don't have any other symptoms that you mentioned. I am not expecting this to be anything serious but just want to make sure I am not ignoring it completely. It was nice chatting with you.

[Tuckamore]

You are not ignorant.

Actually MRI provide a much higher detail "picture" in the soft tissues. It is the best at looking for knee issues in my opinions and experience. I had an ACL tear some years ago. The x-ray said there was nothing wrong with my knee so I tried to function with a torn ACL. Several weeks later they did the MRI and that revealed the tear. It was also an MRI several months ago that revealed the issues under the patella.

MRI scans are more frequently used to evaluate the internal structures of the knee. A variety of trends have increased the use of MRI in evaluating joints. In my experience I have not heard of CT scans being used to diagnosis knee pain symptoms but I am not saying that it is not done.

Is it possible you could have a Meniscus tear. In addition to the shooting pain does it ever "click" or feel like it gets caught?  That can often be an additional symptom. There are so many structures within the knee it could be any number of problems.

[latha98]

Thank you Tuck. I am sorry about my ignorance but isn't MRI done to see if there is any breakage or the bones or ligaments. And if that is the case isn't that going to be a continuous pain. In my case as I mentioned earlier it is like a shooting pain only occurs in some bends. Thanks again for your immediate response.

[Tuckamore]

Hello Latha,

I am sorry that you are having knee pain at such a young age. I too have knee pain and it is no fun.

There is no positive way to tell what may be going on with you knee other than an MRI. Mine revealed that I have fistulas under the patella and require surgery to correct them. To just visualize the knee you would not know that there is anything wrong with it.

I suggest that you request an MRI of your knee. If your PCP is unwilling to order this procedure than request to see an orthopedist.

Good luck to you and please keep in touch and let us know how you are doing.

Take Cate,
Tuck