Ouch! My Knee Woke Me Up! Scared I Tore It Again

[Guest cassidy]

I know that I have heard that joint problems can be related to celiac. When I was 18 (11 years ago) I was getting out of a car and my knee locked up - I couldn't straighten my leg. A piece of cartledge was lodged in my knee and I needed surgery the next day to take care of it. They took out a lot of cartledge and I haven't been able to run since. I was never involved in sports, didn't have an accident or do anything that should have caused this. 6 months later it happened to the second one.

This morning, at about 4, I woke up in pain. My knee was killing me. I kept trying to move it but it wasn't comfortable at all. I got up and I can walk fine, but when I'm not walking, it really hurts. This isn't how it felt before. It is kinda vague pain like I can't point to a place, but it is just very painful. I'm concerned that I tore something again. It has been sore when I'm riding in a car lately, but again a dull ache.

So, is this related to celiac? Has anyone felt this type of pain before? Being a Sunday and me without an orthopedic doctor, this is not good. I have an antiinflammatory drug but it makes my stomach hurt and I would much rather bad knee pain than any stomach pain.

[debmidge]

you're right to conclude it's something serious. Unfortunately if you go to E.R. they'll probably send you home with pain meds....if they are running slow they might do an X ray or mayabe an MRI which is probably what you need.

Unfortunately the pain could be from anything: damage to cartlidge, clot, etc. and it needs to be x rayed or MRI'd.

[tarnalberry]

Two suggestions:

1. Ice - the description's vague enough that I'm really not sure on this one - if you tore something, and there's inflammation, I'd suggest going with ice (gel packs, really, to get good coverage) on the knees for 10-15 minutes every hour or two. If nothing else, it numbs them up, and (someone correct me if I'm wrong, but this is what my PT's have told me) you usually can't do much damage with ice in most situations if you're not going out and doing much with the joint after the icing.

2. Tomorrow - talk to friends/coworkers/etc. and find an orthopaedist. If you're in Southern California, look up the Kerlan Jobe Clinic (they have a number of *fabulous* specialists for the knee). If you're in Chicago, look up Dr. Thadani (my old knee ortho who moved out there (I think) two or three years ago - he's *very* good, and cute too :-P).

[Guest cassidy]

It doesn't hurt now. The muscle above my knee is sore liked I worked out too much, but I didn't. My ankle is sore when I'm walking, but only sometimes. I've done the ice and elevation today, but I have still walked on it.

My knee sometimes feels tight, which I think is swelling, but it doesn't look swollen. Sometimes it tingles and hurts a little, but not like in the morning.

So, if it is something bad, I would think that it would hurt all the time and not just sometimes. It also seems to be worse when it is at rest. Driving in the car (left knee, so it doesn't do anything) has been making it ache for a few weeks, but not today.

I will ask around tomorrow and see if I can find a doctor. In the past they move my knee around and if it doesn't hurt in a specific place they send me home with an antiinflammatory. This one hasn't bothered me in a year or so, and it wasn't like this then.

[tarnalberry]

It doesn't hurt now. The muscle above my knee is sore liked I worked out too much, but I didn't. My ankle is sore when I'm walking, but only sometimes. I've done the ice and elevation today, but I have still walked on it.

My knee sometimes feels tight, which I think is swelling, but it doesn't look swollen. Sometimes it tingles and hurts a little, but not like in the morning.

So, if it is something bad, I would think that it would hurt all the time and not just sometimes. It also seems to be worse when it is at rest. Driving in the car (left knee, so it doesn't do anything) has been making it ache for a few weeks, but not today.

I will ask around tomorrow and see if I can find a doctor. In the past they move my knee around and if it doesn't hurt in a specific place they send me home with an antiinflammatory. This one hasn't bothered me in a year or so, and it wasn't like this then.

It's not true that it would hurt all the time if it's something bad. And "bad" is relative. What's wrong with my knees is "bad", in that it slowly grinds the cartilage off the back of the kneecap, but not something that should always be treated with surgery (like my first ortho wanted), but is something that should be treated by properly strengthening the quadriceps and avoiding large-angle repetitious weight-bearing bending (like squats). So it could be bad - but only if I don't keep up with proper exercise or do things with it that I shouldn't do.

What you are describing - the quad muscle hurting, tight feeling in the knee, more pain in the morning, intermittent pain - sounds to me like it has to do with a muscle instability/imbalance causing misalignment in the joint. It could also be caused by a meniscal tear that "flops over" every once in a while, but that shouldn't necessarily cause more problems in the morning, just intermittenly. At the least, I would encourage you to insist that you also see a physical therapist about this. (Some things to make sure to note when talking to an orthopaedist - note that it impacts your day to day activities, is intermittent but recurring, is most intense upon waking, and has been going on for a long time.)