MRI Knee results, what to do?

Question

Hi,

I hit a wall, using my right leg, 2 years ago, thought it was a thin wall but it wasn't :(. Anyway, I felt a lot of pain instantly. With every month the pain is getting worse. 2 days ago I had an MRI and it says that everything is fine but I have "minimal knee effusion". What I can do to treat that condition? I want get my life back, I want be able to walk and do cardio exercises again,

Help please

Answer 1

mild effusions usually occur in active people especially athletes.  It's part of the aging process and is often times a product of over-use.  It happens over time.  It's more of a concern with it's acute or just occured.  In your case, it sounds chronic and again, it's quite common.  The thing about your condition however is that you use the leg all the time.  In doing so, you never give it a break causing your pain to reveal itself over and over.  

You need to strengthen your leg.  Go to the Gym and start a regimen designed to do just that.  Start out light, work your way up.

Once you get that strength back, you may begin doing higher octane type runs and cardio.  Keep in mind, you should also consider NSAIDS such as motrin (with food) to get you through the tough times.  

It may also be that you're not getting enough calcium.  This leads to painful everything, especially areas that get alot of use.  Consider this and the fact that you used your leg to break a wall, it could make sense.

Until you get strength, pain and stamina under control, you have to ride this out.  Again, get another opinion and have them check for any other reasons why you're slowly healing and/or having a deficiency somewhere else.

FYI, you may have also caused some premature arthritis in that knee.  It's also very common in injuries.  Don't think for one minute you'll be as good as new.  Many injuries preclude athletes from making millions.  So it isn't that far fetched that you'd be in a similar situation minus the millions lost.

The focus should be in getting as close to normal as we can.  And to accept that you will never be 100%.  Take 90% and be happy :)

I did a little research.  I happen to know the MD who wrote this article.  

http://www.aafp.org/afp/20000415/2391.ht...

We see alot of knee injuries in the military.  Take this information and if you get a chance to see a doctor, use the information to your advantage.  Sometimes, they need a little knock in the head to remember the fundamentals.