Suddenly a swollen knee, having been a daily regular walker of between 2 and 5 miles following a couple stents put in 2 years ago. I had an aching knee never had one before after 3 days my right knee had swollen to about twice it’s normal size and the pain has virtually made it impossible to walk.
Managed to get an appointment at my Doctors he looked at it very very closely and then spoke with I think a bone consultant at my nearest hospital. They both came to a decision that I should spend a bit of time resting and treating it myself at home so now three days later having iced it about 6 times a day for 15 mins and keeping it elevated. The swelling does not seemed to have reduced and trying to bend it is still virtually impossible and very very painful .
At the end of the conversation with the Doctor he said if it gets any worse and you start feeling very poorly get yourself to A & E
My daughter in law thinks I should go to the hospital and get some more tests to find out what has happened. Anymore thoughts anyone ?
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EngineerB
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Hello, your description of knee swelling without trauma could be a variety of things.
If your GP assessed and dismissed gout it sounds like he is considering the differential diagnosis of osteomyelitis (infection in the bone of the knee - the patella)
Red flags for infection would be feeling systemically unwell ie. Fever, with nausea, vomitting, confusion &/or reduced level of consciousness.
Did your GP advise you on pain relief?
What was the post assessment plan & over what timeframe?
A&E should be avoided unless you are feeling systemically unwell, it’s not a drop in centre for minor issues.
However, if you have followed your Gp’s advice & things are not improving then a follow up phone call would be a reasonable option now.
Hope that helps - wishing you a smooth & swift recovery 👍🏼
Thanks for the info the Doc did check out my pulse and temperature and indications were there was no fever or sickness the knee was very hot and today although still swollen and still hurts if I try to walk on it it feels a little cooler . Yep I know what you mean about giving A&E a miss at present but I do not agree that suddenly not being able to walk after 75 +years is a minor issue.
Apologies EngineerB, my wording may have appeared harsh.
I appreciate reduced mobility is frustrating & worrying. In the clinical sense a single swollen joint without systemic affect is classed as minor.
Only severe illness or injury should attend ED. At the present time this wouldn’t be classed as severe.
As a clinician myself I’m talking from a position of experience, but my suggestions are optional.
If you do choose to attend ED they will triage your symptoms & your wait will reflect the severity.
Take a book, fluids & plenty of money for parking as you are likely to be there for many hours.
GP’s do have the option of referring you directly into Ambulatory care or other urgent assessment wards (dependant on locality & size of hospital).
Good luck 😊
You are of a similar age to me and if my experience is anything to go by any muscle or joint problems take longer and longer to recover after some sort of trauma as the years go by, so think weeks not days, or months not weeks. And knees seem to be particularly susceptible to this. I had a fairly minor laparoscopy procedure on one knee a few years ago and discovered I couldn't drive for weeks afterwards, and it was four months before I felt nearly normal again. Anyway I assume you have also been told to elevate and compress your knee as well as ice and rest. And the advice I have been given in the past is try to keep your knee joint as mobile as much as possible whilst listening to your body to tell you you might be overdoing it. And another tip if you are overweight or worse obese consider losing weight to reduce the load on your ageing knee joint which won't help short term but will have long term benefits. Finally if your GP has advised to get down to A&E if things get worse, perhaps if things have not improved at all by the end of next week you could try that. Hope things improve soon.
I would listen to your Daughter in law and go and get it checked out better to find out quick what is wrong than leave it and it get even worse as it seems to be doing
Chances are with your age and walking, through wear and tear you have a knee meniscus injury, a visit to a physio will confirm this. You will need an MRI to confirm the extent of the injury and depending on where the problem is? Possibly a knee arthroscopy to repair the damaged meniscus.
I had similar symptoms to yours in 2019 and went through the the same GP process. The GP referred me to the local hospital Physio who diagnosed a possible medial meniscus injury. The physio asked the GP to refer me for an MRI scan which confirmed a lateral and oblique tear of the medial meniscus.
Four painful months later I had an arthroscopy to repair the meniscus. Exercises and keeping mobile had me back on my feet and walking again within a month. I get the occasional twinge in my knee but haven’t looked back since.
Ask your GP for referral to a physio and an MRI scan. The MRI is the only thing that will show the extent of the injury.
I'm sorry to tell you that when it comes to knees, there's no quick fix. Although knee problems are generally not life-threatening, you could try A&E, but I would be surprised if you got any better response than you got from your doctor. Typically, the treatments for "wear & tear" in increasing complexity are, 1) rest, Voltarol and/or ice to bring the swelling down 2) Key-hole surgery to remove any loose objects (bone, cartilage etc) and 3) Partial- or full-knee replacement.
This is my experience from my 3 knee operations on my left knee since I was 25. Now 69, I was due for a full-knee replacement on 1 December, but that is on hold while I have my heart problem.
I think you should go back to your GP and be referred to a specialist. And buy a walking stick and knee brace.
Sorry to hear this EngineerB ... I imagine there are lots of possibilities as to what it could be. You have already had the advice about seeking urgent medical advice if you experience the types of symptoms of an infection so I won't repeat that. I have problems with my knee and experience flare ups and the swelling can be a challenge to reduce. I would suggest to keep up the icing as you are doing, be careful immediately after icing as the knee is more prone to injury at that point. When elevating, ensure you are doing it right!! If you are not sure, Try an Internet search for knee elevation so that you can see pictures and videos - you need to be lying down so that you can elevate the knee above your heart, probably need about four cushions to do this, ideally have your thigh about 45 degrees and then calf raised about 30 degrees, if you can manage it! As with the icing try to do this for about 20 minutes at a time (no longer), several times a day. Don't wear compression sleeve whilst elevating but you can ice at the same time.. unless your GP thinks otherwise a compression sleeve may help to protect the knee whilst you are on your feet walking around and it helps to reduce some of the fluid. If it doesn't start to improve, if it were me, I think I would go back to the GP. They may then refer you for Xray or MRI scan. But that's also because I hate the thought of waiting around in A&E for hours. Good luck.
Hi Newstart3, Thanks for your info. Pleased today to say I have gained a great improvement to pain and mobility by obtaining and wearing a knee compression sleeve it’s worked well for me going to take it off overnight and take my bedtime Paracetamol capsule 🤞for tomorrow.
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