Knee Pain

[lucky12]

Hi every one I have had PMR for 8 years am now down to 3.5pred for the second time so I have my fingers crossed. However I have been getting a lot of knee pain. can only walk for about 10 mins and pain kicks in . I have seen orthaepedic doctor had xrays and scan which only show wear and tear and some osteoathrites . I saw a physio last week he said it is cartlige problem and has given me excercies to do, he said it needs to be much worse before NHS will do clean up job. I am not sure which way to go at the moment I have taken pain killers including tramodol but nothing seems to help .I am doing physio excercises maybe it will improve has anyone got any more advice or had same problem .I hate not doing my daily walks.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Hi,

I have similar problems to you, have OA in my left knee which makes walking painful, am also down to 3.5mg. This morning have had steroid injection in knee which reduces pain, but doesn't get rid of it completely.

I have seen physio recently for back problem, and his thoughts (along with mine) is that long term used of Pred (3.5yrs) and the period before diagnosis when I couldn't lift a finger let alone walk (1.5yrs) has definitely reduced my muscle strength in both legs and back. He suggested either Pilates or Aqua Aerobics, which will both get the muscles strengthened, without inflicting too much pain on the knee.

I tried a taster session of Pilates last week, explaining my problems to teacher. Most of the exercises are done lying down, some balancing on a ball, with a few exercises actually standing, so I'm going to give it a go! I'll let you know how I get on.

I miss walking as well, but there's no pleasure when you're in pain.

[Jamie345 in reply to DorsetLady]

If I have physio to help me walk will it create more fractures as have multitude across pelvis I can't walk outside without my wheeler and even after a short walk relying on that my right hip is so painful I miss my walks as really helped keep my weight down as well, after any walks my knees both hurt but I feel I must do short walks no matter what! Obviously on a bad day I can't do anything at all , any suggestion about having physio ?

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to Jamie345]

Anything is worth a try, but you need a physio who has a knowledge of PMR, sometimes they can be too full-on for us!

[Constance13 in reply to Jamie345]

Try the physio but explain in detail how you feel at that moment. I have had several sessions, but I find in general they do little in the long run.

I can’t walk very well either (polyarthritis). I try to walk in the park for 20 minutes (on good days!), on bad days I get up every hour and walk for 10 minutes around the flat, dust, go down for the post, make lunch, etc etc (it’s all excercise in my opinion)!

[PMRpro Ambassador]

It's important to strengthen the muscles around the knee so the physio should help. I wonder what the NHS considers "much worse" than not being able to walk for more than a few minutes?

My daughter was fobbed off by such comments about her knee which dislocated at the drop of a hat. Do physio, do physio. In the end it happened just after she'd completed nearly a year of physio so she was finally referred to the knee clinic - where the specialist physio who did nothing but knees was horrified at the delay on the part of other physios. Post-op she just saw a named physio - different one but also knees only.

It might be worth asking for a referral to a knee clinic

[lucky12 in reply to PMRpro]

Thank you PMRpro I will go back to knee clinic if I don't have any improvement from physio soon. At the moment it hasn't dislocated YET.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to lucky12]

Hope it doesn't - it HURTS!

[Penguin184]

Hi

I'm suffering from knee pain too. Just been to hospital and been told it won't be an operation it will be physio. How bad does it need to be before they offer an operation? I have been off work for 6 weeks because I can't walk for more than 5 minutes and even then I'm in pain for the whole time. Hope you get some relief soon xx

[HeronNS in reply to Penguin184]

The advantages of avoiding surgery are probably many, but one I can think of is much reduced risk of infection. Physio can do wonders if you get the right therapist. Pain in a joint can be caused by something else going on in the body which is causing you to place stress on the joint, but by sorting out the source of the problem, the joint gets better, too.