Hey all, my friend recommended this forum as a wealth of information regrading knee procedures, dealing with pain, etc. After browsing through, I'd have to say he was right. I'm looking forward to getting some great info on here and hope to make some "net friends" in the near future.
A bit of background for me. I had a left ACL done in 1999, along with meniscus resection. Other than a few free floating chips that settle in the wrong spot, this knee doesn't give me nearly as much trouble as to why I joined the boards. That would be my right knee. I had arthroscopy performed about 2 years ago to "clean it out" when they noticed that it has articular cartilage damage, likely from the bone on bone experience that I personally enjoy every day.
After surgery, I couldn't even turn in bed without my knee going out, so I tried prolotherapy. It did help a great deal, as I no longer needed to "kick start" my knee into place (which was excruciatingly painful) on a regular basis. It did not, however, solve my issues entirely. I also tried Synvisc, which worked for the 3 weeks I was obtaining injections, but not much longer after that. I did notice that I was able to bend completely, without any pain, while it was working.
I have been going to PT for another problem (plantar fascitis) and my therapist was kind enough to provide me with insight to knee issues as well, as some of my pain could be neural as well as arthritic. The neural exercises do help, but there is still arthritic pain which cannot be denied. She also realigned my hips as the right was turned forward. Wow, that took a LOT of pressure of the knee.
I feel badly because I've read some of the accounts of others and by this board's standards, I'm somewhat lucky. While there is pain, I can still do a lot of things. I'm into CrossFit and can do most anything, as long as the knee is warmed up before doing so-even full squats. The fact that I pay for it afterwards is a different story altogether, but...Range of motion is close to full, but not without pain. I suspect there is some swelling in the bursa, which tends to decrease ROM slightly as the day continues. Pain is also most noticeable when driving.
In any event, there is an MD in my health system that performs PRP for his Achilles Tendon patients. I've got a referral to ask him if he'd shoot up my knees. IF he says yes, the copay is only $5, which is considerably better than the $800 per shot that my prolotherapist here in Los Angeles wants to charge. If he says no, I'll be back on the boards, looking for a strong prolotherapist/PRP therapist here in L.A. and probably asking questions about Regennex. More importantly, the RESULTS of people who've utilized Regennex.
Sorry if this is long in tooth for a first post, but I figured information is good when establishing dialogue. Thanks for having me here.
