Meniscus :
All the symptoms but MRI shows ok? wat's wrong? - - Posted by alf (alf), 8 June 2003
Hi!
hope someone can help me understand what's wrong w my knee...i'm really confused about this pain.
i've had knee pains -kneecap, back of knee, side of knee, you nameit, since around 20 (i'm 29 now), but i put off seeing an ortho surgeon until 3 years ago. he told me then that i had a torn meniscus (din know which part) and had swelling and water in my right knee. this was prolly thru the days in the army and thru years of daily soccer (i'm a rt-footer).
but subsequent xrays and MRI showed the knee to be clean. no foreign bodies no tears. doc says my meniscus has recovered. previously, he said i'll never play soccer again (i still do a little now).
wat i know is that the pain has got worst and more regular. on occasion, the knee has given way suddenly while walking, i have periods of locked knee (only can be straightened after a few tries). I feel a numb pain all over my knee whenever i play sports, infact, i'm used to it now.
i'm puzzled coz I show all the symptons and the doc and the MRI tell me otherwise. he tells me an operation is out of the qn coz my knee is healthy. but i know for sure things weren't like tat a few years ago. what's wrong with me knee? more imptly, what can i do?
you help is much appreciated.
Posted by sheepful (sheepful), 9 June 2003
HI Alf,
I had the same probelms about one year ago.
After a trauma I had to wait for ages to get an MRI scan (good old NHS) but when I finally had it, it showed nothing much to worry about.
I was left alone with the pain for quite some time, tried physio again and again but did not have much sucess.
Then I got another opinion who said he did not know exactly what was wrong with my knee - but something definetely was wrong. I trusted him and let him do an arthroscopy.
He found a meniscus tear and did a partial meniscectomy.
After that I was a lot better.
Unfortunately I had another trauma a couple of months agao.
MRI Scan was neagtive again but my Dr. suggested to operate again because he said and MRI can be wrong too.
(This time I had plica syndrome - I had scar tissues and a plica removed, which had not shown on the MRI. Instead every MRI of my knee says that I have got cartilage damage which I do not have...)
In my opinion way too many doctors rely too much on MRIs and other Scans. If they're negative they think there's nothing wrong. But in some cases that's not true.
And anyway. The pain and sympoms you have prior to a scan don't go away just because you have had a scan - do they?
I hope that everything turns out well for you, but you need to bear in mind that a small percentage of negative scans is wrong (I think it's 2-5 %). In those cases an arthroscopy might be still a goog idea, especially if your pain is severe.
Hope this helped you.
All the best,
sheepful
Posted by Uk2TX2CA (Uk2TX2CA), 10 June 2003
Hello Alf,
I found out yesterday that my MRI had missed a 2cm flap in my lateral meniscus although it had found a smaller tear in my medial.
Regards,
UK2TX2CA
Posted by alf (alf), 10 June 2003
Hi guys,
really thanks for the replies - at least someone understands the pain.
you know docs can be quite unhelpful when it comes to diagnosis. as sheepful said, they can rely on scans too much.
one of the docs that i went to see as a 2nd opinion actually told me that "it's all in my mind" and he can't cure my pain coz I'm the problem. i was really hurt by that, coz i feel the pain yet i have to feel like a fool.
i think some of these docs, especially the young ones, don't appreciate that pain is a personal thing. i dun like to see a doc or pop pills if i dun have to. but somehow, this mystery disease just gets in my way of normal sports which i like, and it makes me feel angry.
why can't docs be more empathetic? I know for sure i can't swing as hard at a tennis game (coz my elbow hurts) and i can't tackle as hard at a soccer match (coz my knee will complain afterwards). but why can't docs understand sometimes?
i feel so sad that docs can't help me. it's a good thing there's a board like this here, where people can understand the pain...thanks again guys. somehow, i dun think the right voices have been heard...
Posted by sheepful (sheepful), 10 June 2003
hi Alf,
don't listen to the "it's all in your head" bit.
I got that one too, was even tempted to start psychotherapy. but when I wanted to make an appt. they would not take me because they did NOT think it was in my head (lucky me, after that I changed doctors and got onto the right guy who could help me).
Sure, there are some things that might be a cry of help from your soul, but before you come to that kind of diagnosis you should always rule out PROPERLY that it is not your BODY which is calling for help...
And if you have severe (clinical) symptoms, just an MRI alone really is not the kind of instrument to rule something out for sure.
Don't despair,
sheepful
Posted by alf (alf), 11 June 2003
heya sheepful,
thanks again. one time when my leg clicked out of a lock, my collegue sitting beside me could hear it too (and gave me a surprised look), so it's not in my head...heh.
i'm gonna go for more tests soon, since this SARS thing has blown over (I'm in Singapore). But not sure what the doc's gonna give me.
infact, i've been getting some form of steriods shot right into the back of my knee coz the doc said it'd relieve the pain. but i heard it's not good to have too many of those (plus they dun work anyway).
Updated Thu Apr 29 2010
