scar tissue

[leicester]

In Feb 03 I had an arthroscope on my right knee, he also cut away part of the patella tendon as it had died off. Originally the consultant was going to just 'flush' my knee out. After surgery he explained that he had done a debridemnet on the back of the knee cap. Since the op I have had some physio and an injection into the joint in June 03(sorry I don't know any of the technical terms. I have had continued pain in my knee, on the inside of the knee and around the knee cap.
Today I went to see another consultant who said that it was either scar tissue or some nerve damage( I did feel that he was saying it was in my head but my knee is a different shape to the other knee now) When I asked about the change in shape to my kneecap he explained that it was probably due to osephytes.(whatever they are).
Could someone please explain to me where I am to go next as I have just read some areas of your site which suggest that I shouldn't just accept the nerve damage or scar tissue diagnosis.
I am also to have another MRI.
Many Thanks
Leicester. 

[Heather M.]

I'm puzzled by your last sentence--I think if you've read through the knee pages, you would see that often a diagnosis of nerve damage is made when the patient actually has scar tissue problems.  Excess scar tissue can and will cripple you, and it often doesn't show up on MRI's. 

Head on down to the soft tissue healing problems section and read posts dealing with scar tissue, arthrofibrosis, adhesions, and so forth.  You'll see scar tissue can cause many different symptoms, depending on where it's located in the knee.  You need to be seen by someone who knows what they are doing if you do have arthrofibrosis, as it's a very tough condition to treat.  Handled inappropriately, the condition can get much worse.

Heather

[stgiles16]

Just a note, osteophytes are bone spurs. Did the OS have any recommendations for you?

missy