Knee hurts at night

[JL]

I am a 44 yr. old triathlete, who had been experiencing inside knee pain for a number of months.  I went to the orthopedic and he was not real positive w/ his analysis.  Basically, he said to give up the running.  I am willing to do this and he put me on medication but had recommendations to me from surgery to injections (cortisone, others).  Just looking for some guidance here, he also mentioned a knee replacement down the road.  Recently my knee has been hurting at night, waking me up.  The thought of a knee replacement scares me, but he mentioned the cartilage between the bones is getting smaller.  Any advice?  If I give up running will I see an improvement in the way my knee feels?  At this point I am more concerned with quality of life than competing again.  Thanks.

[Audice]

Hi JL ~ Are you taking joint supplements for your knee? And have you considered acupuncture which might give you the relief you're looking for. I've mentioned before that my mantra post knee injury is ...Advil & ice are nice. Wishing your well...Ellie

[stgiles16]

Did your OS say that it was the meniscus wearing away or the articular cart ? There are surgeries such as microfracture, OATS,and ACI that can help patch any holes in the articular cart and possibly help your pain. They would also give you a few more years before knee replacement. If it is the articular cart, it will not heal on its own and will probably keep getting worse even if giving up running (although not as fast as with running). You can try some of the supplements , some people swear by them. We need to know a little more specific things about what your OS told you. What kinds of surgery did he mention? Did he call your condition anything in particular?

good luck
missy

[JL]

Here are a few more details.  My OS showed me on the X-rays how the inside cartilage was wearing down as opposed to the outside cartilage that separates the 2 bones.  He thought the meniscus was in pretty good shape and thought that I might respond to Viscosupplementation Treatment because of my age and my current physical condition.  He mentioned there was some bone spurring and offered up the option that maybe cleaning up the knee and shaving down some of the outside portion of the bones through surgery might also be an option.  He thought he could see the early signs of arthritis setting in.  He made the parting comment that if I was 65 yrs old; we would be talking about a knee replacement.  As I mentioned in the last post, I’ve been having trouble sleeping.  I’ve taken the anti-inflammatory medication for only a few days (a week ago) so as I won’t become overly dependant on it.

Any thoughts?