Knee Problem.

[Hoosierdaddy]

I have water on the knee and no med. ins. I think I have to have it drained, been icing it down but it is still swollen. I may go to a Doc in the box and have them drain it. Any sugestions?

[Dino Brown]

My suggestion- have a doctor check it out!

One question though, does it "feel" like fluid is in your knee or does it "feel" like (warm) blood may be in the knee (i.e. possible tear)?

Not much I can think of other than rest, ice, elevation and possibly some anti-inflammatory medication. Get better soon!

[0gravity]

I'm no doctor but I've had my share of knee issues. If it feels like you've got "water on the knee" that means it's swollen (with blood and inflamed swollen tissue). You didn't offer much of a description of what happened to it so it's hard to guess. Yes, as someone else above said, elevate it, ice it (a lot) and take the full dosage of of Vitamin I (Ibuprofen). And there's not much a doc can do right now for you.

If you don't have health insurance, I'd wait a few weeks and see how it feels then. There's very little a doctor can do for you in the short term. Draining a knee, as you think you need done, isn't a casual or common process. If you just sprained it, or it's inflamed from too much riding (tendonitis), the pain and swelling will go away if do the steps above. A doc wouldn't drain it. If you torn a ligament, you'd probably know it and feel it. Sounds like a sprain and/or tendonitis to me. Good luck,

[Hoosierdaddy]

I crashed riding down the Luge, at first I thought it was an impact wound but now that I think about it, the swelling is on the inside of my knee (left knee). I fell on that side and maybe I did tear something, b/c it wouldn't make sense that the bump is on the inside. It happened two weeks ago and at first it wasn't too swollen. I rode the Demo days at Oaks then went to Big Bear the weekend after it happened and didn't notice anything strange. (no pain or swelling) It swelled up about a week after it happened. It's really not painful and I have full range of motion, I don't really limp when I walk either.

It's definately not from too much riding, I ride all the time and never have issues with that.

Thanks for the input.

[J_Sims]

Sorry to hear you are still down..... The thing that gets me is how you were able to ride all day in BB (pos Gravity had something to do with it) with no pain.. Knees are strange I have a knee issue that will not go away, docs can't fix it so I consider it Oldf%$#eritus of the knee... Lots Of Vitamin I for this kid

Keep us posted and hope you get to feelin better...

[Burner]

not picking on you, but MTB'ing and no health insurance don't mix too well.

[jfromlv]

Originally Posted by Hoosierdaddy

I have water on the knee and no med. ins. I think I have to have it drained, been icing it down but it is still swollen. I may go to a Doc in the box and have them drain it. Any sugestions?

I never had to have my knee drained, but have had my issues with water on the knee, I've been installing floors for 20 years. I just always take an anti-inflamatory, like Dr. Dino recommended, usually as strong of an aspirin as I could get, seemed to do the trick! Good luck!

[denmother]

Originally Posted by Hoosierdaddy

I have water on the knee and no med. ins. I think I have to have it drained, been icing it down but it is still swollen. I may go to a Doc in the box and have them drain it. Any sugestions?

Look into Acupuncture, it worked for my dad.

[~ Pakiha ~]

WD-40. I know it sounds stupid, kinda like Windex for zits, but it is Water Displacement formula #40. And has also been said to help with joints.

[OMR]

Jeff,

A lot of good advise here... but you really won't know what's going on until you do an MRI... everything else is speculation right now. This would be the first thing a specialist would do to try and see what's going on inside.

Jeff (J_Sims) is right, knees (major joint) are pretty complex and do strange things. The old rest, ice, elevation, pressure and IBPropen are about all you can do right now without seeing a doctor. We all feel for you bro and look forward to your getting well and back to riding where you belong.

OMR

PS: Really appreciated your riding in the truck with LareDog and supporting the recent Newby ride up Blackstar.. I know how much you wanted to contribute... props!

[g.c.]

Go see a dr. Better to go out of pocket for a bit then to be using the cane come later years.

My knee Doc who did wonders on my major fubar a few years ago is over in Orange, is an avid trial runner and knows the mentality. PM me if you want info.

[ShinKen]

[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]I had a problem a few years back and didn’t do anything till my knee cap freaking locked on me!! END result!! Tear meniscus (I think that’s how u spell it) and surgery that took my ass out of circulation for a few months!! My suggestion if it don’t hurt too bad do what the other guys are telling ya to do. If it’s really getting to be a pain IN da BUTT!! Go get an MRI and find out what the problem is!! Better now than later!![/SIZE][/FONT]

[tkblazer]

Originally Posted by ShinKen

[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]I had a problem a few years back and didn’t do anything till my knee cap freaking locked on me!! END result!! Tear meniscus (I think that’s how u spell it) and surgery that took my ass out of circulation for a few months!! My suggestion if it don’t hurt too bad do what the other guys are telling ya to do. If it’s really getting to be a pain IN da BUTT!! Go get an MRI and find out what the problem is!! Better now than later!![/SIZE][/FONT]

who the huck are you and what did you do with Jose?

Jeff, i can't really add much that hasn't already been said. Hope you get everything worked out and are back on the dirt dood

[0gravity]

Originally Posted by mtber3737

A lot of good advise here... but you really won't know what's going on until you do an MRI... everything else is speculation right now. This would be the first thing a specialist would do to try and see what's going on inside.

My girlfriend's dad is have been an orthopede for decades and he's been involved in some of my knee issues so I've got some good inside information.

The first thing most specialists would do is not an MRI but a physical examination. Any good orthopede can accurately diagnose a knee injury without an MRI scan by physically examining it and putting it through a series of movements. MRIs cost upwards of $2k per session and if you don't have insurance that's just not a good way to spend your money. It's a redundant and unnecessary way to spend your money. Some specialists at large sports medicine places or hospitals may suggest it but it's partly because they need to make some money off those machines. They don't make money when they're not in use. But that's not your problem.

Originally Posted by Burner

not picking on you, but MTB'ing and no health insurance don't mix too well.

Don't listen to this guy. He just got a snazzy new job with all the bennies!

Originally Posted by Hoosierdaddy

I crashed riding down the Luge, at first I thought it was an impact wound but now that I think about it, the swelling is on the inside of my knee (left knee). I fell on that side and maybe I did tear something, b/c it wouldn't make sense that the bump is on the inside. It's really not painful and I have full range of motion, I don't really limp when I walk either.

As long as you don't mean the inside, like deep inside, but rather the inside near the surface of the knee (from your viewpoint, right side of the left knee), then that's the area where the MCL ligament is. The good news with that is that most MCL tears heal on their own w/out surgery since they are on the "outside" of the knee where there's good blood supply for your body to heal it. This also holds true for the LCL, on the other outside.

The reason ACLs get repaired all the time is their location deep within the knee prevents adequate blood supply from nourishing the torn ligament. But it doesn't sound like you have an ACL tear but instead an MCL tear on the outside.

You could go see a specialist (orthopede) to cover all your bases, but you should be fine with mellowing on riding and other strenuous stuff for a few weeks (more than a month, to be safe) and continuing to ice it, elevate it, and take vitamin I. You could take Glucosamine Chroindrointin but the jury is still out whether that really does anything. That's what the docs I know say.

[Jordansrealm]

You can get COBRA Health Insurance pretty cheap for individual plans these days. Something like $50 a month. Just letting u know!

[Hoosierdaddy]

Thanks everyone, and even you Burner for stating the obvious!

The swelling is near the surface on the right side of my left knee, it doesn't hurt to bend until it gets almost all the way bent back. I broke my kneecap in half about 18 years ago and had a partial Platelectimy (spelling) done on it. They removed the lower part of my kneecap and sewed the tendons onto the upper intact part. I haven't had any issues with it until now.

I take Glucosamine/Chondroitin already, mostly for my back (broke it about 20 years ago L4/L5). I will have health ins. in Sept I think, just got through the probation period from my employer. Cobra is like 500.00 a month, checked into it when I left my last employer.

The thing that sucks is I was supposed to go to Mammoth on the 17-19 of this month to ride the S/C V-10 I bought in March of this year. Not looking likely that I'll be there.

Again, thanks for all the help guys and Gals!

[OMR]

Jeff,

How's the knee feeling today? You're taking it easy right?... right!

Inquiring minds want to know...

OMR

[allison]

Originally Posted by Hoosierdaddy

The thing that sucks is I was supposed to go to Mammoth on the 17-19 of this month to ride the S/C V-10 I bought in March of this year. Not looking likely that I'll be there.

Once you a see doc in Sept you can always pull up some rug for Mammoth's closing weekend with us

[Fired Yo Momma]

Dang I feel your pain I had my knee drained twice and I would rather go though my scope out patient surgery. What sucks about getting the knee drained is you actually see the fluid going into that ten inch needle.