frustrated with the leg/knee pain and no explanation
In summary: The orthopedic doc has no idea what is going on with my leg.
He looked at the MRI and was unable to see anything definite. He could not even see my stress fracture on the MRI, which concerned him because in the few weeks between my bone scan and MRI it should not have completely disappeared. He said that he should be able to see something, but unless I heal really fast, something should appear on the MRI, but he saw nothing. The tendons around my knee look fine from what he could see on the MRI (he was especially concerned with the patellar tendon, but said it looked fine). He’s not sure why I am still getting pain under my knee, or why I am still sore to the touch down by my ankle. He is concerned that in the 5 weeks I have been on crutches, I am still complaining about under my knee, but not so much in the area as where the stress fracture was in my tibia (which is about 2-3 inches under my knee). He thinks I should have shown some improvement and I should not be almost worse off in some ways than when I started off on the crutches 5 weeks ago. He is not sure what other tests to do to figure out what is wrong and basically said I could do 1 of 2 things, try and work back into things, or stay off it. I told him walking is still a bit painful at times so his recommendation is to continue to stay off it and go see the other Orthopedic doctor at the Hackensack location. Because of the Jewish holidays, Dr. G is not available until next week, so I have ANOTHER appointment Monday now at 2:30.
Alison (the athletic trainer) is running out of ideas on what else to do and since she has to go to the Hackensack office with another student athlete before my appointment on Monday, she was going to talk to Gross about what is going on with my leg/knee.
My opinion:
Something is obviously wrong. I am not one to stay on crutches or in an obnoxious brace any longer than absolutely necessary and this is getting ridiculous that the doctor can not figure out what is going on and I still can not walk/swim for any serious distance without pain under my knee. I'm taking things on a day to day basis. If the leg/knee feels ok, I'm going to try and swim, if it’s unhappy, I’ll rest. Lifting seems to be the one thing I can do without pain, mostly because I'm doing all arm/ab work. Hopefully Dr. G will have something enlightening to say on Monday.
This summer I was getting what felt to be shin splints in my left leg while running but it didn’t feel major so I didn’t think anything of it. Being a crazy athlete I ignored it and went into preseason for soccer (August 21st). The first week we were doing 2 practices a day and I was doing ok, I’d occasionally get twinges in my left leg like shin splints, but it wasn’t major. My calf started cramping up a few days in so I wrapped it with an ace bandage and continued to play. A couple days the pain was really getting to me so I sat out practices, or parts of practices. Monday (August 29th) was our first day off in 7 days of practices and after practice Tuesday (aug 30th) I could barely walk. We had a huge game Saturday (sept 3), so I was put on crutches till then and managed to play most of the game Saturday. I was fine during the game, but afterwards when I took the ace wrap off my leg, I couldn’t walk again, the pain was too intense. I attempted to warm up the next day but could not run without a limp so I sat out. Later that week (sept 7) I went to the orthopedist and had xrays which did not show anything. I was sent to do a bone scan (sept 13th) which showed a hot spot 2-3” below my knee on my left tibia which was assumed to be the stress fracture. I also had a sore spot about 2” above my left ankle on the inside of my leg which was sore to the touch and was assumed to be shin splints. I was told stay on crutches for 4 more weeks (to make 6 weeks total) and then we’d re-evaluate. I joined the swim team to be able to swim to keep my cardio up and stay in shape. The first few practices were not bad, but then kicking and flip turns were sending spasms of pain from my knee down to my ankle where I had been complaining of pain. Swimming was stopped as I couldn’t kick or turn without pain, and I'm still on crutches. Friday (sept 23rd) and the weekend was extremely painful (weather was bad too), so the school trainer threw me in an immobilizer from mid calf to mid thigh which I have been in since then. I went back to the orthopedic last week (sept 27) who recommended an MRI which I got done (sept 29) and read today (oct 4). I can walk (slowly), but some days are better than others. On the bad days, I can’t hold my leg up out straight on my own and any weight sends pain through my knee. It feels like the pain shoots right under the knee by the top of the tibia, more under the kneecap than anything. On good days I can walk short distances, but I tend to limp/favor my left leg.
Ideas????
He looked at the MRI and was unable to see anything definite. He could not even see my stress fracture on the MRI, which concerned him because in the few weeks between my bone scan and MRI it should not have completely disappeared. He said that he should be able to see something, but unless I heal really fast, something should appear on the MRI, but he saw nothing. The tendons around my knee look fine from what he could see on the MRI (he was especially concerned with the patellar tendon, but said it looked fine). He’s not sure why I am still getting pain under my knee, or why I am still sore to the touch down by my ankle. He is concerned that in the 5 weeks I have been on crutches, I am still complaining about under my knee, but not so much in the area as where the stress fracture was in my tibia (which is about 2-3 inches under my knee). He thinks I should have shown some improvement and I should not be almost worse off in some ways than when I started off on the crutches 5 weeks ago. He is not sure what other tests to do to figure out what is wrong and basically said I could do 1 of 2 things, try and work back into things, or stay off it. I told him walking is still a bit painful at times so his recommendation is to continue to stay off it and go see the other Orthopedic doctor at the Hackensack location. Because of the Jewish holidays, Dr. G is not available until next week, so I have ANOTHER appointment Monday now at 2:30.
Alison (the athletic trainer) is running out of ideas on what else to do and since she has to go to the Hackensack office with another student athlete before my appointment on Monday, she was going to talk to Gross about what is going on with my leg/knee.
My opinion:
Something is obviously wrong. I am not one to stay on crutches or in an obnoxious brace any longer than absolutely necessary and this is getting ridiculous that the doctor can not figure out what is going on and I still can not walk/swim for any serious distance without pain under my knee. I'm taking things on a day to day basis. If the leg/knee feels ok, I'm going to try and swim, if it’s unhappy, I’ll rest. Lifting seems to be the one thing I can do without pain, mostly because I'm doing all arm/ab work. Hopefully Dr. G will have something enlightening to say on Monday.
This summer I was getting what felt to be shin splints in my left leg while running but it didn’t feel major so I didn’t think anything of it. Being a crazy athlete I ignored it and went into preseason for soccer (August 21st). The first week we were doing 2 practices a day and I was doing ok, I’d occasionally get twinges in my left leg like shin splints, but it wasn’t major. My calf started cramping up a few days in so I wrapped it with an ace bandage and continued to play. A couple days the pain was really getting to me so I sat out practices, or parts of practices. Monday (August 29th) was our first day off in 7 days of practices and after practice Tuesday (aug 30th) I could barely walk. We had a huge game Saturday (sept 3), so I was put on crutches till then and managed to play most of the game Saturday. I was fine during the game, but afterwards when I took the ace wrap off my leg, I couldn’t walk again, the pain was too intense. I attempted to warm up the next day but could not run without a limp so I sat out. Later that week (sept 7) I went to the orthopedist and had xrays which did not show anything. I was sent to do a bone scan (sept 13th) which showed a hot spot 2-3” below my knee on my left tibia which was assumed to be the stress fracture. I also had a sore spot about 2” above my left ankle on the inside of my leg which was sore to the touch and was assumed to be shin splints. I was told stay on crutches for 4 more weeks (to make 6 weeks total) and then we’d re-evaluate. I joined the swim team to be able to swim to keep my cardio up and stay in shape. The first few practices were not bad, but then kicking and flip turns were sending spasms of pain from my knee down to my ankle where I had been complaining of pain. Swimming was stopped as I couldn’t kick or turn without pain, and I'm still on crutches. Friday (sept 23rd) and the weekend was extremely painful (weather was bad too), so the school trainer threw me in an immobilizer from mid calf to mid thigh which I have been in since then. I went back to the orthopedic last week (sept 27) who recommended an MRI which I got done (sept 29) and read today (oct 4). I can walk (slowly), but some days are better than others. On the bad days, I can’t hold my leg up out straight on my own and any weight sends pain through my knee. It feels like the pain shoots right under the knee by the top of the tibia, more under the kneecap than anything. On good days I can walk short distances, but I tend to limp/favor my left leg.
Ideas????