i'm just trying to decide if I should go. who wants the copay, script costs, etc, but I do value my health & i'll figure out a way, but this ALWAYS plays a role if I go or not....
ANYWAY!...sorry. pain started on Saturday, swelling started yesterday, today it's more swollen, not quite as painful. I didn't fall, injure it, or anything. this happened out of nowhere. gradually from Saturday to sun. For my job I visit people in their homes and i'm in and out of the car all day, not much office work in this job. so, i'm unable to elevate it at all until about 9p at night. it did relieve some of the swelling when I did it last night. I researched & saw I should use RICE, okay, but can't do that til late.
do you think it's worth a trip to the doctor? sorry to keep asking y'all medical stuff, but geez, just wanted a few thoughts.
thanks again!
okay, so much to my surprise, it's arthritis! i'm still in shock, geez. :)
anyway, i just didn't expect to have it at this age, i'm not exactly young, 34, but dang! lol
so she told me to wrap it, gave me ibuprofen, much like most of y'all said. either way, glad i went and got an answer. thanks again for all your help!!!
Yes, because I know people who have had torn ligaments or cracked kneecaps and messed themselves up even worse by ignoring it.
I guess it depends on how much pain you are willing to put up with in the meantime and your pain tolerance.
My ankle had been bothering me for months and the ortho could find nothing wrong. They would have me wear the boot a couple weeks and it would get better and then slowly it would start up again.
After seeing another Dr. and getting xrays and MRI, they found a lesion on my bone that acted like a pothole and kept wearing away. Painful.
Cortisone shots are just a band aid and they do not fix the problem, plus they are not good for you. I did not want a quick fix... I wanted it fixed.
I opted for a procedure that is not FDA approved or insurance approved but many pro athletes do it. It is called PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma). Basically they took my blood, added a growth hormone to it and injected it into my ankle. This was time consuming because you can't move the joint for a week. You do a lot of home care with the joint.
Bottom line... if you want details just ask. My procedure was done on Aug 6. Here it is in early Dec and I have no pain, I am exercising with no pain. The PRP shocks your stem cells to come in and repair and basically, it regrows the tissue. They are doing this for back, neck and knees as well. My Dr is one of the few in the area who does this. BTW, I will be on Channel 8 Good Morning Texas with him in the next couple of months to explain it.
I paid $1600 out of pocket for the procedure. My portion of the MRI would have been $1250. however, I jokingly said, wow I wish you had a cash price. They did... $400. The other alternative which was surgery would have been around $25 to $30,000. Go figure... spend $2000 or have major surgery?? It was worth the chance to me.
You need to take care of yourself and figure out what is going on in your joint. Personally, I want to keep walking until my old age so I am willing to fix the issue.
Chillin'
You have to walk, right? I would go to my PCP and see what's up.
Swelling means there is a problem. Might be an infection, etc.
Go. I'd like to keep my legs!!!
If I could walk on it without tremendous pain, only discomfort, I wouldn't go to the doc. But us guys never go.........
Yes, go to the doctor If Iit doesn't clear up in a few days. This could be something serious. It could be something going on with just your knee or it could be something systemic and serious.
Go now if you have a fever and feel sick.
Well, a couple of weeks ago, I tripped over a tomato cage in the back yard.... it happened on Saturday, and there was immediate, BIG pain...
I don't normally bruise, but a huge (4" oval) bruise immediately popped up on my right calf... but my left foot was the most painful.... bad enough that I had a very hard time getting back in the house.
Yeah, I dithered about going to the doctor.... used ice, elevation, wrapped it, etc.... (all the time, I really thought I might have fractured one of the bones in my left foot).... Sunday, I considered going to an urgent care facility but didn't want to pay the big fees... we don't have co-pays, and pretty much have to pay the first $2400....
Went in on Monday, (had to take time off work), and no, the foot wasn't fractured, but I ended up with cellulitis (infection) from that stupid tomato cage poking me in the foot! (I hadn't even thought about the possibility of infection.... there was a tiny sore that didn't even bleed.)
The doctor charged me $206 for working me in that day... "Emergency Medical Services" .... probably what it would have cost if I had gone to the urgent care on Sunday.
Glad to hear you are going to the doctor... let us know what happened!
For me I managed swelling with anti-inflammatory medication, ice,
and by wearing a brace, but I have diagnosed Arthritis. If you don't normally have knee issues and did not have an injury you know of, then I would go in.
Same type of thing happened to me. I went to my doctor on day 2 of swelling because I thought knee swelling without injury warranted a trip to the doctor. My doctor immediately sent me for an MRI ($250). Turns out I have "severe" arthritis although I only have mild discomfort walking up and down stairs. I was shocked. The swelling was caused by a tiny piece of cartliage that broke off and was floating around in my knee. I ended up getting 2 cortisone shots and was in physical therapy for months. The swelling in my knee caused my quadriceps muscle to shut down.
This also gave me a reason to loose the extra 15 lbs of weight I had been carrying around.
Good luck!!!
I have knee issues, and when mine acts up, I wear an elastic support brace or wrap it with an ace bandage during the day, elevate and ice it when I can, use aspirin for pain and inflammation control. I won't go to the doctor with it unless it gets so bad I can't walk, and it never does get that bad. .
This happened to me a month ago. Out of the blue, my knee started hurting one day. It also looked a bit swollen. It would bother me a lot going up and down stairs. I wanted to wait it out since we have a high deductible PPO and I didn't want to pay to see an ortho and have an MRI etc.. I waited it out, and it started feeling better after a couple of weeks. The swelling went away as well. I am very conscience of it and try to be careful going up and down stairs so I don't aggravate it again.
In the absence of an obvious cause, I would go. My two teenagers have had swollen knees but they came from hits in kick boxing and hockey so we knew why they were swollen. For both, the pain and swelling subsided in a day with RICE. Given that you don't know what is causing the pain and swelling, I'd get it checked out.
if it's red/feverish, I'd head on to the doctor.... in the absence of that, I'd take 800mg of ibuprofen every 6 to 8 hours(eat something first) for a few days and rest it as you are able, ice and elevate it when possible. if the swelling becomes extreme, you prob need to be seen. but, that's what I would do - good luck!
I'd see how it goes today. If it feels the same or worse tomorrow, then get it checked out. I hurt my knee (no reason at all) of course the day before vacation. It got worse on the plane - the pain was so bad. So I went to an orthopedic surgeon to get a shot of cortisone. He said it would last a week and then the pain would come back - said it might be arthritis. I guess maybe I twisted it or something and didn't realize it cause it never came back. The shot was AMAZING!!! Worked so well I went from dire pain to shopping the outlets 2 days later.
