Result from Doctor's Visit (Read 751 times)

Background I've been having knee pains since the beginning of December. My patella in both knees have been hurting and the outside of left knee. The latter being the pain that has disrupted my running the most. I've been weraing various knee straps so that I can get through my runs, but even then, I'm unable to run much further than 5 miles or so before I have to stop. Earlier this week, after having to abandon my 10-mile run after 6 miles. I decided to make an appt to see a Sports Medicine doctor Diagnosis I saw the doctor this morning and they took some x-rays. It turns out that neither of my knee caps are tracking properly. They are both off-center and my left knee is worse than my right knee. The doctor said I have "Patellafemoral Syndrome". From what I can tell, this is simply "Runner's Knee" He did a test to see if the pain on the outside of my left knee was my IT band, but the test was negative. He had me stand on one leg (my left leg) and bend a bit. If it was my IT band, I should have felt some pain, but I didn't. He prescribed an anti-inflamatory drug, Etodolac, which I'm to take twice a day and he wants me to ice my knees after running. He wants me to do 2-4 weeks of physical therapy. He said the physical therapist can figure out the cause of the pain on the outside of my left knee. I'm glad I had the x-rays taken so I can see the knee cap problem, but other than that, I don't know what to think. I don't know if I'm going to follow through with the physical therapy. My neighbor is a physical therapist so I'm going to get her thoughts on it. Some things I'm grateful for are: * He said I can continue to run for now, but just shorter distances in the 4-5 mile range so I guess I wouldn't be doing any 10-mile or longer runs for a few weeks. He said once I'm taking the Etodolac, then I shouldn't get any pain * I don't seem to have an IT band problem (at least for now) There seem to be so many treatments for runner's knee and my doctor's visit didn't seem to help me isolate the solution....unless just physical therapy IS the solution?

As I see it, Etodolac is a short term solution. It'll make you feel better by reducing inflammation. It does not necessary correct the underlying cause such that your knees won't hurt again. To fix the problem, you'll need physical therapy. They'll prescribe a set of exercises designed to strength the support around your knees so things will work better. Also, you should definitely take it easy until you get the ok from your physical therapist. Since you're on Etodolac, you won't feel the pain, but that doesn't mean it isn't there. Good luck! You'll be good as new soon.

I'm personally not a fan of PT - While I think it could alleviate the pain for a while, if your knees aren't tracking properly, the problem is likely to return. I'd meet with a podiatrist to determine if alignment could be restored through orthotics.... Unlike a fix via PT, if the problem can be corrected with orthotics, it's generally a fast fix and a permanent fix. But a good podiatrist can tell you - just by looking at your feet and how your knees track - if orthotics are likely to help. And personally - it worked for me. I'd gotten a long rehab schedule from a PT and my coach asked me to please see a podiatrist before I signed on with the PT. I had orthotics in 2 weeks and was running pain-free within two weeks after that.

Good luck with it!! I hope it helps.