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Knee/Shin problem

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gavin60852
gavin60852

Unsure if this is the best forum to post in ; if not please post me in the right direction.

Brief summary of what I am experiencing ; have had knee problems for 2~3 years, in the last 2 weeks I have started getting very bad pains in my shin (of the same leg as the bad knee), kind of comes in waves, to the right of the shin bone (not quite in the bone), and it only happens when I am lying down (so mostly at night). When I am walking, I am fine (although I might feel a twinge)

I'm Male, 30, 77kg at 178cm, in good shape/health overall. 

Background : 

I have had on/off knee pains for a while, maybe 2-3 years approx. I would describe this pain as a dull aching pain at the front of the knee cap, most often present when lying in bed at night or sitting down (not really affecting me when im in motion). It would be worse when I do squatting or lunging motions, extending the knee out. 

I was living in Mexico last year, and eventually had an MRI done, and was diagnosed with a partially torn ACL. It wasnt severe enough for surgery (so I was told), and a doctor did a PRP (platelet rich plasta) injection. This actually seemed to solve my problem, and my knee pain went away for a period of time. 

This year, I am back living in Ireland. I had been away from exercise for 3-4 months due to having a Corneal Transplant. About 1 month after returning to the gym, my knee pain came back. I decided to go see a Surgeon here. I had an MRI done. I showed him the previous MRI also. He disagrees with the previous diagnosis, and says my ACL is fine, and the new/current MRI says that there is absolutely nothing wrong with my knee. He is not sure what is causing my knee pain. I am inclined to trust this Doctor and Diagnosis more than my doctor in Mexico. He decided to do a steroid injection for the pain, as an attempt to figure out if the pain was actually in the knee or not..eg if the pain goes away, we know its in the knee, if doesnt, then we can assume/presume its some form of referred pain and proceed as such . I had this injection 1.5 weeks ago and it hasnt helped much. 

Around the time I went to see him first (~2.5 weeks ago) I started to get bad pains in my shin (same leg) at night. Note, this started before the steroid injection (but not long before) so I dont think its a reaction to it. This is much much worse than my knee pain. It comes in waves and prevents me from being able to get to sleep. It is not really present/noticeable when I am not lying down. It is slightly to the right of the shin bone (on my right leg). I dont think its the bone, it feels more like its in the muscle, although I cant be sure. My leg doesnt look different at all. no redness, swelling, anything like that. It doesnt feel sore to the touch at all (even when the pain is coming in waves, its not sore to the touch, its just pain "beneath the skin" I guess. 

Other possible relevant information is I am on a low dose of steroids (prednisolone 5mg) for a corneal transplant I had 5 months ago, and also steroid eye drops. 

So yeah, thats where I am at now. I am now much more concerned with the shin problem than the knee problem, but I assume they are connected?

Looking for advice on what the cause could be here and what treatment options to pursue. I will see the orthopedic Surgeon again on Monday and see what he suggests. 

Thanks for any advice.

 

0 likes, 4 replies

4 Replies

  • Oldfatguy1
    Oldfatguy1 gavin60852

    Posted

    Strange that the injection in Mexico helped and it was for ACL damage. Makes you almost have to believe that Dr is correct although I'm not one to trust Mexican medicine as I've seen too many $$$ wasted on that stuff (nearly broke a friend of mine on phoney cancer meds. His wife had been considered terminal and he tried his best to save her and.....she indeed as terminal). I guess asking for a second opinion by an orthopaedic surgeon would be an option.

  • gavin60852
    gavin60852

    Posted

    Yeah, I cant iamgine the new MRI / Doctor are wrong though ; its a good private hospitalk in a 1st world country, and the Surgeon agreed with the raidologists report which says the Knee is fine. 
    • Oldfatguy1
      Oldfatguy1 gavin60852

      Posted

      Hard to beglievevits fine with that sort of pain. You almost have to think torn/pinched or combination. Some of these things at almost impossible till the right pair of eyes hit it. I have a rare tumor....my ortho group is comprised of 8 surgeons with well over 100 years experience.......none had ever seen one before. Finally had an ortho oncologist at a teaching med center diagnose it. That was after it bled profusely and I had 30 rounds of radiation needlessly burn up my knee and finally had a tkr.......that after 5 surgeries plus the radiation. Again....finding The right eyes.
  • Waffalobill
    Waffalobill gavin60852

    Posted

    If something is torn tho , it may be pinching a nerve or something. Giving that sensation. I had torn cartiladge. Took 7 months of fighting insurance company to get surgery. By then i had alot more damage and pieces floating around getting stuck. Locking up the joint and bleeding inside. Gave me wierd sensations in my leg after being on my feet at work all night. When i laid down the muscle ached, throbbed. Hard to described. Almost like it was being squeezed or crushed. Pain meds did nothing for it either. To me it was more like a circulation problem ? Like i said, hard to describe.
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