Patellofemoral pain syndrome is pain in the front of the knee. It frequently occurs in teenagers, manual laborers, and athletes. It sometimes is caused by wearing down, roughening, or softening of the cartilage under the kneecap.
What causes patellofemoral pain syndrome?
Patellofemoral pain syndrome may be caused by overuse, injury, excess weight, a kneecap that is not properly aligned (patellar tracking disorder), or changes under the kneecap.
What are the symptoms?
The main symptom of patellofemoral pain syndrome is knee pain, especially when sitting with bent knees, squatting, jumping, or using the stairs (especially going down stairs). You may also experience occasional knee buckling, in which the knee suddenly and unexpectedly gives way and does not support your body weight. A catching, popping, or grinding sensation when walking or with knee movement is also common.
He prescribed physical therapy twice a week for 4 weeks. So for 2 weeks I've been receiving ultra sound and doing the prescribed exercises there and at home. Been getting massage with essential oils to bring down swelling. My strength has improved some, but going up the stairs has actually gotten worse. My R knee is the one affected. I can no longer put my full weight on that knee or do my little R foot penguin walk. I take the stairs one at a time. Yes, like a little old lady, and a sad one at that.
Doc told me that if the exercises were too painful to do that I might need a cortisone shot to reduce the inflammation so I can do the exercises needed to strengthen my quads, especially my vastus medius olblique, which is the muscle that keeps the knee lined up.
I am not big into western medicine. I prefer the natural route whenever possible, don't want a foreign substance in my body. I had a talk with my PT and PTA about this. I've also discussed it with my Sports medicine doc. They all sympathized with where I was coming from, but said that I do need to get the muscle stronger to help my knee track right. My PT report card was done yesterday and sent to my docs office, so I figured I would probably need to make a decision today about getting a shot. Tony and I prayed about it, seeking wisdom and discernment this morning and he prayed again, on the way to the doctors office for my 10:30 AM visit.
Our agenda for the day, was to go to the doc, then stop by the health department to get a testing kit for our water, make a quick stop at the drug store and head home for a quick lunch. Rollin had a 2PM appointment at the local bike shop
for new tires, a chain cleaning, lube, rear deraileur cleaning, and hopefully an adjustment that will solve the problem of our gears slipping and the front chain coming off sometimes. Right now the chain problem is still being solved by having our chain tubes, zip tied together. A carry over from PALM 2012.
That was supposed to be addressed when we took the trike to WI for service and to have the chain jam issues resolved, but for some reason it didn't get done. We were on our way to ND to help get ready for my Dad's estate sale, so didn't have time to wait while they did it. At 3 PM Tony had his first physical therapy appointment for his shoulder issue. The plan was to drop the trike off and pick it up after PT. Our local shop doesn't have much room for our 10 ft. trike so the mechanic tries to make it a priority when we bring it in, which is why we make an appointment.
Sometimes a day just doesn't go as planned. Today disintegrated faster than wet toilet paper. Dr. appointment turned into a 2 hour visit. Doc wanted to do a cortisone shot in both knees. Says the L one is worse than the R, even though the R one hurts more. He said the shot would help rule out a meniscus tear in the R knee, which after my stairs, report, he is very concerned about. The shot should fix the knees, if i still have pain in the R one after the shot, He will schedule an MRI to check for a torn or ragged miniscus. This can cause the miniscus to get caught on the knee, putting it out of line. 2 shots and 2 hour later, we left the doctors office with a recommendation to start taking Glucosamine/Chrondroitin and headed to the Health Dept. to get the water testing kit. They were closed for lunch. It was now past 12:30 and Tony was hungry, so we headed to Burger King for a BK Veggie Burger.
After lunch, it was downtown to the drug store. After reading the $40.00 price,
I had to wait until my blood pressure and heart rate returned to normal, to actually read the label on the bottles and do some comparing and muscle testing to see what would best suit me. Thank the Lord there was a special sale, "buy one, get one free," which made me feel less violated as I wrote the check.
By the time we left town, it was close to 2PM. Called the bike shop to let them know we were running late.
Thankfully, we had Rollin loaded up in the trailer, so just had to hook up. For some reason the R turn signal light on the trailer is only working sporadically. I cleaned the connections with white vinegar, plugged in and headed off. By the time I got to the first turn, it stopped working again. Got on the freeway and realized I forgot the lube. No time to go back for it, Made it to safely to the bike shop without getting stopped, just had time to drop Rollin off an get Tony to his appointment on time. Got out of the car and with a sink in the mud feeling, I realized the keys to the cargo trailer were at home.
Rescheduled the trike for tomorrow. Will leave the trailer hooked to the car for the night. Hoping to stop by a friends house on the way in to have him look at the lights.
While Tony was in PT, I fiddled with them a bit and got them going, but after the first bump they stopped working. Must be a short somewhere. No time to take it to Merrill's. Tony had a massage client coming at 6PM, and I still had to make supper.
My instructions from the Doc were to take it easy for 48 hours, just do my regular household stuff, no exercise or biking. I forgot to ask him about doing steps. Tried to do them, got pain on my R Knee. I could have cried, in fact, later I did. Not from the physical pain, but at the mere thought of another possible surgery, more time laid up, off work and perhaps not being able to ride PALM in June.
I admit I'm really having a hard time responding to this and not reacting, or OVER reacting. Of not jumping to conclusions, before I know what is going on inside my knee. I failed. I got grumpy, I asked God why. Since the teacher is usually silent when he is giving a test, he didn't answer. I will admit this is a tough one for me to trust God on. I am soo ready to be physical again, to ride, work out and do normal things in life.
Then I went to the bible where I was reminded that God loves me and wants good things for me. Jeremiah 29:11
"I have good plans for you, not plans to hurt you. I will give you hope and a good future."
Matthew 6:27
"Can any of you by worrying, add a single hour to your life?"
Psalm 121:
"The Lord will guard you as you come and go, both now and forever."
Controlling, planning, worrying me, needs to let go of this, to realize it is in God's hands and it won't do me any good to sit here and spin my wheels on it. Yes, the teacher is silent when he is giving a test. It makes me very thankful that it is usually an open book test.
Next day:
Instead of doing a new blog on this update, I decided to just add onto this entry. Due to the headache and insomnia side effects from the cortisone shots, I didn't sleep very well last night. I spent some awake time praying about all of this business with my knee. Asking God not only for strength, but for wisdom, discernment and guidance in all of it too. When I last looked at the clock it was 3 AM, I was wide awake at 5 AM , spent more time in prayer for those God laid on my heart. At 6 AM, decided to get up. Headache was still lingering, but nothing like the roaring beast it was last night.
As I drank my morning coffee I turned on the computer and did a search on ways to solve miniscus problems without surgery and I found an amazing thing. A system that is used to treat athletes with miniscus issues, and avoid surgery. It is a wrap that is stretchy and fits around the knee. Right over the miniscus there is a place for a reuseable cold pack to be inserted. (it comes with 3.) The cold pack is designed to not damage the skin by freezing it or making it too cold. It really takes the pain away. There is also an insertable heat pack that can be turned to 3 different levels as healing progresses. The purpose of it is to bring blood circulation to the area. For anywhere from 3-7 days the athlete stays off the injured leg completely, using crutches and bearing, no weight on it. During this time, the leg is kept elevated and the hot packs and cold packs are alternated. By the end of time, the miniscus has had time to heal completely and within another week, the athlete is usually back to full activity. The kit is pricey. Tony told me to go ahead and order it, even though we doubt our insurance will reimburse us. The shot hasn't taken away the pain when I bend my knee and we want to be as proactive on this as we can. I will call my sports medicine doc, request an MRI ASAP, and discuss this all with him on Monday. The product has a money back guarantee, and neither of us want to me go down the surgery road again. It's one we want to avoid, if at all possible.
I did a search for non surgical solutions last night and came up with nothing. I shouldn't be amazed at what prayer and turning a problem over to God can do, I am full of praise to Him, for bringing this solution to my door step. I feel a strong sense of peace in all of this and really feel like God is in control.
If you are interested in more info here is a link. They also make a product for frozen shoulder and other soft tissue injuries. I do not profit in any way from sharing or promoting this information. I'm simply passing it along so you can educate yourself and make the decisions that seem right to you.
http://www.kingbrand.com/Knee-Injury-Torn-Meniscus.php?REF=Z.Meniscus.Torn.S
for new tires, a chain cleaning, lube, rear deraileur cleaning, and hopefully an adjustment that will solve the problem of our gears slipping and the front chain coming off sometimes. Right now the chain problem is still being solved by having our chain tubes, zip tied together. A carry over from PALM 2012.
Thankfully, we had Rollin loaded up in the trailer, so just had to hook up. For some reason the R turn signal light on the trailer is only working sporadically. I cleaned the connections with white vinegar, plugged in and headed off. By the time I got to the first turn, it stopped working again. Got on the freeway and realized I forgot the lube. No time to go back for it, Made it to safely to the bike shop without getting stopped, just had time to drop Rollin off an get Tony to his appointment on time. Got out of the car and with a sink in the mud feeling, I realized the keys to the cargo trailer were at home.
Rescheduled the trike for tomorrow. Will leave the trailer hooked to the car for the night. Hoping to stop by a friends house on the way in to have him look at the lights.
Matthew 6:27
"Can any of you by worrying, add a single hour to your life?"
Psalm 121:
"The Lord will guard you as you come and go, both now and forever."
Next day:
Instead of doing a new blog on this update, I decided to just add onto this entry. Due to the headache and insomnia side effects from the cortisone shots, I didn't sleep very well last night. I spent some awake time praying about all of this business with my knee. Asking God not only for strength, but for wisdom, discernment and guidance in all of it too. When I last looked at the clock it was 3 AM, I was wide awake at 5 AM , spent more time in prayer for those God laid on my heart. At 6 AM, decided to get up. Headache was still lingering, but nothing like the roaring beast it was last night.
As I drank my morning coffee I turned on the computer and did a search on ways to solve miniscus problems without surgery and I found an amazing thing. A system that is used to treat athletes with miniscus issues, and avoid surgery. It is a wrap that is stretchy and fits around the knee. Right over the miniscus there is a place for a reuseable cold pack to be inserted. (it comes with 3.) The cold pack is designed to not damage the skin by freezing it or making it too cold. It really takes the pain away. There is also an insertable heat pack that can be turned to 3 different levels as healing progresses. The purpose of it is to bring blood circulation to the area. For anywhere from 3-7 days the athlete stays off the injured leg completely, using crutches and bearing, no weight on it. During this time, the leg is kept elevated and the hot packs and cold packs are alternated. By the end of time, the miniscus has had time to heal completely and within another week, the athlete is usually back to full activity. The kit is pricey. Tony told me to go ahead and order it, even though we doubt our insurance will reimburse us. The shot hasn't taken away the pain when I bend my knee and we want to be as proactive on this as we can. I will call my sports medicine doc, request an MRI ASAP, and discuss this all with him on Monday. The product has a money back guarantee, and neither of us want to me go down the surgery road again. It's one we want to avoid, if at all possible.
I did a search for non surgical solutions last night and came up with nothing. I shouldn't be amazed at what prayer and turning a problem over to God can do, I am full of praise to Him, for bringing this solution to my door step. I feel a strong sense of peace in all of this and really feel like God is in control.
If you are interested in more info here is a link. They also make a product for frozen shoulder and other soft tissue injuries. I do not profit in any way from sharing or promoting this information. I'm simply passing it along so you can educate yourself and make the decisions that seem right to you.
http://www.kingbrand.com/Knee-Injury-Torn-Meniscus.php?REF=Z.Meniscus.Torn.S
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