knee swelling - wtf?
 

Was on vacation last week in Hawaii. Didn't injure myself (that I remember), and flew home Saturday night. Sunday rode the motorcycle a bit but again, didn't do anything odd (no near dumps, twists, etc). Monday I go into my new office and late morning notice that my left knee (the one that got ground up in the coyote incident 4 years ago) feels stiff - like someone put some concrete in there. Not much evident swelling though. I went to tai chi class, being gingerly with it and it was a low impact night. Got home and it felt a little better (mmm, chi). Woke up Tuesday, stuff again, looks a little swollen. Walked/limped around work, went to rehearsal. A little uncomfortable but not much pain when standing. Just can't flex the knee that much. Today more discomfort and tonight it is obvious that it is pretty damn swollen - encircling the patella, hot to the touch. Been icing it off and on, but what is driving me nuts is wtf happened? If I had fallen or twisted it or *something* I could see this. But just walked around. And I've taken it easy the last two days but the swelling is getting worse and the joint is stiffer.

Only the left knee - no place else. I figure it isn't a drug interaction (am on flonase for sinusitis), but rather seems like a joint injury. Or maybe an arthritis attack? I thought about a bug bite but I don't see anything. Have a 6 hour meeting tomorrow but will duck out to see my chiro and get a referral to my ortho (or just go straight to him). But wtf...

Internal Floating free body?

My wife, who suffers from arthritis from time to time, says it could be arthritis, but doesn't know for sure. Any weather (barometric) changes in your area, Todd?

"hot to the touch"
Any possibility of infection?
Jim

+1 on: is it hot to the touch (though I am not one who wants to touch your knee ;-)

When I had floating bodies (bits of cartilage) and roughed up innerds in my knee for 20 odd years it would do the same thing after multiple airplane trips, stair climbing, exercise, etc. It would swell and hurt for a few days and then go down with icing. Your results might vary.

That would likely cause it to catch or stick in certain positions.

Todd, you f'ed up your knee on the scoot, may be crap floating around in there, may be secondary to the damage done at time of injury. Swelling usually indicates some sort of internal derangement/intra-articular problem. Septic joint/infection is not likely.

Go see your orthopod, they may tap the joint to see what the fluid looks like, what I would do in that position. Drain joint to relieve pressure, assess fluid, etc.

did at any time, did you find a large spider on your chest while sleeping? right next to your hawaiian trinket hanging around your neck?

my money..stung by something. jellyfish..brushed it on some coral? i would get it checked out,,knees that bend are really convienent.

Lyme Disease?

thanks for the ideas. Am calling ortho to try and get in. The "heat" is down but it still is swollen with a bunch of fluid so something isn't right.

Come to think of it, I think I took a tiki after I banged Marcia. It's ok to sleep with your step-sister, right?

Have had this a couple of times. Like the doc says, go to the doc and get it drained. Usually things will be fine after that.

It depends...how does she look?

Does she look anything like this?


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1278007772.jpg

it's always Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!

http://tvphotogalleries.com/data/557...y_00000138.jpg

Seeing ortho tomorrow afternoon. Should be fun.

Long term unintended consequences of riding a Motercycial...

Make him blow a small weal of local where ever he is going to tap joint. Will only take a second, and the big ass needle you use to drain fluid is no fun if you can feel it. I am fundamentally opposed to unnecessary pain.

If nothing is found with the knee tap, DVT?

It is localized to the knee joint, kind of encircling the patella. And the joint is stiff - doesn't want to bend a lot. No problem with ankle, foot, etc. Seems like DVT would be spread beyond just the knee. Will hopefully have an answer tomorrow at the end of the day.

You have had surgery in this knee before? Sounds like it was caused by the lower atmospheric pressure on the plane.

I have to ask. Did you do any diving while you were in hawaii?

no surgery...well, other than what the concrete from the freeway did.

Only snorkeling in Hawaii - didn't go more than about 8' deep. I flew back on Saturday. Didn't get the stiffness until Monday and noticeable swelling on Tuesday (with it really obvious yesterday).

Wow - I cant believe it's been four years!!!