raeanna74

A couple weeks ago I was crawling on the floor, picking up the kids toys in the livingroom. I do this often and don't have any problem. This time I leaned forward with my weight on one knee and the opposite hand to reach for a toy in front of me. My knee (left one) made a snap/crackle/pop sort of sound/feeling. It was similar to kneeling on bubble wrap or even rice crispies. It wasn't painful while it was making the sound but then afterwards it felt like it gave out on me. I couldn't lean on it at all and my knee sort of froze in place. I rolled to me side and sat up just letting the leg rest and not trying to bend it or stretch it. After a bit it let up and I was able to go back to my normal activity albeit while favoring the knee because it was a bit sore.

Since then it has done a lot of crackling and popping during even just normal walking. At the end of the day it sometimes appears just slightly swollen. It's shown me a lot of things that I could be concerned about but nothing too painful or swollen to make me head for the Dr's ASAP. The swelling has been mostly minor. It has not been too painful to walk on or even stress much. There have been a couple times since when it's given out on me again like that. Last night while biking was one of the instances where it gave out. I could not continue pedalling up the hill and had to get off and walk up the top half of the hill. It was tender to walk on but mostly eased up and I got back on to pedal a bit farther and then home once again. For the last couple blocks on the way home last night I had both knees popping on the downstroke pedaling. I actually rested a while last night with them elevated and used Icy Hot on them because they were sore. This morning I woke up and they were extremely stiff and sore. They were a little swollen. My mom suggested I wrap them with moist hot towls and elevate them for a while, which I did and it helped for a while. They are sore once again. I've been taking Ibuprophen quite a bit when they get their worst mostly in the evenings.

Could this be something I should see the Dr for? How long can I wait and how serious do I let this get? I don't want to go in if I just bruised the knee sortof or they're just being aggravated by my seasonal allergies as my mom suggests. I also don't enjoy this irritation and don't want to let things go to far in case the inflammation or something else would cause damage. The popping isn't like my knuckles or back when I pop them. It's more of a crunching, crackling sound. It doesn't hurt when they pop either but post-pop they kindof stiffen up and get sore more gradually. Any thoughts or suggestions?

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"Always learn the rules so that you can break them properly." Dalai Lama
My Karma just ran over your Dogma.

pocon1

Go see a doctor. It sounds almost like a medial meniscus tear. The medial meniscus is the pad of cartilage between the femur and the tibia. The meniscus also acts with the medial collateral ligament and the anterior cruciate ligament to prevent inward rotation of the knee. The twisting and kneeling pressure may have been enough to tear it. The crunchy noise during movement is because the tear is grinding on the bone. Also, it is not as stable because some of the support is missing. It is swollen at the end of the day because it is being stressed. The problem is, there is very little recovery on its own.
If you have a tear, be prepared for surgery.

Poloboy

I agree. The swelling is definitely from overuse, and since you sound like an active person, you probably shouldn't delay addressing the problem, because it likely won't go away unless you adopt a very inactive lifestyle (NOT recommended). I think you should go to a doctor.

However, if the doctor tells you that physiotherapy could restore your knees, and that surgery is only an option, I would hold off on surgery until absolutely necessary. An artificial joint is never as functional as a natural one, and in the long run the artificial joint can still be quite painful and limiting. I'm not saying refuse surgery altogether, I'm just saying that if it's recommended, try to hold off until they think it is absolutely necessary.

SCrubjay

Sounds like cartilage damage.

As pocorn1 stated, see a doc. Because the cartilage is a tissue, the tear will not show up in an xray, but if there is chronic wear, it can be detected by the placement of the bones relative to each other (too close together indicatng lost tissue). Only way to tell for sure is through an MRI. Because there is next to no blood supply to the miniscus, the tissue doesn't heal as other cartilage will. In the interim remember to apply RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation). With the current techniques in arthroscopy, you'll be walking the day after surgery.

I don't know where you are, but check with athletic trainers at your local university, they may have good referral to the best "knee doc" in your area (not all orthopedics have the same experise in all joints.)

Good Luck

raeanna74

Thanks ya'll. I had looked up the symptoms at WebMD and came up with some of the same stuff about the cartilage. I didn't like the looks of things and didn't want to overreact either. From what you say though I guess maybe they were right. What I don't understand is why my knee gives out on me. If it is the cartilage then why would the muscles sortof just let go temporarily?

We don't have a college or university in town but I live right near our local clinic. I think I may get in touch with my Dr and then if she agrees I can get a referral through her to an orthopedic surgeon.

My Dad has had torn cartilage in his knee which eventually caused a bone spur that gave him much pain. He let it go so long that even with arthroscopic surgery it took him a while to get back to walking good on it. I know I won't let it go long since I know what leaving it go can do. Also I could check with him about what Dr he worked with since he has been with a couple of them for his knees I think.

__________________
"Always learn the rules so that you can break them properly." Dalai Lama
My Karma just ran over your Dogma.