Just Call Me The Gimp

Ouch. The clicking knee is now the killing-me-knee, with sharp stabs of pain as I ascend stairs or pivot on the right knee. I finally gave in and brow-beat my doctor's office into making an appointment this morning to have someone look at it. It took almost an hour to drive there from work, then another bunch of time to drive back to work, but it was worth the trip.

The good news is that nothing's cracked, torn or broken. The leg bends and does not respond to pressure directly on the knee with any kind of pain. There's no trauma and no overt signs of arthritic damage. The knee does not lock and does not buckle.

The bad news is that the patela (did I spell that right), is slightly out of sync with the cartilage-lined groove it moves over to create the joint at the knee. I guess the groove is a bit worn and the entire knee-joint mechanism is slightly mis-aligned. But - hey, not to worry. Just a part of getting older. The cartilage is wearing down a bit, too.

Evidently the clicking is okay, as well. Part of the whole process and symptomatic of the mis-alignment, I guess. The doctor didn't see a need to refer me to an orthopedist at this stage of the game, but would want to do so if the condition didn't improve itself in 2 - 3 weeks. In the meantime I'm to avoid stairs, cut back on the amount I walk, do some leg lifting exercises to strengthen the quadricep muscles, ice the knee and generally take it easy. It should heal. Perhaps not to where it was before, but back to normal activity.

I did come away with an elastic leg brace and that's made some difference. I'll sleep with it tonight and see if it relieves any pain. The knee was a mess last night. Every time I moved position or rolled over I got sharp shooting pains. Not fun.

So, here I am taking elevators and doing a one-leg stair climb when I get home. It's inconvenient, but could certainly have been worse. My friend Rosie had  to get a cortisone shot in her knee when it buckled on her. Other people have had worse experiences. This is just an ailment of age. No way around it.

I'll see if I can get the hubby to do some stair runs for me, to save pain between the first and second floors. Otherwise, I'll follow doctor's orders and rest up. I hope that helps!