Plica knee problems?

[beerandpizza]

Anyone have this same kinda problem with their knees? My ortho dr's best guess is plica syndrome, but can't be 100% sure without doing arthroscopic surgery, and we both agreed this isn't the way to go just yet....

My symptoms are: my left knee gets swollen and painful, especially going downhills, stays swollen and tender for days to weeks, ibuprofen helps. The pain is located to the lower left of my kneecap and along the left side of the left knee. My hiking poles really help. I do take a glucosamine supplement too.

I've tried different kinds of braces, but haven't found one during any past hike that has significantly helped. I'd like to start my thru with a brace to try to help keep my knee as good as possible before I damage it. I've read other posts on here about knee problems, but it seems like other people have other knee problems that require other treatments. Anyone have any brace suggestions?

thanks for the help!!
Mrs. Beerandpizza

[beerandpizza]

c'mon...what kinda knee braces u wearin'?

[John Klein]

Cho-Pat double strap. Not a brace but it puts gentle pressure on the quad and patella tendons which helps the kneecap track properly.

[Footslogger]

Anyone have this same kinda problem with their knees? My ortho dr's best guess is plica syndrome, but can't be 100% sure without doing arthroscopic surgery, and we both agreed this isn't the way to go just yet....

My symptoms are: my left knee gets swollen and painful, especially going downhills, stays swollen and tender for days to weeks, ibuprofen helps. The pain is located to the lower left of my kneecap and along the left side of the left knee. My hiking poles really help. I do take a glucosamine supplement too.

I've tried different kinds of braces, but haven't found one during any past hike that has significantly helped. I'd like to start my thru with a brace to try to help keep my knee as good as possible before I damage it. I've read other posts on here about knee problems, but it seems like other people have other knee problems that require other treatments. Anyone have any brace suggestions?

thanks for the help!!
Mrs. Beerandpizza

==============================================

Have you had an MRI ??? Reason I ask is that I work at an orthopedic/sports med clinic and do all the MRI's. We see plicas on about 25% of the patients. Some are related to their injury/symptoms and some are totally asymptomatic.

Plicas don't go away on their own but for sure, a good MRI is the best way to confirm the presesce and extent of the plica and also to determine whether surgery is indicated to remove the plica fold.

'Slogger

[Tinker]

Sounds like what I had when I got back from hiking the Georgia section in 2006. The synovial sac underneath my patella became extremely swollen and painful. I had it drained twice. The term "Plica" was never mentioned by the doctor who drained the fluid off, and after the second draining, the synovial sac returned to its usual size and the pain disappeared. I was given some 500mg Ibuprofin tablets, and that helped quite a bit, too.

[beerandpizza]

==============================================

Have you had an MRI ??? Reason I ask is that I work at an orthopedic/sports med clinic and do all the MRI's. We see plicas on about 25% of the patients. Some are related to their injury/symptoms and some are totally asymptomatic.

Plicas don't go away on their own but for sure, a good MRI is the best way to confirm the presesce and extent of the plica and also to determine whether surgery is indicated to remove the plica fold.

'Slogger


Thanks for the replies!

I haven't had an MRI yet...honestly, because I'm not working right now and insurance doesn't cover alot of it...it's pretty expensive. ;)

My doctor did say we could do an MRI, and that it may or may not show the plica. He also mentioned arthroscopic exploratory surgery, but recomended against this unless everything else failed. I've had this problem since I was about 3 or 4 years old and I'm 32 now.

If I can afford the MRI I will definitely do it because I know that's the best place to start, otherwise I will try to manage it with ibuprofen and possibly a brace just for added stability.

Thanks for the help!!!
Mrs. Beerandpizza :)

[Footslogger]

Thanks for the replies!

I haven't had an MRI yet...honestly, because I'm not working right now and insurance doesn't cover alot of it...it's pretty expensive. ;)

My doctor did say we could do an MRI, and that it may or may not show the plica. He also mentioned arthroscopic exploratory surgery, but recomended against this unless everything else failed. I've had this problem since I was about 3 or 4 years old and I'm 32 now.

If I can afford the MRI I will definitely do it because I know that's the best place to start, otherwise I will try to manage it with ibuprofen and possibly a brace just for added stability.

Thanks for the help!!!
Mrs. Beerandpizza :)
=================================

I am generally pretty slow to give advice ...but I will suggest to you that you NOT have "exploratory" arthroscopy. If you can hang in there, wait until you can afford the MRI and then and only then (if indicated) have the arthroscopic surgery.

'Slogger

[beerandpizza]

=================================

I am generally pretty slow to give advice ...but I will suggest to you that you NOT have "exploratory" arthroscopy. If you can hang in there, wait until you can afford the MRI and then and only then (if indicated) have the arthroscopic surgery.

'Slogger


I definitely agree not to do the "exploratory" surgery! ;) That is an absolute last resort for me. Hopefully, I'll be able to do the MRI at some point, and then like you said, only go thru with the surgery if I absolutely HAVE to.
Thanks!
Mrs. Beerandpizza
:)