A very short post today.
I got this comment:
Richard, and others here: I am curious what you think about pro treatments. I am grade 4 chondromalacia patella in left knee and grade 3/4 in right knee since a car accident 15 months ago. According to x-rays the fracture in the left knee has finally healed but my pain has not decreased dramatically. I am constantly taking off from my teaching job and have had 4 doctors and 2 physical therapists and am still like this. The prp is not covered by insurance. I had one treatment 2 mos ago and it may have helped the fracture heal the rest of the way but I'm still suffering immensely.
First, to be clear: I know very little about prolotherapy, or platelet-rich plasma therapy (I understand that they are somewhat different). Doug Kelsey, whom I have great respect for, has written about PRP here.
So what I think of prolotherapy, or platelet-rich plasma injections, is probably not that valuable.
But a lot of people with knee pain are regular (or semi-regular, or occasional) visitors to this blog. Anyone out there have an experience with prolotheraphy they want to share? I'd be very interested to learn whether it's been helpful, and what the pluses and minuses are.
Hi there, I am so sorry to read of the pain you are experiencing. I don’t have a prolotherapy story to tell but I was hoping to get your thoughts on my own situation Richard. I have just stumbled across your blog and I can’t tell you the comfort it gives to know I am not alone in the onslaught of trying to find answers for my knee problem! Through reading everything on the blog I have a better understanding and finding your book has given me some hope.
ReplyDeleteI am a 28 year old female, very active, but unfortunately twisted my knee 3 years ago getting ready to take off for a run on wet grass. The sharp pain was horrendous, as my leg twisted my knee tensed and it felt like I had torn everything in there. I carried on stupidly as I was in a bootcamp and embarrassed to highlight myself as injured!! Hindsight has been something I struggle with daily ‘if only I’d have got an MRI earlier, if only I’d have rested it longer, inwardly cringing at the lack of care I have given it over the last 3 years. But as a 25 year old healthy girl at the time I assumed it would fix itself and carried on about my life ignoring the niggle up the stairs and when hiking (and certainly the day after a few drinks and dancing) I initially went to a doctor who told me I had patellafemoral pain syndrome and to get back in the gym.
I never had pain squatting or lunging with weights, it was only the act of load bearing with my knee over my foot where I got the sharp pain. Similarly to a few previous comments I have read on your blog, the pain when I work out seemed to disappear and even after prolonged weights I found improvements in my knee and could run up the stairs no problem! Well I think all of this was not allowing it to heal properly as the pain always came back when I didn’t work out for some time. I think the strength on the other areas were maybe masking the knee problem short term, who knows! But I certainly didn’t do it any favours getting back lifting weights. Pain started to feel a little more prominent this past year, I think there’s a mental side, with lockdowns and covid I have become hyper sensitive and aware to my knee, before I had way too much going on to focus too much time and attention and mine has never been a crippling pain, just an annoyance. But then again I am getting older. I can walk totally fine, wouldn’t run as it couldn’t handle that and I’ve never been a runner anyway. Hiking is my passion and something I haven’t been able to give up. But this causes me a lot of pain the next day snd is hard on the joint coming down (I feel the pain and always end up limping to try and preserve)
All of this led me to pay for an MRI to see what was going on.
ReplyDeleteIt showed I have a ‘punched out lesion within the cartilage of the patella in a central position. There is thinning of the trochlear cartilage in association with this. No reactionary oedema but evidence of a dominant lateral trochlear facet which is slightly dysplastic. Grade 3 chondromalacia’ Unsure what all of this means apart from the chondromalacia!
The specialist said I could require arthroplasty in the distant future but I should focus on swimming and cycling to manage it and avoid impact activities. He said there is no way to treat it and it will continue to get worse with age. Sure enough I left feeling very upset, hopeless and frustrated. Fearful that the first diagnoses which had me back in the gym heavy lifting, has caused it to deteriorate had me filled with anxiety and constant questioning of how I ended up here. But I have since decided everything I did probably saved me from getting surgery and ending up worse off, had I have got it checked straight away I quite possibly would have had a meniscus tear which I know can lead to surgery and I have read that isn’t great. There has been 2 times (in my early 20s) where I have smacked that knee cap very intensely and walked away Scott free - I think this contributed to the lesion
My strength PT said we should be still focussing on strengthening quads, glutes, calves core and hips etc but He has me still load bearing with some weight which I don’t feel is the best option for healing after reading through the blog! Would you agree? I have a lot of range of motion and don’t get any pain walking but when bent with pressure I’m getting the sharp pain. I have only just recently the past 2 weeks started to feel a burning sensation in that knee after movement. Is this a worrying sign that it is getting worse?
Desperate to find a way to combat the pain and make sure I am not doing further damage. I am due to go travelling to Canada (I’m from the UK) in a matter of months, a trip I have planned for a long time when my knee wasn’t causing me these problems) to do a lot of hiking which is so important to the trip. I don’t want to miss out on life because of this, but also do you think I could progress my grade 3 into grade 4 if I hike? If it means preserving my knee I absolutely will limit it but I still would love to do some.
I am going to purchase your book as well as Doug Kelsey. If anyone could offer advice it would be greatly appreciated, I have read through previous posts and you have a great community here. The magic question I suppose is, do you think it is possible to turn grade 3 chondromalacia around and live pain free!? I have an unbelievably healthy lifestyle, my passion is fruits and veg and I am 5ft8 and 51kg so I have this in my favour!
I am sorry this is so long! Hard to simplify!
ReplyDeleteI am seeing this as the start of my journey and a challenge I am determined to overcome. Some tips and words of encouragement would go a long way right now as I sit here frazzled after spending the last 6 hours on my phone reading through every post!!
Thank you so much, Tara
Hello Tara! I just found your post after clicking on a link from Richard's re-post: https://savingmyknees.blogspot.com/2021/05/a-bad-knee-pessimistic-doctor-and.html
DeleteI wrote some supportive comments over on that post sharing a bit of my own journey and that I had horrible debilitating knee pain in my right knee for years and years and many ups and setbacks, but now I'm doing really well and I'm able to hike and dance and even go backpacking without pain in that knee.
to read the rest of my comments, please click over to Richard's post https://savingmyknees.blogspot.com/2021/05/a-bad-knee-pessimistic-doctor-and.html and then scroll down to the comments.
I feel that there are a few of us "success stories" on this blog and i hope that can encourage you.
Just to update ... my son feels he has less pain after prolotherapy
DeleteUpward Bound 1978?
ReplyDeleteYes, hi Juanita!
DeleteI have tried the PRP, but not the prolotherapy. The PRP has definitely helped me some.
ReplyDeleteI have a similar story.
ReplyDeleteMy son is currently in Florida receiving Prolotherapy, from Caring Medical in Fort Meyers Florida. He got his first injection, two days ago. I will let you know how he is progressing.