6.14.2006

What's up, doc?

I love my doctor. Not love as in marry ('cause if I married him, he couldn't be my doc anymore!), but love as in he-does-a-great-job-and-his-manner-suits-me.
He greeted me as one would a friend and I filled him on the status of previous issues before explaining the knee. He did some tests that surprisingly hurt very little. The diagnosis? I have injured my cartilage. That's generally a bad thing, as torn cartilage usually requires surgery. The good news is that I'm healing well already, so it's probably a very small tear that won't require surgery. Here are a few relevant points I found on a Knee Injury site:

"Meniscus cartilage does not heal very well once it is torn. This is mainly because it does not have a good blood supply. The outer edge of each meniscus has some blood vessels, but the area in the center has no direct blood supply (it is 'avascular'). So, some small outer tears may heal in time, but larger tears, or a tear in the middle of a meniscus, tend not to heal. "

BUT, read on...

"Non-operative treatment: Small tears may heal by themselves in time. Some tears which do not heal do not cause long-term symptoms once the initial pain and swelling subside, or cause only intermittent or mild symptoms. In these cases surgery may not be needed. You may be advised to have physiotherapy to strengthen the supporting structures of the knee such as the quadriceps and hamstring muscles. "

I have many friends to thank for the good advice about how to treat it. The site had this to say:

"When you first injury your knee the initial treatment should follow the RICE formula: rest, ice, compression (with a bandage) and elevation. This, combined with painkillers, helps to settle the initial pain and swelling. Further treatment may then depend on the size of the tear, the severity of symptoms, how any persisting symptoms are affecting your life, your age, and your general health."

And guess what? That's exactly what people told me to do! What great backseat doctors I have! ;)

This morning I feel ok. My leg muscles are a bit tight from the inactivity. I found a replacement for my tai chi duties. I wasn't able to baby the knee quite as much yesterday as I would have liked, but this evening should be pretty quiet. I'm hoping my friend Paden will be able to visit again and do more Reiki work, as I believe it helped a lot.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, I'm glad you had a quick follow-up on your "Ow" post. Also, that I didn't read anything yesterday. Although I DID feel like I should call you. (How about that?)
RICE is good. Are you doing the "R" part?

Anne C. said...

Of course you felt like calling me, you're my mum (I'm assuming)!
I'm doing the best I can on the "R" part. I am smart enough (now) to know that the more I push it the slower and less completely it will heal.

belsum said...

Well, if you really do know to take it easy, then you're smarter than my husband!

But I really am glad that you're OK. Knee injuries. Yikes.