Knee Treatment Requirement

[SOHAIL]

 I am 43 year old/male, with a height of 6ft and body weight of 80 KG. I am suffering from Right Knee Pain , since Y2011. Contacted Ortho. doctors and the diagnosis were;

Apr - 2012 -- MRI Report:
1) Complex tear involving the posterior horn of medial meniscus.
2) Degenerative changes in anterior horn of lateral meniscus.

May - 2014 -- MRI Report:
1) Chronic partial ACL tear.
2) Radial tear in posterior horn of medial meniscus extending up to body.
3) Chronic sprain in lateral collateral ligament.
4) Mild knee joints effusion.

Sep - 2014 -- MRI Report:
1) Right knee MRI findings compatible with anterior cruciate ligament mucoid degeneration.
2) Medial meniscal posterior horn oblique undersurface tear.
3) Medial patellar facetal chondromalacia

Presently I am not taking any medication and only am limiting my knee pain with avoiding, extensive walking / leg exercise, carrying loads and sitting /standing with bend knee on floor etc.

I am keenly interested to know how King Brand Cold Cure Wrap and BFST may possibly help my right knee situation.

Regards.
SOHAIL

[Amber]

Hi Sohail.

Thank you for your enquiry and for your interest in King Brand.

I'm sorry to hear about your knee, that must be quite painful. The knee is one area of our bodies that gets very little blood flow. This is why knee injuries tend to take a long time to heal. Our bodies natural ability to heal brings any injured area blood flow, however, the rate at which it does so is very slow.

After an injury...even days/weeks/years after an injury, cold therapy is always one of the best things you can do. The ColdCure Knee Wrap will reduce the swelling and any internal inflammation you may have, and will relieve the pain you are experiencing. The importance of bringing down inflammation with cold, is to allow your blood to start circulating through.

The BFST is what will accelerate your healing. It emits electro-magnetic energy below the dermal layer, signalling that specific area needs more oxygen/nutrient rich blood to be sent. This increased circulation will help your body heal your knee.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.
1-877-661-5239

Kind regards,
Amber

[dti]

Hi Sohail,

It appears your condition has been pretty rough for quite a while.  I commend you for not taking pain killers - you don't want to mask the severity of your injury.

The confusing part for me is that you indicate you are very careful about loading your knee but your conditions seems to persist and change as though there is healing and reinjury occurring. Can you elaborate on how active you are and to what extent you have isolated/protected your injury?

What has your doctor recommended?  I would expect you to have been using a rigid brace since your first diagnosis.  Have you done any extended time on crutches with a brace / cast to immobilize the injury for a while?

It doesn't sound incurable without surgical intervention, but your situation is far from great as you know and if you don't heal before too much longer surgery will be inevitable.

[SOHAIL]

 Yes, it does seem odd, however I continue to be active since the day I learned and had pain. Didn't wear or use any type of knee or leg support and in fact currently I am not feeling any pain at all.

Only when I try to sit or standup from the floor, only then it is difficult / sometimes slightly painful experience, therefore I try my level best to avoid such movements.

I walk, do climb stairs, drive my car and motorbike on regular basis.

My doctor earlier diagnosed me for an Arthroscopic Surgery for partial removal of Meniscus, to mend the tear, however as per the doctor, it will only solve my problem partially, therefore I didn't opt for the surgery till date.

Secondly kindly let me know if regular 30 minutes walk (in some park), not jogging, is allowed / beneficial for my condition or .

Thanks for your concern and advice.

[dti]

Hi Sohail,

Well, you're doing pretty well then.  Your body is demonstrating resilience and to me it appears you're knee is going through the healing / reinjury cycle.

No pain is a great sign. But, just because the pain is gone doesn't mean you are even close to healed.  I'm not sure if you've looked at our Healing page (http://www.kingbrand.com/Healing-Home.php) but it nicely summarizes what is happening in your knee.  Even when the pain is gone, your meniscus will still be mending itself for probably 2 years given what it has been through.  And that is if you really minimize the reinjury component. 

Even though the pain is gone, I can't stress enough the value of taking the load off your knee and giving it more opportunity to heal.  Cutting back on activity is most effective.  But if you're determined to stay active, I think a properly fitted brace that offloads your meniscus during activity is a good call in addition to your regular BFST treatments. 

Definitely keep up with the BFST for months, even if you don't feel pain again.  If you are going to be active, give yourself a treatment before you take up the activity to increase the blood flow in your knee.  This can go a long way towards preventing reinjury.  But BFST alone is not a guarantee - you still need to respect your injury.  Please go easy on your knee even if you don't feel pain.

When you do feel pain, you can be sure this is a signal that you re-tore your tissue again, if even slightly.  Every time you do feel pain, even if it is from something minor like a little twist, that is a backwards step in your healing process.

I agree with you on the Arthroscopic Surgery.  They'd just cut away some flaps of meniscus hanging off the ends and you'd have less meniscus to work with.  In the Healing page you will read about the stage of healing where your body grows tissue that shrinks and pulls the jagged edges of your tear back together.  If that part of the healing cycle is successful but you have cut back the fringes, what is there to protect the outer edges as the inside becomes stronger?  The Athro procedure is something you do if you accept that you are ultimately going to do the knee replacement and just want to buy some time.

As for the total knee replacement, it's one heck of a procedure but it sure does work well.  The artificial knees work exceptionally well and all your pain will be gone (because that part of your knee won't exist any more as living tissue).   I'm actually a fan of this route if the damage / degeneration becomes irreparable (a point it doesn't sound like you are at).  If you ever get to this point, select your Surgeon and parts carefully.  All components are not created equally and you can get premium parts that perform much better than others.

Good luck with the healing process and remember to give your knee a rest and respect the pain!