Injured Leg. Suffering From Knee Pain And Not Able To Lift Leg. Have Scoliosis And Low Back Osteoarthritis. Guidance

Posted on Thu, 13 Jun 2013

Question: I injured my right leg pushing off of the wall doing a breaststroke kick while swimming. I was dragging my leg after that unable to lift it properly for quite some time with knee pain and sometimes the knee would lose track which was very painful. Nearly a year later, it is better but I still have a problem when I exercise with pain down the outside of my leg and raising my leg. Any advice? I do have scoliosis and low back osteoarthritis where I have one of the curves. I'm wondering if that is my issue when I try to get back to more exercise.

Answered by Dr. Mukesh Tiwari (6 hours later)

Hello,
Welcome at XXXXXXX

I have read details of your query.

It looks that you are having problem with your right leg & having knee pain. Please answer some questions so that I can help you in better way-

-Do you have pain in knee & at leg?

-Nature of this pain (burning, throbbing or other)?

-What factors aggravates this like walking, running, sitting, etc.?

-Is there sensation of clicking when you arise from bed or chair?

-Is there feeling of giving away at your knee?

-Do you have diabetes or high blood pressure or taking treatment for any disease?

Please reply.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Shanthi.E

Follow up: Dr. Mukesh Tiwari (7 hours later)

-Do you have pain in knee & at leg? Most of the pain is now where my IT band
seems to connect to the knee below the knobby pt and some above on the outside. Sometimes there is some down the front of my leg and near the groin. I am using a band I got at the drug store for below the knee and this helps some.

-Nature of this pain (burning, throbbing or other)? No burning or throbbing—just hurts when I try to walk normally or lift it. If I walk straight legged it doesn’t hurt but that seems to aggravate the other knee that is compensating for it.

-What factors aggravates this like walking, running, sitting, etc.? Sitting or lying down helps but standing and exercising makes it worse.

-Is there sensation of clicking when you arise from bed or chair? No clicking

-Is there feeling of giving away at your knee? When the injury happened nearly a year ago, the knee cap shifted and I was in excruciating pain and could not move my leg at all until it shifted back. Then, I had pain on both sides and behind the knee. Now it just seems to be on the outside.

-Do you have diabetes or high blood pressure or taking treatment for any disease? No, I do have osteopoenia of the hips but dr. said I was in such good
shape that I don’t need to take anything. I only take drops for glaucoma and treat my low level CLL with nutrition which is working. My blood counts are good. I’m extremely active—yoga and tai chi and swimming. So, this injury that cropped up again is limiting me.

Answered by Dr. Mukesh Tiwari (3 hours later)

Hi,

Thanks for replying queries.

It looks from your details that you are having pain at outer aspect of your knee and leg. This pain is not throbbing in nature.With history of old injury this looks to be osteoarthritis of knee.
You should do following to have relief in this-

1.Avoid walking up or down stairs or this should be kept minimum.

2.Start doing quadriceps exercises knee.

3.Take joint supplements like glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate.These are OTC preparations.These help in repairing the damaged cartilage.

4.Take a mild analgesic like advil or aleeve.

Hope this all will help you.

With best wishes.

Note: For further queries, consult a joint and bone specialist, an Orthopaedic surgeon. Book a Call now.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T