[rattlehead]

i had to get a quartizone shot right below my knee i had a reaction to it and it killed all the little tendons there. blazing though trails pushing myself and racing used to be about the funnest thing to do but now all i feel when i ride is pain near my knee. ive been to several doctors and none of them helped i can take a bunch of pills to help it a little but not enough i dont know what to do

 

[HotBlack]

Tryy Whiskry.

 

[Bula]

Have you seen a physiatrist (not psychiatrist). They are rehab specialists who focus on helping people with pain and disability function and be active. Such a doc might have a different take. That or an athletically oriented physical therapist or orthopedist (though I imagine you've been that route). At any rate, my heart goes out to you. This is a really big loss.

 

[norm]

Wow...thats hard to take.

I would keep see some specialists. It cant be worst than what is going on now. Dont give up.....

 

[Gatorback]

Have you seen a physiatrist (not psychiatrist). They are rehab specialists who focus on helping people with pain and disability function and be active. Such a doc might have a different take. That or an athletically oriented physical therapist or orthopedist (though I imagine you've been that route). At any rate, my heart goes out to you. This is a really big loss.

I definitely say give a physiatrist/rehabilitation medicine doctor a shot. In dealing with pain, they will often help you combine traditional approaches (such as physical therapy and/or appropriate surgical consults) with "non-traditional" approaches (such as accupuncture, chiropractic care, etc.) to help you get relief. I say "non-traditional" only in the sense of mainstream healthcare in the U.S. in the past, because more and more doctors are starting to realize that treatments like accupuncture and chiropractic care have a valid place in connection with healthcare.

I would also suggest you consider two other types of healthcare providers that may not come to mind: a good massage therapist and a good athletic trainer. You'd be surprised at how knowledgeable they really are. I once had an issue with my knee when running and an ortho said I would need surgery, but that he had to send me to physical therapy first because the insurance company would require it before paying for the surgery. Well my first appointment was with the actual physical therapist to set up my treatment plan. The rest were with an athletic trainer assistant, who after 5 minutes told me "I don't know whether you need surgery or not but I know what is causing your knee pain and I can fix it." And he did over the course of about 2 weeks. (It was a very tight IT band--I've never had knee pain since.)

 

[rattlehead]

ive been to a physical therapist she never understood why it hurt im going to try a physiatrist

 

[primoz]

One suggestion.... try some traditional medicine. With problems like this, I have bad experience with normal western medicine. They always go for pills to make pain easy, but they almost never go for cause of pain. So try some acupuncture, massage and stuff like this. I'm not saying it will help, but it actually might. I have some problems with knees too (20 years of competitive xc skiing left some marks), and some of these traditional things actually helped, while my doctor just wanted to "heal" this with pain killers.

 

[Gatorback]

ive been to a physical therapist she never understood why it hurt im going to try a physiatrist

I wouldn't necessarily give up on physical therapy as part of your solution just because one therapist didn't help you. Some therapists are great at what they do, but have little experience with particular types of injuries or working with athletes. You probably want a therapist who has worked with some college athletic programs or pro athletic teams. (Many therapists primarily work with the elderly and surgical rehab patients and their experience and expertise simply is not in the area of helping people with different problems like yours.

This is one reason a great physiatrist/rehab medicine doc is so important. I like to call them "the primary care doctors for the traumatically injured" and the "QB of your health team." They are not surgeons and are not just going to try analyze your problem from a surgical perspective, but instead their job is to figure out how to help you get better and if you can't get better then manage your pain. They coordinate the effort and work with other providers in their efforts (massage therapists, physical therapists, chiropractors, surgeons, pain management docs, etc.).

If you have a wasting of tendons due to a bad reaction to cortisone, good physical therapy to strengthen the surrounding areas may be a real key for you.

 

[Gatorback]

One suggestion.... try some traditional medicine. With problems like this, I have bad experience with normal western medicine. They always go for pills to make pain easy, but they almost never go for cause of pain. So try some acupuncture, massage and stuff like this. I'm not saying it will help, but it actually might. I have some problems with knees too (20 years of competitive xc skiing left some marks), and some of these traditional things actually helped, while my doctor just wanted to "heal" this with pain killers.

I like how you refer to what western medicine calls "alternative medicine" as traditional medicine. In the U.S., chiropractic care, accupuncture, etc. are considered "non-traditional" and even I referred to it that way. However, the western tradition of medicine--particularly the use of pharmaceuticals--has been around a couple of hundred years. And they started out as snake oil salesman until maybe 100 years ago.

Accupuncture and "herbal medicine" have been around and used successfully for thousands of years in eastern cultures. It is sort of backwards that those types of care are typically thought of as "alternative medicine" in the west (I'm talking primarily the U.S. here and can't speak to European health care).

In my humble opinion part of our solution to our healthcare problem in the U.S. is to get back to use of these practices, and back to a real focus on primary care, instead of trying to throw expensive technology and medicine at every single problem.

 

[scorpionwoman]

I'm sorry to hear of your quandary. Who knows, as others have suggested, it might turn out that you'll find the right doctor/treatment and your knee will heal.

But if not, try to keep in mind that there's more to life than mountain biking, and there may even be other sports activities that you can pursue. God/Karma/Whatever may be giving you an opportunity to round out your life in some way. And that's a good thing in the end, right?

So whether your time off the bike is temporary or of a more permanent nature, keep in mind that your focus and passion can be redirected and you will feel happy again.

Good luck.

 

[2ridealot]

I'm sorry to hear of your quandary. Who knows, as others have suggested, it might turn out that you'll find the right doctor/treatment and your knee will heal.

But if not, try to keep in mind that there's more to life than mountain biking, and there may even be other sports activities that you can pursue. God/Karma/Whatever may be giving you an opportunity to round out your life in some way. And that's a good thing in the end, right?

So whether your time off the bike is temporary or of a more permanent nature, keep in mind that your focus and passion can be redirected and you will feel happy again.

Good luck.

+ 1

 

[aussiemegs]

I'd say go with accupuncture. Just an example of its strength: i tore my hamstring BAD about 2 weeks before a national hockey tournament and i was back on the field in a wk and a half (normal rehab is like 6-8 wks minimum) I'll swear by it. Also try a highly qualified kineasiologist (sp?) They can fix all those sort of things albeit painfully. Take this from a person whos injured ALOT, and with things docters tell me they cant fix! Hope things start looking up!

 

[mrpercussive]

There's always a way dude... check this guy out...

 

[vwcalbug]

ACUPUNCTURE!!!!!!

I swear by at as do many....find a really good one in your area, that you get along with, make s you comfertable...it works! It might take time, its not just a one time miracle fix...but mixed in with physical therapy, you can overcome anything!!

 

[KONA_in_SB]

i had to get a quartizone shot right below my knee i had a reaction to it and it killed all the little tendons there. blazing though trails pushing myself and racing used to be about the funnest thing to do but now all i feel when i ride is pain near my knee. ive been to several doctors and none of them helped i can take a bunch of pills to help it a little but not enough i dont know what to do

Perhaps you could tone it down a notch or two. There is more to mountain biking than pushing youself hard and racing. Take a few mellow rides and just enjoy being outside. It seems it would be less stressful on the knee.

 

[atomiclotusbox]

i would recommend cross training and strength building to rehab your leg

 

[Hand/of/Midas]

have you ever been professionally fit on your bike and for your proper shoe shims(if needed)? makes a huge difference with alot of people.

 

[LDH]

There's always a way dude... check this guy out...

That guy beat both of our times at cccx dh#7.