Knee pain can be somewhat of a diagnostic dilemna. The location of the pain often misleads the patient and the physician with regards as to where the pathology actually resides.
these days, the physician often listens to the patient's symptoms, orders an X-Ray and/or MRI and then attributes the symptoms to the (inevitable) abnormality found on the radiograph.
It cannot be overstated, but a radiological finding does not imply, guarantee or attribute the finding's presence to the patient's pain or symptoms. That is, nearly every radiograph is going to demonstrate some abnormality, but that does not mean that the cause has been found.
one common problem in my practice is found with patients complaining of pain in the front or side of the knee, XR demonstrates arthritis or a 'torn cartilage,' and then they are off to surgery. When the surgery does not help, as is often the case, the patient is permitted to recover and then may be subjected to yet another surgery, and another, and so forth.
NOTE WELL: many of the symptoms felt in the knee are caused by tendinitis behind the knee.
To sort this out, I have patients apply Kink-ease 1/4 tsp in the area behind the knee, in the area known as the popliteal fossa. If the problem involves one of these tendons, the pain should improve in less than a minute.
David S. Klein, MD, FACA
Pain Center of Orlando, Inc.
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