Doctor Visit #100 for My Knee

Okay, I think it really has only been like 6 visits for my knee… but it feels like 100 at this point.

Yesterday I went back for a follow-up about my ongoing knee issue. Two weeks ago I had a diagnostic lidocaine injection in my plica to determine whether that was the cause of my pain. I’m not even going to pretend like I can explain what the plica is or how it becomes inflamed, but feel free to read wikipedia’s explanation.

My knee pain almost instantly went away after I got that injection, and I knew right away that my plica was causing my problems. The numbing medication was just short-acting (since it was just for diagnostic purposes), but those few hours were awesome!

I spoke with my doctor over the phone last week about the results from my injection and what my options were now that we had specified my exact issue. My two choices were I could either have a cortisone injection or I could get my plica removed.

At this point, having my plica removed was pretty tempting. The surgery is simple (it takes less than 10 minutes) and there aren’t long-term issues. The recovery time is 4 months, but knowing I could have the issue taken care of was pretty appealing to me! Oh, and I had already met my insurance deductible for the year.

Buttttttttt, after talking it over with my doctor, I decided to try the cortisone injection first. He seemed optimistic that it could take care of the issue and recommended it first before considering surgery.

So yesterday I popped in for a quick visit and got the injection.

I was a major wuss this time around and completely psyched myself out for what was about to go down.

I actually think the lidocaine injection hurt worse than the cortisone injection, but I’m definitely more sore this time around.

Now that that’s over with, it may take anywhere from a few days to a week for the injection to start working. After that, I can ease back into some light exercise like stretching and walking. Once my pain completely goes away, I can maybe try other activities, like cycling, for very short increments. I probably won’t do this much because getting my bike ready to take out just for 10 minutes of activity sounds like a big PIA.

I’m not supposed to run, yet. Boo.

I have a follow-up in 8 weeks and if all goes well, I may be able to go back to my full level of activity.

I’m cautiously hopeful that the injection will work and this will not be a recurring issue. I guess only time will tell, though!

I stopped by the outlet mall on my home from my appt to pick up a Christmas gift and thought it would be a good idea to get these pants. I decided I needed them since I will be lounging around a lot for the next few weeks. And because they are maroon striped and match all of my VT stuff