Looking for help / ideas on 3x operated knee - still painful

david ware

In June of 2014 I tore the right medial meniscus.  Had surgery in August.  Got worse. 
2d surgery in Dec. 2014, again for the meniscus.  Was better for a while and able to get back
to some running, etc.  However in late
summer it started to go bad again.  Tried
Cortisone and that did not help at all. 
Dr. recommended Stem cell injections. 
Knee became very painful and was starting to cause serious pain in left
knee.  Saw a 2d surgeon who performed 3d
surgery for plica excision and stem cell injections.  That has helped with the pain but now that I
have started swimming and riding again I am getting some pain back.  Running across a street to get out of the way
of traffic causes the knee to hurt. Even walking much starts to hurt. The
doctor says in addition to the removal of the meniscus I have cartilage
breakdown. He has indicated that I may not be able to run again. The only other
recommendation from the doctor is PRP injections which the insurance company
won’t pay.

 

I am so frustrated.  I
am 58, very athletic, and can’t believe that there is not something else to be
done. This has really been a miserable 2 years. 
I do not know where else to go with this: another exam/opinion, live
with it, other alternative treatment, etc? 
I know we have some very smart Medical people here and I am hoping
someone has an idea.  Thank you!

Chris Ciannella

David - Sorry to hear. I had 25% of my right medial meniscus removed back in 2009. When I started this sport in 2010 I experienced a lot of problems with my knee. Turns out my quad atrophied, which apparently isn't uncommon. I spent a lot of time in the gym building my quad back up by lifting weights with low weight and lots of reps. Obviously my problem was minor compared to yours, but thought I'd throw it out there.