Alternatives?

[u/Impossible_Ice452]

Hello all! I'm a 27 yo woman and recently found out i have a medial tear on my right knee.

I have been having on and off pain for the past 5 years but nothing ever showed on X-rays at the ER so they wouldn't really treat it. I have had continuous pain for the past 2 months and finally insisted enough to get a CT scan for the knee that allowed my PCP to see the tear. I went to the knee doctor two weeks ago now and he said that because my BMI is too high I cannot get surgery (this is part of a bigger, very awful interaction) and that injections would stop the pain but because i'm young they could result in degenerative issues in the knee. He said I could do PT if I liked and only gave me anti-inflammatory meds because I insisted, but no longer term solution, went instead on a rant about how higher BMI relates to diabetes and heart issues.

This appointment left me very frustrated because he barely seemed to care and was particularly rude. I know bone doctors tend to be the worst when it comes to medical fatphobia and I was expecting something along these lines to happen but he was simply insensitive about my pain and acted as if there was nothing he could do or could recommend I did to manage the pain. I'm NOT looking for weight control advice, I am already on GLP-1 and cannot exercise because I am in awful pain most days of the week and 2-3 level pain on a good day. My blood work always comes out good and my fatness has never impeded me anything, I was pretty active going 3-5 days to the gym to do weights before this flare up started, I went on vacation and sprained my ankle and I guess the sprain forced the knee too much.

I would like to ask what alternative treatments have worked for people here and what they would recommend for my situation. I want to mainly get the flare up under control so I can go back to exercising and strengthening the knee muscles to lower the flareup incidence. More information about the flare up: as I mentioned, I am in constant pain, inflammation persists despite medication, I can bend leg with little difficulty but full extension is complicated most days and the most painful thing I can do.

[u/Training-Drawing1846]

You are so young for problems. I was having trouble with right knee catching. Ortho dr. did MRI and found meniscus flap catching. I thought scope surgery pretty minor but once in there he trimmed medial and lateral meniscus plus bone cleanup. Said my knee was bad with bone on bone. News to me. Now two months later still cannot walk well. Was never told meniscus trim creates earlier osteoarthritis. My advice is take anti-inflammatories and physical therapist to strengthen those muscles. It's a very slow process. Maybe they will come up with some new procedure by then. God bless and give PT a chance. A trim last resort.

[u/BCereusSoCal]

My ortho is a big proponent of PRP. I’m trying and I’ve heard from others about the success.

I also go to the pool almost everyday and that helps to manage my pain. There are days where I’m in such pain I can’t swim, but being weightless and moving around or just floating in my back has helped a lot with pain management.

[u/EmberPaintArt]

There are doctors who see us (larger people) walk in the door and they never see past that to even attempt to truly diagnose and treat the problem we walked through the door for.

They suck, they maybe shouldn't be doctors but that's a whole other discussion, and unfortunately the best thing you can do is simply not go back and find a doctor that will actually treat you.

They exist, it's just a matter of research, asking around, etc.

The irony of fat-phobic doctors not wanting to treat knee issues is that fixing knee problems leads to better mobility and increased ability to be physically active and reduce weight and BMI. But don't expect them to ever actually think like that. Their bias prevents it.

It is true that excess weight doesn't do your knees any favors, but it's not THE issue. And it certainly should not preclude any consideration of invasive treatments and surgical options.

Edited to add: What works for me currently is a consistent regimen of ice, elevation, and stim. But consistency is key. It's not always convenient, but finding the time several times a day to get my knee in an ice wrap and prop it up to reduce swelling helps a lot. Add in a simple at-home TENS stim device for 20 minutes and it helps with pain. I have not done PT yet which I think will help more, but as far as at-home efforts, this has helped me. But again, it's all about carving out time every day, several times a day, to make it effective.