I have ditched the liquid oil, I couldn't stand the taste or the slimy texture. I exchanged it for a pill form, they make me burp if I don't take it with food. I did notice less pain after taking all three pills on a regular basis. Downside to starting them all at the same time is I don't know which one is helping and which one is not.
I received my first gel injection on Monday, March 12 at the Core Institute. They iodine the area of injection, spray a numbing liquid to the area, inject the knee with a needle to insert a numbing medicine (this was a little uncomfortable) then the twist off the syringe leaving the needle inserted in the knee and attach a syringe with the gel. Then they used a ultrasound machine to guide them while they inserted the gel into the knee. They performed this on both my right and left knee. I would say the procedure was rather painless, I hardly felt anything on the right knee and a little pain in the left.
After the procedure I felt normal, as the day progressed my knees started feeling swollen and I contribute that to the numbing medication wearing off allowing me to feel the difference with the gel in my knees. I felt a little wobbly and weird walking Monday. Tuesday I am happy to report I woke up for the first time with no pain when I stood up to get out of bed. I also noticed when I was bracing for pain every time I stood up or sat down and no pain was experienced. Funny thing is, I didn't even realized I braced for pain every time I stood up until yesterday. I also noticed it doesn't hurt to step up onto a curb. I am anxious to try stairs but I haven't come across any yet.
The downside is that my back is soar, I contribute this pain to walking different. I am sure not being in pain is allowing me walk normal and the muscles in my back that are soar haven't been used in a while. I am sure this will go away soon and if the knee pain stays away I will gladly take the temporary back discomfort. Also the area around my knee that was injected is soar like a bruise although there is no visible signs of bruising. I wonder if they inject the same area every week or if they move it around. I am hoping they move it around.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI came across yor blogg after googling recovery from microfracture. I'm trying to decide if I want to have it done, but after reading about yor experiences, I'm thinking not. I had an acl repair of my right knee done 5 years ago, and recovery was very difficult and required repeated surgeries. Now, my left knee is injured. I'm an addicted runner and very busy mother of two, but this injury occurred while walking my lunging dog. I twisted and fell. I tore my meniscus, and have gauged out a chunk of my cartiledge to the bone. Doctor says microfracture or no more running and continuous pain. I don't know....
Hi,
DeleteI am sorry to hear about your knee injury and know how frustrating it can be. I injured my knee jumping on the trampoline holding my son and my knee gave out. I continued to run on it and after two years of going to the doctors I had an MRI that showed a tear in my cartilage but when they went in to do the surgery they discovered I had a large tear and was bone on bone. If I had it all over to do again I wouldn't have done the micro fracture surgery. When I went in for surgery I knew that it was possible that I might have the micro fracture surgery but I really thought they would just be trimming off the torn cartilage and calling it a day. I had never been on crutches before and 8 weeks with no weight bearing on my right leg was absolutely miserable. It would be different if it would have been a successful surgery but 8 weeks no weight on the leg 2 more weeks with weight plus physical therapy and have it not work, NO WAY!!! I will only have surgery if they can fix it. I am bone on bone in both knees the right from the failed micro-fracture and the left level IV arthritis. I would try the Gel injections and if that doesn't work then maybe the OATS procedure. I am able to jog, hike and swim now and I haven't been able to do that since the surgery. No matter what you decide to do I would invest in a stationary bike to keep your leg muscle strength up. I didn't do that and my thigh muscles were so weak. I am sure you are like me and need knee replacement but they wont do it because you are too young. I hope by the time we get old enough they will come out with an amazing knee fix for us :) If you haven't discovered the bog site kneegeeks.com I recommend it. It's a little hard to navigate around in at first but they have a micro fracture blog section that I wish I would have found before surgery.