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Thursday, January 01, 2009

An ultra marathon runner with swollen knees - Will Cortisone Injections work?

I'm considering taking them for both of my knees on December 31. Here's my history...

I'm 25 and both of my knees were scoped 8 months (right) and 7 months (left) ago. I had torn the cartilage, grade I. I have chronic inflammation around the knee and in the quad. Toning the VMO has proved very difficult. Even the most basic PT exercises cause inflammation to flare in and around the knee. My condition feels worse now than it was pre-op, the swelling is worse, mobility is limited, and I'm not really sure what I can do to relieve this swelling so I may promote healing.

I understand that it is somewhat silly to try and outsmart my body by going around it and physically removing the swelling. Yet, my surgeon contends that the swelling is not within the knee joint itself, whatever that means. In any case, what if my body is just stuck in this loop of thinking I am still hurt when I might just need a little push to get me over this period.

For the past year, I've went to countless physicians, alternative and all, and each has sworn by the fix or method as the way to solve all of my woes. The common answer I receive as the buck gets past is that I just need to give it time. With my faith in health practicioners waining due to their failures to produce results in my case, would cortisone be warranted in this situation? I don't plan on getting any more, I just want to give this a shot to see if I can jump start healing, or reset my body in a way.

FYI, I am also an ultra distance runner, or should I say, was.

If you have any suggestions or thoughts, I would love to hear them.

Best wishes and happy holidays,

"Will"



And here is a video I made a while ago about the wonderful mountain biking we have here in Wellington City....

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