What the sports med specialist said

As promised, I am posting an update after seeing the sports medicine specialist, Dr. Lun, today. After going over the history of the injury (since November!), I had to stand, walk normally, walk on my tip-toes, walk on my heels and of course, squat!

After that, I was poked, prodded and had my legs and knees bent in various directions. We heard “crunchies” or “clicks” in both knees and then I got bent about some more. He noticed some hyperflexibility in both my legs and hips. I knew about the hips, but not the legs. I mean, I see those little gymnasts stretching out in the gym, and I used to see dancers stretching, and I don’t even come close to what they do, but I guess for a woman in her mid-30’s, I am flexible. So, he moved me around some more to get a handle on what was a normal range of motion for me, and what could possibly be related to the injury.

I was then sent down the hall – yes, down the hall – for X-rays. They did them right then and there and I walked back the examination room with the films in an envelope under my arm. Cool, eh?

We looked at the films together and then we set out a plan of action. So, the shortened version:

Diagnosis:

• Patellofemoral pain syndrome (otherwise known as PFPS, as I found out today) – in both knees, worse in the right. I kind of knew this, though I was in denial about the left one perhaps being better, but no such luck...
• Mild tendonitis in right knee.
• Knee bones look normal (i.e. no signs of arthritis; and considering this runs rampant in my family, that makes me very happy!)

Further investigation required for my shin. The doctor isn’t convinced it is a stress fracture, simply because I wasn’t logging a large number of miles. Said it could be a condition where the lining of the bone swells up. (I forget the name… but doesn’t that sound just yummy?!)

We will do a bone scan for more information. That will happen on Tuesday and my follow up appointment with Dr. Lun is March 10.

Also, I need to rest for a solid week. I can lift weights and do my physio exercises, but for cario I can go in the pool and that’s it. Keep icing and using anti-inflammatory cream, too. After that, I can try the run/walk program again… or maybe the elliptical machine.

With a twist… (figuratively speaking…)

I must wear a prescription knee brace, specially designed for PFPS. I made the appointment today and go for a fitting on Monday. I will wear it during impact activity and it should help. When I called to make the appointment for the fitting today, I asked how much it would cost. She asked what my prescription said and then told me it would be about $200, since it is “off the shelf” and not custom-made.

All I can say is… Thank God for Medicare and thank God for student health insurance!! For those of you south of the border, Medicare covered my appointment and X-Rays today, and should also cover the bone scan, since it is prescribed by a doctor. As for the knee brace, hopefully I can claim some of that on the student health plan. I don’t know how much of it will be covered, but every little bit helps.

The whole appointment, with X-Rays and all, lasted about an hour. I must say, I was impressed with the thoroughness of it all. These guys deal with real athletes: varsity sports teams, national team athletes and even Olympians. I thought maybe I’d get laughed right out of the office; I mean… I just started on this path to fitness and health less than a year ago and Lord knows, I still have a loooooong way to go… But apparently, a sports-related injury is a sports-related injury… no matter how novice or expert you are. I was truly impressed.

I’ll update again after getting the knee brace and the bone scan. Until then… I’m going to lift weights, try not to balloon in weight, and maybe just go up to the track every now and then … just to dream a little bit...