Sports Med Blog

Your Knee Hurts but Your Back may be the Problem

Details

Published on Wednesday, 30 March 2011 15:18

Written by Anne Moss Rogers

Your knee problem can be the result of a bulging disk

If you’ve been experiencing knee pain, you may think it’s an MCL, ACL or Miniscus tear or some other cartilidge or joint related problem. Well in many instances that could be the issue. However, there is a possibility there could be a problem with your back, specifically a bulging disk or two that is pressing on one of the nerves in the L4-L5 region that is causing the pain in your knee, upper and lower leg.
An Orthopedic Surgeon & Neuro Pain Specialist can figure it out.

One of our staff members recently experienced this situation. After seeing his Orthopedics guy, and having two MRI’s for knee pain, turns out the solution was receiving a Transforaminal Epidural Steriod Injection in his back in the L4-L5 nerve region. It’s a very quick process, however, it is a strange experience to have a highly skilled Neuro professional use a long needle to shoot steroids in the back under a local anesthetic.  Quite an array of pain, from numbness, to tingling, to acute pressure up and down the leg. When complete, your leg is numb for a while and you can’t walk on your own.  All told, in and out the door in under two hours.

So can you do a 10K a few days after the shot?

Well, the verdict is still out on that one. Doctor’s advice is to walk slow and maybe don’t do the whole thing. In other words, how many of these injections do you really want?