Knee Pain - should I see my doc?
Hi all,
So, I have an interesting situation. I work out pretty consistently during the week - cardio on an elliptical machine for between 30-45 minutes. No problems, it's a good workout.
On the weekends, I push myself a little bit, and go for 5-6 mile hikes. This was all going very well until 2 weeks ago. I was going along, and all of a sudden my knee just started hurting every time I stepped down. The pain is in the front of my knee, it feels like near the kneecap (if I have my anatomy right). It hurt like the dickens, but I was about 2 miles out, so I had to come back on the sore knee.
The next day (Sunday), I rested it, and when I went back to the gym on Monday, it was no problem with the elliptical. I figured it was just a fluke.
Then, lo and behold, this weekend I went out hiking again on Sunday. Bam, about 2 miles (maybe a mile and a half) into things, the same pain starts up. It's only in the right knee, only when I step down, and it's not as bad when I'm going uphill as when I'm going down.
I finished my hike, and it hurt like heck to walk on that leg the rest of Sunday. Then, today, I went to the gym and used the elliptical and it hurt, but not as bad as walking on it.
So, I guess I have a few questions for chicks who may have been there before:
1. Is a knee brace worth it? If so, what are some good brands?
2. Should I make an appointment with my doc to see if she can refer me to a specialist?
3. Do any of you have armchair diagnoses, or have you dealt with something like this before?
The Mayo Clinic and WebMD are talking about scary things like torn ACLs and floating cartilage, but all of them are about consistent pain, and this honestly only hurts when I walk on it past a certain point, and then it kicks in really good.
Thanks in advance for your help!
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