Right leg swelling at knee and below.

Posted by knseven @knseven, May 23, 2022

Hello, I’m 45 years old and have had right knee swelling off and on for two years since an injury to my right knee while working in my yard, which I let heal on my own without seeing a doctor initially. The knee has remained swollen with physical activity off and on since then. The knee got better or worse initially, which was dependent on if my knee would twist a certain direction and “pop” which would make it feel much better.
In the last 6 months it has gotten much worse with swelling from the knee down to the foot and constant pain walking or exercising. Was sent to physical therapy for 6 weeks and was signed off as being good to go because it helped a little with the swelling. Again the swelling began, but worse this time and was sent for 9 weeks Physical therapy. At my 1st PT appointment, the physical therapist refused to see me until they ruled out DVT in my calf due to massive calf swelling, tenderness, and redness.
Got an ultrasound and was fine. Went through another 9 weeks PT before insurance would allow an MRI but my therapist said my range of motion improved greatly so I was not sent for an MRI and there hasn’t been a follow up.
Now (3 weeks later after PT) my knee and calf are in a lot of pain. I had my wife massage my calf deeply with a roller because it felt like a constant contracted calf muscle that wouldn’t release. After this deep massage of my calf , my entire leg from the knee down had filled with fluid and I am no longer able to get a shoe on at night. It is quite painful and I have bruising on the sides of my feet and red, hot, tenderness on the calf and knee. I went to ER (at my primary’s request) and got an ultrasound which ruled out dvt. I now must wait three more weeks for another appointment with my primary who said I may get a referral somewhere depending on how it looks when my appointment comes. I feel like this might be serious and it’s greatly affecting my otherwise active lifestyle. Just looking for suggestions or thoughts as to what might be going on as I feel I am getting nowhere by going to physical therapists over and over. I will attach photos of my leg as well.
For comparison, the last bottom pic is my lower leg without swelling after I had it raised for 9 hours straight while taking Tylenol/ibuprofen. Once I put my leg down and started moving again, it almost doubled in size within 4-6 hours. This fluid everywhere in my lower leg has been constant since that massage and has been like this for a week now with no sign of it relenting. Quite painful to even a light touch. I must wear a compression sock so that I can get my leg through my pant legs on a daily basis. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

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Greetings @knseven. Thanks for the pictures. They present visual proof of what appears to be a pretty serious issue. I will cut to the chase and ask if you have experienced Myofascial Release Therapy (MFR). When I encounter swelling, my MFR therapist works to move the swelling material up my leg so that it finds its way out when I pass urine. Here is a reference https://www.myofascialrelease.com/about/problems-mfr-helps.aspx. I would also like to introduce you to @jenniferhunter who gave me this message a few years ago and to whom I turn for helpful suggestions.

What is the injury or medical intervention that you have in that knee?

May you be free of suffering and the causes of suffering.
Chris

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Hi, no I have never had MFR done. I began looking on here for suggestions as to what might be causing this issue. My primary Dr. thinks it’s from a knee injury a couple years ago and I have been sent to physical therapy twice for many weeks each time. The range of motion improves usually during PT and then that’s the end of it until it gets bad again and then I get sent back. It has been extremely bad lately. So much so, that I have been transferred at work as I am unable to do as much movement. There are a few suggestions I have relayed to my Dr’s office but have yet to hear back. I do have another upcoming appointment next week so hopefully they will look into it more but as of now, they are calling it an old knee injury. I have not had anything done to investigate except an X-ray and an ultrasound looking for clots. Both came back negative and they said I was fine. I was told to raise the leg at night and do my pt excercises but it has been much too painful and swollen for the exercises. Thanks

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