After what seemed like an eternity, I finally saw an orthopedic specialist about my knee.
Unfortunately, there’s still a little mystery, but some things were eliminated and we have an idea of the problem. He checked the stability in my knee and was satisfied that the ligaments are all in tact. None of the pretzel-twisting tests he did caused me any discomfort, so that’s a good thing.
Because of my description of the symptoms and because of the localized pain on the left side of my knee, he believes there may be a tear in the medial meniscus (at least I think it’s medial, from the diagrams I’m looking at – medical terminology is confusing to me).
As a result, my doctor ordered an MRI. Yes, I get to endure yet another trip into the magnetic tube of hell. That should answer the question definitively.
He also ordered an X-Ray to check for any kind of degenerative problem. That possibility scares me. I’m a big guy, so I’m guessing he thinks there’s a chance that my knee is just worn down. However, considering it felt fine right before a golf swing, I’m betting against it being something like that, but maybe it’s a contributing factor in those kinds of injury. I just don’t know.
As stupid as this sounds, I haven’t had any high-pain episodes for almost a week and I’m extraordinarliy tempted to go to the driving range for a light practice session.
I’m speculating that the original injury occurred because as I start the down swing, I generate power by torquing the knee inward a little and giving a good push with the inside-front portion of my right foot. That move puts pressure on the part of my knee that’s problematic right now. However, I think I can effectively swing the club without doing that so much. In fact, I think that getting to my left side a little earlier will help me because many of my bad shots are caused by me hanging to the right for too long.
I haven’t decided if it’s worth trying yet, but I’m going batty sitting around. At very least, I feel like I can definitely chip and putt again. I just need to take it easy and not do anything that will worsen the situation.
I’m going to schedule the MRI and X-Rays on Monday and my follow-up appointment is on September 12th. I should have a complete picture of the situation on that day.
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“Magnetic tube of hell” Haha I don’t think I’ve ever heard it called that! Yea be careful with that knee, I know I push off mine way too much when I golf (not that I’m even remotely good at golfing!). Anyway I like the new site layout. Good luck with the knee, let us know how it goes!