Bone Spurs on the Kneee

RMinVA

Just wondering if any fellow runners or bikers have dealt with bone spurs on/in the knee. I just found out I have a couple of small ones. While the pain may go away with RICE, the bone spurs will not.

Just wondering if the pain actually went away, or if you wound up having to have them scraped off. The tiiming absolutely sucks!! I was and still am excited about my first sprint triathlon and I will even give up a couple of other running races that I have scheduled this fall to devote sufficient time to training for it. I'm pushing it now since I will be out at least another week (at least I should still be able to swim!!). But if any sort of surgery is done, I will not be able to participate in anything I have scheduled this fall due to down/recovery time.

And in case anyone is wondering these are the symptoms. Classic for "runner's knee" and can have any # of causes:

Pain behind or around the kneecap, especially where the thighbone and the kneecap meet.
Pain when you bend the knee -- when walking, squatting, kneeling, running, or even sitting.
Pain that's worse when walking downstairs or downhill.
Swelling (this is the ONLY one I don't seem to have)
Popping or grinding sensations in the knee.

duncanryan

I'd say after your race, I'd definitely consider having the surgery. These bone spurs will only continue to get worse. As you load the knee (compression) with running, this new bone growth, leading to bone spurs. It's a scientific law, called Wolff's Law. Compression or loading of a bone stimulates osteoblasts to remodel over old bone. If you leave the bone spurs there, I'd imagine you'll be looking at quite a bit of arthritis and evenutally a knee replacement which wouldn't allow you to run at all.

Definitely talk to an orthopedic surgeon to get their opinion. From a PT standpoint, these are my thoughts.

twooliver

Not sure about the knees, but my feet eventually stopped hurting...of course you should know that this was after a few years of being in pain. Have them on the bottom and in my achilles...

silveryflutterby

I had a bone spur on my knee and a small piece had actually broken off in front of it too. It was very painful and I opted to get surgery. It has been about 2 years now, and aside from the awful scar..., it's not doing too bad. It's not 100%, but I would say maybe 95% or so. much better than with the spur. I have started jogging and am doing fine. The other knee is bothering me more than the spur knee and I just wear this thing and it helps tremendously. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

RMinVA

I'd say after your race, I'd definitely consider having the surgery. These bone spurs will only continue to get worse. As you load the knee (compression) with running, this new bone growth, leading to bone spurs. It's a scientific law, called Wolff's Law. Compression or loading of a bone stimulates osteoblasts to remodel over old bone. If you leave the bone spurs there, I'd imagine you'll be looking at quite a bit of arthritis and evenutally a knee replacement which wouldn't allow you to run at all.

Definitely talk to an orthopedic surgeon to get their opinion. From a PT standpoint, these are my thoughts.

That's good to know about the spurs in general. Doc wants me to give it another week, but I do already have an orthopedic referral in hand. Apparently they are VERY small right now, but they are there and visible on X-ray. I won't make any decisions one way or another until I see if "time" takes care of the pain for the short term and I can get back to my training schedule. If not, IMO, the sooner I get the surgery done, the sooner I can get back to my usual routine even if it means I have to miss a few races this fall.

RMinVA

Not sure about the knees, but my feet eventually stopped hurting...of course you should know that this was after a few years of being in pain. Have them on the bottom and in my achilles...

A few years of pain...not gonna happen!! I give it one more week!

RMinVA

I had a bone spur on my knee and a small piece had actually broken off in front of it too. It was very painful and I opted to get surgery. It has been about 2 years now, and aside from the awful scar..., it's not doing too bad. It's not 100%, but I would say maybe 95% or so. much better than with the spur. I have started jogging and am doing fine. The other knee is bothering me more than the spur knee and I just wear this thing and it helps tremendously. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

Good to know! Per doctor I got a brace for my left knee. Taking it easy is not an issue either, but I do need to find more time to keep it elevated and iced!

jamfan

I had bone spurs & arthritis in my shoulder. I had many cortozone shots that never helped because the spurs were still there & eventually opted for arthoscopic sugury. My recovery was not normal as some people have a tendency to form alot of scar tissue (me). The surgeons couldn't figure out my post sugury pain I had MRI's & Nerve tests (they $uck) and finally ended up going to a chiropractor who did something called Graston Technique. It made my shoulder so much better. I needed the sugury as I believe you do for the spurs but if you have trouble w/ the recovery (likley you wont) look into it.

RMinVA

For the short term, Naproxen and rest seem to be doing the trick!! I am going to try to get through my fall races, then maybe have them scraped.