Does Waiting Out Knee Pain Work?

Oct. 10, 2008 — -- In the course of the next five years, most of us will experience regional pain in our knees lasting weeks to months. Without anything special happening, we'll notice aching in a knee when we put weight on it.

Walking will be unpleasant; walking quickly will be very unpleasant; and jogging may be out of the question. We might even limp. Climbing stairs will become difficult, but not as difficult as descending stairs … and there is prompt relief when sitting or lying down.

The knee might seem tight, even swollen, but not warm or so painful we can't bend it at all. Sometimes it feels as if it might give way. If it wasn't for this damnable knee pain, we'd be as well as ever. What to do?

Some will carry on as best they can until their perseverance is rewarded by a reversal of symptoms. Some seek relief in the over-the-counter remedies about which marketing has made us all keenly aware. Others will turn to doctors and other providers of care -- some who are licensed, some who are not. Each specialist will approach knee pain advocating treatments based on their own beliefs as to the reason the knee hurts.

After all this, we usually get better, and when we do, we naturally conclude that whatever treatment we received worked. It matters little that, in the case of knee pain, nearly all treatment approaches have been studied systematically and have no specific beneficial effect. We will return time and again to the same remedies when faced with the next episode of knee pain or backache.

Diagnosing Knee Pain

Each year more than 5 million people seek the care of American orthopedic surgeons for knee pain. All these patients are subjected to an examination of the knee that involves various yankings and pullings handed down from generation to generation of orthopedists despite the modern science that renders nearly all the "findings" nonspecific -- meaning the knee pain appears not to have a visible cause.

Nearly all these patients undergo an X-ray examination despite the fact that nearly all findings -- including osteoarthritis and spurs -- are common findings in ordinary knees that are not hurting. It's likely the conditions were present in the knee before it started to hurt and will remain there when it stops.