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Pain in your joints is the worst, because they ache when you're not moving them and then they pulsate with pain when you do move them. My Dad was injured on the job about a month ago and has been out of work. He has a tear in his ACL and his Meniscus. In addition to the tears, he has gout crystals and his white blood cell count is alarmingly elevated.

Needless to say he is in a great deal of pain.

He needs surgery but with the inflammation they have been unable to get accurate imaging. And now with the elevated WBC there is concern over infection. To make matters worse his employer, Amtrak, is handling this in a less than stellar way. But that is a different story for another day.

All of this has prompted my research of knee ailments and surgeries. While reading, I stumbled across an interactive tool that allows you to virtually perform a knee replacement. The site hosting this tool is called Edheads.org and it has numerous activities that are meant to "activate your mind." It's fascinating! You go through each step and I learned a great deal. You learn how much weight a new knee needs to be able to withstand. I also know now that sutures cause less scarring than other methods of closing an incision.

My Dad hopefully won't need a complete replacement. I read on Wikipedia that Gout crystals are deposits related to elevated concentrations of uric acid in the blood stream. Taking high doses of Vitamin C can lower uric acid levels but shouldn't be tried without first speaking with a doctor. Foods to avoid or limit are those with high protein, seafood, lentils and peas and alcohol. Alcohol, especially beer, because the yeast used in brewing beer is very high in purine.

The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of the ligaments in the center of the knee joint. The ACL along with the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL)are what helps stabilize the knee joint and allows for proper weight management for the joint. When an ACL is torn 50% of the way or more it is almost certain the meniscus will tear as well which is what happened with my Dad. There are two menisci in your knee. They are horseshoe-shaped shock absorbers that help to both center the knee joint during activity and to minimize the amount of stress on the ACL.

Treatments for the tears will probably include a partial meniscectomy. I don't feel they will be able to repair his meniscus due to the amount of damage involved. If the tear somehow didn't reach the edge of the meniscus than perhaps they can use sutures to close it. It is true that some tears can heal themselves which is why I believe the doctors have waited so long before pushing surgery. I believe that was a mistake on their part because my Dad's tears are severe and if it hadn't been for the inflammation I feel the images would have more accurately shown the severity. As it stands now he has had fluid removed three times from his knee (which is NOT good to do, fluid should only be removed once after injury).

I know my Dad is in pain. When I was 16 I had a proximal and distal realignment of my right knee. My meniscus was repaired and some of the cartilage was shaved away due to having been damaged so severely. Trust me when I say it is no picnic. But prolonging suffering not only causes more pain but it causes further damage and weakening of the joint. So I hope the doctors get their act together soon. And for now I'll just keep praying for my Dad.

Labels: knee