Bakers Cyst ??? - Open to All Other Health Topics Message Board

karfmusic · 07-12-2008, 05:13 PM

Hello to anyone who can help. I got out of bed and
walked into the bathroom. Immediately I heard a loud "POP" and my
right leg gave out. I had intense pain and could not put any weight on
my right leg. I followed the "PRICE" method of treatment and the
symptoms diminished, but I still have swelling and weakness in my
knee, and still maintain a decided limp.

Upon doing research, I assumed I had torn my ACL or patellar ligament
and was hoping that it would eventually heal. Today a friend of mine
said my symptoms sounded like Bakers Cyst, even though I have no
problem with the back of my knee (no visible swelling back there and
no real difficulty with straightening out my leg).

Is there anyone who might know something about my symptoms ? I'm
ready to go see a doctor, but I still think I can perhaps help myself
to heal naturally without any medications or invasive procedures.

Please send me your thoughts.

Thanks.
Kathy C.

feelbad · 07-14-2008, 06:24 AM

it does NOT sound at all like a bakers to me. i had one of these little wonders a couple of years ago. you would definitely feel some sort of at least marble sized lump behind your knee in the beginning. it can start out very small in size and if the tear within the synovial sac surrounding that joint is not repaired(this is what causes the cyst to form in the first place),it can grow much larger over a pretty short period of time. mine was over the size of a tennis ball before i had to have surgery. i also have RSD within that same knee which could have caused major comlications for me if any cutting were done on there so my ortho kept holding off til i tore the dang meniscus and really had no choice. but by that time i actually had like two cysts in there. one out the back that was that tennis ball size,and the other were "fingerlets' of the actual cyst that over time had pushed their way thru the other structures within my knee. it was a huge bakers by the time it came out. a bakers will also generate heat just from the inflammation too. there are a few different types of knee conditions out there too that are possible,espescially if you have a heat generator in there too like charcots joint.

my best advice to you would be to obtain at least an MRI on that knee to really see what it was that actually "popped" on you. it sounds like from your description that "something' took place in there,in a damaged or injured type of way that simply need to be identified and any treatment or possible arthoscopic type of surgery can be done to try and fix the problem. the knees are just not something you want to 'let go' and see if they will get better. there is just alot of weight and wear and tear that takes place on all our load bearing joints thru out any given day that can make things much worse,depending upon just what is out of place or even has some level of tear. there are also alot of structures within the knee that can become damaged over time or upon one wrong movement. i would,at this point at least make an appt with your primary to eval the leg and check ROMS. hopefully he or she will at least send you for that MRI. this would reveal any issues that may be there. you just really need to know what you are walking on ya know? i have alot of knee issue and believe me,they can be downright miserable at times. you don;t want to go there if you can possibly avoid it. just get this evaluated soon. while i know what RICE is,just what is the PRICE method of treatment?

hopefully you maybe just sprained this or some other injury that can heal itself,but you DO need to know for sure so you are not walking around on this and creating more injury to it. good luck with this and please let me know what you find out,K? FB

janewhite1 · 07-14-2008, 07:19 AM

I'm with Feelbad. Not a cyst, something broke, tore, or came apart when you felt that pop. Might require surgery, might be able to get away with just immobilization or crutches or something, but you definitely need it checked out.

karfmusic · 07-14-2008, 03:18 PM

Thanks to both of you for your willingness to offer input into my condition. My
initial thought was to hope the situation resolved itself, but I agree with you ;
I should be careful in dealing with any knee injury and make sureabout what
happened by consulting a professional. After reading about Bakers Cyst, I was
sure that wasn't the problem because I had no symptoms like they described.
Thanks again for your thoughts.

Kathy

karfmusic · 07-15-2008, 06:53 AM

This is just an answer for Feelbad, who never heard of the "PRICE" treatment for
knee injuries. This is simply a new acronym set out by Mayo Clinic. The "P" stands
for 'protection', and is much the same as the 'C", which indicates compression.
It merely advocates braces, crutches and bandage wraps. Basically it's the same
as the RICE principle.