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Having Osteoarthritis, Degenerative Disc Disease, Pain In Knee, Took Ibuprofen No Use. Suggestion?
I have Osteoarthritis, Degenerative Disc Disease and bad knees (bone on bone). Approx. 8 days ago my left knee began to hurt but not the normal way. Above and below the knee. Pain increased with walking or even standing. 3 days ago the pins and needles began in left leg, mainly in area of knee to toes. Relief happened with lying down. Now the pins and needles are becoming painful even with reclining. I have an appointment on Tuesday but wonder if I should see someone today. Massive amounts of Ibuprofen not helping.
Wed, 16 Oct 2013
Hi, thanks for writing to HCM.
Presence of pain & pins and needles sensations in the leg are indicative of a nerve compression in the lumbar spine by a protruding disc.
The conservative management of this condition includes -
- Absolute bed rest of 24-48 hours
- Avoid excessive forward bending activities as it will worsen the disc protrusion, if you want to bend forwards, you have to keep your hips and knees in some flexion.
- Use a lumbosacral back support to stabilize your spinal muscles
- Avoid lifting weights
- Use analgesics like advil or aleve and muscle relaxants as needed. Vitamin B12 supplements may be helpful.
- Intermittent pelvic traction might be helpful to cause a regression of the protruded discs
- Physiotherapy is needed to strengthen your back muscles. Physiotherapy has to be done only after the acute pain has subsided.
If your fail to improve with the above measures, an Epidural steroid injection may provide good symptom relief for a few months.
Hope this information is helpful. Good day
Presence of pain & pins and needles sensations in the leg are indicative of a nerve compression in the lumbar spine by a protruding disc.
The conservative management of this condition includes -
- Absolute bed rest of 24-48 hours
- Avoid excessive forward bending activities as it will worsen the disc protrusion, if you want to bend forwards, you have to keep your hips and knees in some flexion.
- Use a lumbosacral back support to stabilize your spinal muscles
- Avoid lifting weights
- Use analgesics like advil or aleve and muscle relaxants as needed. Vitamin B12 supplements may be helpful.
- Intermittent pelvic traction might be helpful to cause a regression of the protruded discs
- Physiotherapy is needed to strengthen your back muscles. Physiotherapy has to be done only after the acute pain has subsided.
If your fail to improve with the above measures, an Epidural steroid injection may provide good symptom relief for a few months.
Hope this information is helpful. Good day
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