I m only 21 and my left knee has always given me problems for as long as I can remember but when I started dancing 3 years ago, it has gotten worse. The pain started out above my knee cap on the left side. My orthopedic told me I had excess fluid and that my plica keeps getting inflamed and that it is like sand paper and no longer smooth. So I ve been getting cortisone shots every 4-8 months for almost three years now and the shots really help ease the pain.. then when the pain comes back, I just get another shot. He recommended surgery to avoid so many cortisone shots since their bad for you in the long run, but I just can t afford to take so many weeks off of work at the moment. It s been about 5 months since my last shot and I ve had minor pain since randomly but it didn t last long and was bearable. The thing is, for the past few months my pain is no longer above my knee cap on the left side. It s been more on the left side directly beside my knee cap and more behind it. And the past couple days it s been very painful. Sometimes when I m just standing with my weight more on my left leg or walk quickly... it like gives out and I have to catch myself and get all my weight off it immediately. Last night after work it was bothering me so much that I slept with my legged propped up hoping that elevating it would help.. but when I woke up today still in pain, I realized the head of my fibula is sticking out. I didn t fall on it or anything so I called my orthopedic and he won t be able to see me for over a month! And I tried talking to a nurse to get some information and to see if this needed immediate attention but I couldn t get through and they still haven t replied to my voice-mail. I m curious to why/ how the head of my fibula is sticking out and what to do about it since I can t be seen by my doctor for a little over a month..