To be disappointed my scan was normal

Why have you concluded there’s nothing wrong just because you don’t have a torn meniscus?

This cyst or ganglion could cause the pain or other knee problems with treatments or focused physiotherapy/injections to soothe pain…

Benign means it isn't cancer not that it isn't a problem.

Is this just an NHS bashing thread?

So do you get an excruciating catching pinching feeling at the back of your knee. Does it give way randomly?

Yep
my son has had 2 removed, one on his knee and one near his eye

If you are in pain there is something wrong - and via the scan you have just ruled out a whole host of things.
You're gutted because without a diagnosis you feel in limbo because you can't treat something you don't know.
The last 12 months have been the hardest of my 15 year olds life for exactly the same reason - unknown knee pain, clear MRI, ortho consultant couldn't figure it out. Physio not doing anything. We finally saw head honcho consultant (clinic is in his name) and he figured out the issue in about 5 mins. 6 months later she is finally getting less pain and back to normal, but every 6 weeks for 8 months she went to consultant with hope that this time there would be an answer and every time no idea and no sport felt worse & worse.
Keep going OP - answer is out there somewhere

Scans don’t show everything. I had chronic lateral knee pain from an old injury and was referred for suspected torn meniscus. The MRI showed a discoid meniscus (normal variant) and nothing else but at arthroscopy they found thick adhesions within the joint space. They removed these and washed the joint out. I was pain free for ten years and then for ten years after that I’ve had only occasional pain when I overdo it that is managed easily with over the counter painkillers.

Don’t give up hope, OP. See what the consultant says.

Cartilage in the knee. It stops your knee bones grinding against each other.

No disrespect to gps but your gp is not the specialist in this area. Wait until you see the consultant and don’t give up hope.

So if it’s a parameniscal cyst then it’s most likely from a tiny tear of your meniscus, we might not necessarily see that on the scan. That is a decent sized cyst to be sitting anteriorly in your knee. It’s definitely not normal. I’d be waiting to see what the surgeon says but I’d say you have most likely found the cause of your knee pain. I report these scans.

The ‘it’s your weight’ story is the lazy option fur anyone, including doctors, who don’t know the answer or can’t be bothered to find it.

YABU for expecting us all to know what a meniscus is.

IT IS NOT ALL IN YOUR HEAD

And I’ll repeat again

IT IS NOT ALL IN YOUR HEAD

If you’re in pain, you are in pain.
Please don’t talk yourself into thinking it’s not real, theres nothing wrong with you.
im more and more getting the feeling a few people have told you that or infer it. Don’t believe them. Even if it’s your GP. Even if it’s a close family member. Theyre talking shit if they’re going that route.

Stop googling. You are on a diagnosis pathway and you have completed the MRI portion. Now take the next step of getting professional analysis of the images.

Knees are complex joints with lots of potential for developing painful conditions. The consultant will be aware of these different conditions. See what he or she thinks is the most likely condition to be causing your pain.

find another physio! I trashed my knee going hip deep in a bog dog walking when I was almost 60. First physio I went to said torn meniscus, get a knee washout. I wasn't keen so I went to another physio, a great bloke who said he too had got a dodgy knee and there is no way in hell he would have a knee wash out. he treated my knee and gave me home exercises and a method for home treatment and I am pretty much pain free even though its now 15 years later. I have got some limitations, mainly going up and down stairs but I still drive, do all my own gardening and generally exist pain free. Try and find a sports physio and ask around for suggestions.

Have you heard of referred pain by the way? Where we feel pain isn't necessarily where the problem is.

Do NOT self sabotage by cancelling that appointment. You are clearly in a bad place mentally because you are catastrophising and reading things that aren't there. I do understand your disappointment that you haven't had the clear-cut answer you hoped for, but there is a potential answer and solution so don't sabotage that because you're upset.

Go to the appointment and discuss what they're going to do about your pain. If you cancel you're the one responsible for turning your fears into a self-fulfilling prophecy.

And stop relying on Google to assist in your catastrophising. It gets stuff wrong.

I had this. Two years of pain. MRI scan showed nothing much. I insisted that something needed to be done. I couldn’t function. So
they put me down for a steroid injection.
I had to fight for it because they put me down as routine rather than urgent. So
i kept phoning the consultants secretary.
she got me upgraded to urgent. Had the injection one month ago. IT HAS REALLY HELPED!!! Fight for yourself. When you see the orthopaedic surgeon say something needs to be done. Don’t be robbed off. Stay sitting in the chair until they make a suggestion. Lay it on thick.

Just to add, I hope you get some answers OP 💐

Scans don’t show if you are in pain or not. I get you are disappointed it didn’t show what you thought it would but you are being really defeatist.

I know 2 people who have had ganglion cysts removed that were causing them pain.

I have a frozen shoulder/shoulder impingement. I had an x ray and ultrasound and they only showed mild osteoarthritis - nothing to explain the pain and restriction I am experiencing. I had 2 cortisone injections that did nothing and have had physio over several weeks. The pain is better(not gone but improved) but the movement isn’t any better. No one can explain what’s going on but I am not imagining it and I am not going to be discharged without further investigation if it stays like this.

Just because the scans don’t explain the pain, doesn’t make it less real. You go to your gp and get referred. Don’t take no for an answer. If you go in making out you are just bring a wuss the. They won’t do anything. You have to advocate for yourself.

You are also wrong to say you can’t get a referral to a pain clinic unless you are bed bound. That’s utter rubbish. It’s usually what ends up happening when your pain affects your quality of life but there is no orthopaedic or other (obvious clinical) reason for it.

Hi OP

Just because your scan is normal doesn't mean that you don't have pain. We don't see pain on a scan - it's microscopic chemical molecules.

The example I use for patients is of migraine - everyone knows what a migraine is, and no-one gets accused of making up pain from a migraine, but if you do blood tests or put someone into a head scanner while they are having a migraine, you won't see anything different from what you would see if you did those tests when they were well.

It's like if your computer doesn't work - you could lift the bonnet and see a wire out of place and that's the problem - that's what a scan does, looks for a structural thing that might be causing the issue. However, there is also a situation where your computer won't start and everything looks fine to the eye, but the software isn't running properly, and that's more like the situation you are in.

I'd be doing an MRI scan of the knee to see if something needed surgery, and if it doesn't then the best treatment is physiotherapy and painkillers.

OP, I’m a doctor but not of this area. Remember that investigations such as scans are used to diagnose conditions, but they are also used to rule out conditions. So if this is not a meniscal tear, but you are still in a lot of pain, then there has to be another diagnosis. They will then have to explore another route.

That’s how differential diagnoses and investigations work. In the nicest possible way, you need to get a grip and carry on. That can be really difficult when you’re in chronic pain. But this investigation has been helpful as it has excluded a tear, but now they need to look for something else. The cause of the pain. No need to give up yet, I promise.