To be disappointed my scan was normal

I watched a TV programme a while ago. Dr Rangan Chatterjee was talking about a girl who had had an injury and was still feeling pain even though the injury had long healed. She saw someone who helped her reprogramm her brain to not feel the pain anymore.

I’m a little bit confused by your attitude. You say things like you are “a baby” a “twat” and your “pain has been invalidated”. Are you in a lot of pain or not? If you are then you are neither of those things regardless of the MRI result. It could be you have a low pain or something else. And for the record I had a cyst on the wrist and it was so very painful even though it was benign and once I got my result I didn’t think well it’s just a cyst I’m such a baby I went great what can we do to fix it?

edited to add: I’m also assuming you’re not a doctor so maybe let the specialist let you know what his/her thoughts are before jumping to conclusion.

you might just get lucky and find that the ortho consultant knows a bit more about knees than you do…. cysts are commonly caused by meniscal tears and not all meniscal tears are visible on MRI. The radiologist can only report what they can see and static imaging does not always give all the answers. The orthopaedic consultant can correlate that scan with your examination findings and symptoms.

Yes, your GP CAN refer you to pain clinic and you don’t have to be bed bound for referral. if they say no then you go and see another GP because they are wrong. Yours sincerely, a pain clinic Nurse

You really need to wait and see what the consultant says.Even if they don't usually treat ganglion's on the NHS in your area, I think they'll do this one, even if only to rule it out as the cause of your pain.

OP pain is really complex and doesn't always involve something structural, or if it does it may only be a small part of the picture. Some people have meniscus tears on MRI and have no pain at all. It's dangerous to rely on imaging alone. Have the orthopaedic follow up and see what they suggest. How you perceive your pain will have an impact on how you manage your recovery.

I’ve not read all the replies @cantdothisanymor but have seen your responses. Regarding a pain clinic referral, if this is suggested, it can be made by your GP & from experience they’re more than happy to make them rather than a patient continuing with strong pain relief that might not be achieving anything. Please keep this in mind. There are other options available - this isn’t the end of the road.

Good God you are loving this ‘poor poor me’ martyr scenario aren’t you

Could it be your back? I have pain in my knee. Had it for years, had worn a brace, thought it was arthritis and I would need a joint replacement. Turns out it is referred pain from pressure on my sciatic nerve. Lots of physio and a daily exercise program have massively improved it.

so what are you going to do about this then? Calling yourself a twat and an idiot isn’t helping is it? Go and ask for further investigations

I think you need to take a step back OP, your reaction is quite bizarre. From v bitter experience I fully understand chronic illness and pain, yet scans and tests coming back 'fine'. I didn't once feel like an idiot or baby tho - I knew 100% i had the symptoms, but whatever was wrong wasnt being picked up. I just kept on pressing for answers tho.
I had problem with my hip that left me almost unable to walk. The scan showed a cyst. The cyst was benign and painless BUT it was pressing on the tendon which was causing the pain. The cyst was aspirated and it pretty much solved the issue.
Even if the same problem isnt causing your pain SOMETHING is, so refuse to stop exploring what it could be and what can be done

I mean this in the kindest way possible that the only thing making you seem stupid here is your weird replies.

OP, my DH had awful knee pain for years, stopped him doing any exercise or walking any distance. He was late 20s. No real clear answer why, no physio helped, but the pain was awful and made him really depressed. The medical advice was to just rest it and do nothing, which was awful when he was so young.

He saw a new physio who made him close his eyes and put pressure on different parts of his body, while making him lift his leg. Normally that would have been so painful - but he felt nothing.

It turned out that after a genuine injury, his brain has rewired how it interpreted pain signals. And it had to relearn what pain was normal, but he felt better in a month.

It wasn't because he was being a wuss or making it up, there was a genuine issue, but it took about 5 physios to suggest this and actually help.

Your pain is real, and a problem - I just wanted to share in case the solution may be similar. But even if it's not, your pain is still real and isn't just you being stupid.

One of two things is going on:

1. you have an unexplained condition like a small tear they cannot see - and this is causing you pain
2. you have a ganglion cyst - and this is (somehow)

either way, YOU’RE in pain and you’re not fucking making it up. You need to trust yourself more and advocate until you get whatever’s causing you treated

I have a friend who had a meniscus tear they didn’t find, she also thought a bit like you (thought it was in her head) then ran on it and it tore further. But it was a blessing as it was repaired and she’s now fully healed, can run and crucially is NOT in pain.

Don't be silly. Of course there's something wrong. You are in pain. That means something is wrong. This specific scan was not successful at finding out what. That doesn't mean there's nothing wrong with you and certainly doesn't mean you have to live with the pain for the rest of your life. You may be seeing the wrong specialists - nerves are funny things and sometimes our brains don't interpret the sensation in the "expected" way so the scan may not have focused on the right thing.

This is not true. They can be painless cysts but they can also be very painful. I've looked after loads of patients who have had them surgically excised as they cause pain.

I think you should go to your private consultation. It may not require an expensive fix, it may be that it can be aspirated. Or if it does need surgery, some private consultants will agree to add you to their NHS waiting list if they operate on both.

You aren't a baby or an idiot or any of those other things you have called yourself. Many people experience pain and scans don't find the cause of it- this doesn't mean they aren't experiencing pain.

But you haven’t been told that everything is fine and left to get on with it. You’ve got an appointment with an orthopaedic surgeon, who will be able to work out how to alleviate the pain you’re in from the cyst. Be glad you haven’t a torn meniscus at your age - they rarely heal well, and often need repeated arthroscopies to clear out pieces which tear off and foul the joint. A cyst should be much more successfully treatable, a single arthroscopic procedure should deal with it, if it’s within the joint capsule.

Your reaction is irrational and disproportionate. Do you have any mental health issues which would cause this extreme negativity and blowing things up out of proportion? You are still only part way through the investigations for your pain, and haven’t discussed treatment at all yet.

@SideboobToYouToo

No it isn't. Yes I understand some people who are handed diagnosis wish that their tests had been clear. But a clear scan or test result can also be very frustrating and disappointing. I received a test result today that was clear, if it hadn't been clear, I would have received the diagnosis for something that is very easily treatable. Now I am facing weeks, maybe months of more tests and investigations and possibly a more serious diagnosis at the end of it. I also wish that my test results hadn't been clear.

Are you always so hard on yourself? Your allowed to still be in pain if you have a cyst, your leg doesn’t have to be physically hanging off

I get that you are really disappointed OP as you thought you would get a clear diagnosis that would lead to a guaranteed treatment to make the pain go away and you had pinned all your hopes on that. I have a lot of sympathy for you - as do many other posters - living with chronic pain is really hard, demoralising & debilitating. Your view of the world becomes narrow & limited and naturally you focus on the pain and life becomes greyer as a result.

Please don’t give up. When you have had a chance to mentally process the report, read the suggestions on this thread, there are many good ones. Talk to people, join a support group, find people who know what you are going through to help you advocate for yourself even when you have lost hope.

Thinking of you (my ongoing trouble is my ankle so I really do sympathise )

I had an appointment with a senior physio at the Pain Clinic the other week after over a decade of suffering chronic pain and being pushed from pillar to post and I hope what he told me, helps you.

He said that scans are no good for picking up pain itself and just because a scan comes back as "normal" doesn't mean that there's nothing wrong or that your pain is imagined and "in your head". A scan can only pick up injuries to bones and muscles etc but don't pick up on nerve pain for example and that physios are now reducing how many MRIs they send patients for because recently old long held beliefs about pain have been debunked and he actually said that "pain is NEVER all in your head" (which is something a previous physio had said was what was going on with me - he was later proven wrong).

All of the above is me paraphrasing what he said but I remembered it all because it was the first real time I've seen a physio who actually listened to me.
You are definitely NOT being a baby - chronic pain is never as visible to others as us sufferers actually FEEL it - I have Spinal Stenosis but not even my DH realises just how much pain I'm in daily and he's supportive - it's just that it's difficult for others to understand your levels of pain and the impact it actually has on you because we all suffer pain differently and have different thresholds.

Hopefully your consultant will be as helpful with you as mine was with me - perhaps write a pain diary from now until your appointment if you've not already done so.

Your pain is real and if its chronic pain, there IS help out there that WILL make your life easier - good luck at your appointment and don't be afraid to speak up for yourself, be honest and I promise, you will get through this - chronic pain can and does cause depression and anxiety and anger and frustration plus affects your sleep cycle but there really is plenty of help out there.

Has an actual medical doctor told
you that or are you getting this from google?

You are massively overreacting due to what you perceive as the removal of hope OP.

You are in pain. Just because the scan didn't show a reason doesn't mean that isn't true. Ganglion cysts in joints aren't always painless as they can cause nerve pain. I know you've said it's not in the same place, but referred pain is a real thing. My DM spent a year practically unable to walk due to knee pain, turns out it was actually her back, after many many tests, but the pain had referred to her knee due to the way she was walking to compensate for the back niggle she had.

It's not the end. You cannot give up and live a life of pain because one scan didn't give you the answer you assumed it would. Stop being defeatist and advocate for yourself.

I was in absolute agony with the one on my foot. The cyst itself is harmless but it depends what it's pressing on. I had it drained and the relief was instant.