To be disappointed my scan was normal

[cantdothisanymor]

I saw a physio ages ago and was told I likely had a torn meniscus.

I’ve finally had the scan and the report says all is fine, just a small cyst. It could be a ganglion or a parameniscal. But it’s all fine.

I’ve got an appointment booked in with an orthopaedic consultant to discuss the scan properly but I’m almost sad that I just have to live with this pain now. For the last year I’ve been in agony, every step hurts, and now it turns out it’s just me being a baby.

I could cry, I really thought that I was about to find an answer and a cure. But this is just how I live my life now. I can’t imagine another 70 years of this agony.

At this point I'm wondering if your mental health is ok. You keep berating yourself like this. Multiple people have told you that this CAN be the cause of your pain. But this "I am so etc etc" is wearing. Do you not feel you're overdoing it? The answer is simple you go back. Again and again and someone will listen. Trust me. A cyst in this area can be extremely painful. Just be strong and fight for yourself.

OP I'm really confused by your insistence that a ganglion cyst is "painless" when located in a complex joint like the knee. I mean it's correct that the cyst can be painless by itself if you're always still - i.e not moving, in a comfortable position, but cysts can and do cause agonising knee pain by throwing the knee joint out of alignment each time you move, and causing swelling and inflammation and eventual damage. I've had two in one knee over the years and one in particular was horrendous. I almost fainted at my first physio session before I had a scan to see what it was. It wasn't overly large (3cm I think) but it put pressure on the back of my knee and changed the way my kneecap sat when my knee was bent. Something would catch and release as I walked too, which was nauseating. Mine went away by itself, which apparently 50% of them do. Things that were recommended to me were lots and lots of omega 3 oils to encourage the cyst to deflate naturally, aquatherapy (exercises in water to take the weight off), red light therapy, lots of gentle balance work to strengthen surrounding muscles for support and not over doing it when it was inflamed. Knee braces don't really help because more pressure isn't ideal.
Don't despair, there will be things you can do. It's actually a lot better than having a torn meniscus. I've had/got that too - I have terrible knees, but they don't usually cause me too much pain because I've had lots of practice at looking after them.

A ganglion cyst can cause immense pain, especially if it is pressing on a nearby nerve.

Also, any orthopaedic consultant, rheumatologist, or even a competent physio would tell you scans of people in immense pain are often normal and many people walk around with no pain at all and terrible scans.

Have they ruled out autoimmunes? There are so many things that cause pain, you could have arthritis, or any of a number of autoimmune diseases that cause pain. You may need to go back to your Dr and they can send for blood tests, that's how I found out I had a few.

I've got a ganglion cyst in my left foot and you'd better believe it is most definitely painful. It just isn't always painful because it seems to come and go. It's always there (in scans) but it isn't always noticeable to me until it flares up. Then, every step is painful.

I've just read an MRI report of my wrist/hand that mentions a number of cysts. Cysts themselves don't necessarily cause pain but where they are located can. They can be drained/removed depending on whether they are causing issues.
At the moment, I'm wearing a brace. Sure, a brace isn't going to make a cyst go away but it can stabilise your movement to lessen any irritation of the cyst.

You should also consider your feet OP. How you stand/walk. See if there is anything there that will impact your knee/s.

You are not a passenger, no need to 'give up' because you'd decided you had a tear so anything 'less' is disappointing.

You obviously are in pain. You haven’t wasted anyone’s time. My DM had chronic back pain, she had about 10 mri’s never showed anything with worn down muscles yet she couldn’t walk with the intense pain. Could it be nerve damage?

I had multiple scans that said my pancreas was fine. I knew it was not (not least the severe pain I was in). You don’t get pain when all is fine. Eventually I had a major surgery, and even before that the scans didn’t look terrible, but what the surgeon found was bad. Scans don’t always show the whole picture. Can you see a physio / osteopath?

Take your results to a second opinion.

I would choose to see a sports medicine clinic that deals full time with sports injuries to knees.

Constant pain is not an option. There must be something a specialist would advise - exercise, minor surgery, different medication, etc. . I am not a medico.

"ganglion cyst, which is a painless benign cyst. "
They can be very painful.

Try taking glucosomine with turmeric and omega 3. My consultant recommended it. I was in the same position as you - I thought he was going to make me better but these tablets have helped.

The sciatic nerves start in the lower back and run through the buttocks and lower legs, so there would be pain in the lower back and buttocks, radiating down the back of the leg. The pain wouldn’t start in the knee and end in the thigh and calf if it was sciatica.

If you have pinching and crushing sensations, that suggests the cyst is sitting on, or pressing on a nerve.

Thank you. With respect, I suffer from sciatica in my knee, thigh and calf.

Exactly
my son’s caused pain and limited his participation in sport, the consultant said there was no point in just draining it. He had the procedure in NHS minor surgery during lockdown, so it must have been a priority. They had to cut really quite deep to get it all

Perhaps it's a good idea for the OP to have her appointment with the consultant first?

And with respect so do I. Starts in my lower back and radiates down the back of my left leg right to the ankle.

Are we playing sciatica bingo now?

I’m not, are you ?