How Can A Baker's Cyst Behind The Knee Be Treated?

Posted on Thu, 5 Jan 2017

Question: I have had a large Bakers cyst behind my right knee for about 12 years. There is not any pain however I believe I may be getting on on the back of my left knee now as well.

They are not painful but are uncomfortable. Most doctors just say to leave them alone alone if there's no pain. however last year I did have a lot of edema in my R ankle. R ankle measured 2" larger than the left ankle. Both legs felt tired and heavy. Dr did DVT ultra sound and no deep vein thrombosis evident.

It took about 6 months and I then realized I had been taking a multiple vitamin that contained 600mg MSM, not sure if MSM is a sulfa based drug but I am sensitive to sulfa drugs (I do break out in a rash/hives)

I stopped the vitamins and about 3-4 months later the legs returned to normal (slim ankles returned again) it bothers me that there was never a definitive diagnosis?

Is there a correlation between DVT and Bakers Cysts and can Bakers Cysts cause pain the legs?

Answered by Dr. Divakara (4 hours later)

Brief Answer:
No relation of Baker's cyst and DVT

Detailed Answer:
HI

Thanks for choosing HCM.

1. Most of the times Baker's cyst doesn't cause pain . It just causes swelling around the knee joint . But sometimes it can cause pain around Knee and calf region.

2. Baker's cyst can sometime cause swelling of Calf but swelling of Ankles is very rare . If the swelling is very big it can compress the blood flow in the leg region and cause swelling of Ankles. But definitely it shall not cause DVT. ( But can mimic DVT )

As of your Ankle oedema is concerned there are many causes for that. For example :

-- Low Protein, Low Haemoglobin .
-- Heart Problem.
-- Liver Problem.
-- Kidney Problem .
-- DVT, Varicose veins .
-- Drug Induced.

Since you have noticed a resolution of Ankle swelling after stopping MSM we can assume that the swelling was a side effect of MSM. But if the swelling recurs you need to get evaluated for the above mentioned conditions.

Hope this information was useful to you.
Any clarifications feel free to ask.

Regards.

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar