I Have A Swollen, Very Painful Knee. I Have Had

Posted on Sun, 9 Dec 2018

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sun, 9 Dec 2018 Answered on

Last reviewed on

Question : I have a swollen, very painful knee. I have had this before and my orthopedic would give me a cortisone shot and all would be well for several months. This time besides the pain and swelling my knee clicks and makes the most unusual sounds. My doctor won’t be back till January. What can I do to relieve the pain

Answered by Dr. Dr. Prasad J (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Acute exacerbation of osteoarthritis...

Detailed Answer:
Hi,

This seems to be acute exacerbation of osteoarthiritis. The clicks and sounds arising from knee are part of osteoarthritis symptoms, If the knee cortisone injections helped last time, we should try this again. But I understand the doctor is away.

Until then there are some measures like icing the area, resting / immobilization and over the counter pain medications available to treat the problem. However based on the severity, I am not sure how far these home measures will be helpful. Therefore in my opinion, the best approach will be to visit ER and explain the situation. ER doctors should be able to prescribe pain medications most like opioid drugs until the doctor is back for cortisone shots.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you need clarifications.

Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad