Brusheda

Has anyone tried ibuprofen cream? I injured my knee 3 months ago. Now I am in physical therapy and they keep telling me to take an anti-inflamatory. I am sick of taking oral ibuprofen b/c it messes with my stomach, and who knows what else it is doing to my insides.

kuan

Yeah I have. Didn't seem to work for me. Mine was an ankle sprain.

Three months on Ibuprofen is a long time. If you've been on it consistently for three months I'd have talk with your doctor again.

Anyone here old enough to remember DMSO?

Brusheda

I haven't been on it the whole time. I thought my knee was healing, but when it acted up again two months after injury, I saw a doctor.

Bean Counter

I remember. I trained harness horses in another life. We used to mix it with cortisone & rub it on horse's legs. The DMSO would help drive the cortisone into the muscle. That stuff would make your breath stink.

Carbonfiberboy 

Have you gotten a diagnosis? Had an MRI? In America's current death care system, they'd really like you to either die or just go away. There may be something actually wrong with your knee, which might, like, be fixable. My wife had the same trip with her ankle. Yeah, do this generic knee PT advised by this clueless 22 yr old and take these stronger NSAIDs while your tendon is shredded to zip by a bone spur which could easily be seen on an X-ray, and now have a life-time minor disability. And whatever you do, don't question the doctor-god, 'cause he'll drop you like a hot rock.

Yes, 3 months on ibuprofen is not good. In fact, it's ridiculous. Or maybe I'm just full of it tonight, and you've had big-time knee surgery and are in recovery and it still hurts. Except I don't think it should still be hurting like that. Hell, I blew my Achilles and three months later it still hurt all right, but it was fine to move around on and spin, and I sure wasn't on any meds. A week after my knee surgery, I was back on the bike. YMMV.

Brusheda

My popliteal tendon is injured. The goal is to reduce the inflammation as much as possible to allow it to heal. The physical therapist is having me work on stretching and strenghtening my quads and hips. Apparently they way I have been walking is a bit knock-kneed. This places extra strain on the inside part of my knee.

The orthopedic doctor I went to automatically does x-rays on all of his patients to make sure there isn't a stress fracture or something. He is very experienced. He said that if I am still in pain six months after inury he would order an MRI. He said that by listening to me explain how I hurt my knee and by his physical examination he didn't think there was a need for an MRI. My physical therapist also seems very knowledgeable. The work I am doing is helping, I just hate having to take oral anti-inflammatories.