I finally read my report of the x-rays of my knees. When the doctor called me he said there was some liquid in one knee and that if I ate a billion painkillers for a week it would go away. That wouldn’t explain my 10+ years of on and off pain though. So, I wanted to read the report and yesterday I could log in and see for myself. Yes, it read “suggestion of small knee effusion” in both left and right knee, aka a little liquid in my knees. So what causes this? Well, there can be many reasons but my google search said it can be injury (which I haven’t had any), overuse (well, duh, I’ve been a dancer my whole life) or chronic health conditions like osteoarthritis.
When I went to see the doctor in June, the very first thing he said just by feeling my knees a little bit was that it seems to be arthritis. That’s what I got bummed about. I kinda thought it could be. A few years ago I went to check a rash on my eye and it turned out I have psoriasis which can cause joint stiffness. Psoriasis and joint pain like arthritis exists in my family so I wasn’t chocked by this news, it’s just not the most exciting thing to hear.
It all makes sense. My feet has gotten extremely stiff over the past years when I haven’t done ballet, or any dance for that matter. My knees has been overused every single day for over 25 years as a dancer. If I have psoriasis and that can cause joint stiffness and I also have liquid in knees that can be cause by osteoarthritis, then I have got a pretty good idea what the heck is going on. I was thinking that I have to go see someone else to get a clear answer on if it is in fact any kind of arthritis, but I don’t think I need to.
I wanted to rule out skeleton problems, and now I have, there’s nothing wrong with my bones. If it’s temporarily liquid or chronic arthritis, then either way, I have to take care of my body better. Eat more of anti-inflammatory foods, avoid the food that triggers it, move my joints on daily basis (like I already do) but not over-do the same movements over and over like I know I can do sometimes, and the best of all: noone can force me to go on a long boring run:)
It’s a lifelong process and it’s ok. We all have lifelong processes to care for our bodies, we only have one, so there isn’t really any difference now. For two weeks now I have been paying a lot more attention to how my knees feel from day to day and then connect it with: moving too much, moving too little, did I eat a lot of sugar, eat enough broccoli etc.
This is good news to me, believe it or not. I’ve been terrified that I would end up in the hospital with broken bones every time I feel discomfort in my knees. If I can figure out the best way to live with stiff joints, then I don’t have to walk around in fear of getting broken legs anymore.
And today the doctor called me and gave me the results of the blood test I did two weeks ago. “Bullseye” was the word he used, haha. Apparently I’m extremely healthy, he said. Yay!