Plica Syndrome??? please help!

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nickshmel wrote:

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In all honestly, I have my doubts about "plica syndrome. I will admit I'm not in the medical field though. I was diagnosed with this several years ago and the two options given were surgery or to try specific strengthening exercises. I went with the strengthening, which I did on my own, and it eventually resolved.

With leads to my doubts.

On the other hand I have a friend who saw the same doctor and had the same procedure done, which also resolved her situation.

I'm generally a skeptic on things like this so perhaps my view is bias.

If you go under the knife and have funds to travel I would suggest the following individual who has worked with many well known sports figures and many runners.

He is getting up there in age so I'm unsure as to his actual involvement in surgery.

There are probably others throughout the US too but this is what I know and his history with this subject and athletes is deep.

Wow, and apparently I should proofread for grammatical errors next time....

Thanks for the reply!

I am in the SF Bay Area. Anyone have any recommendations on a good running doctor near by? Or any more advice?

Thanks again.

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You should be able to easily feel your inflamed plica if that is what you truly have. Cortisone, rest, switching to neutral shoes, and improving my quad strength resolved mine for good.

Dr said it takes him about 15 mins to take the plica out, if necessary.

When my knee is bent all the way, I can take my finger and rub/dig into the top medial side of my patella and generate pain/soreness. When my knee is slightly bent (like sitting at a desk) for an hour or so. I can feel a catch/ crack/ popping when I straighten the knee again for the first time. I also have an increasing dull pain after walking downhill (streets of SF) in the morning. I have gotten 2 Cortisone shots which helped alot 1 week after but then wore off in about 3 months... during which I started a light running regimen building up to about 15 miles per week... The pain would then start about 1/2 mile into my run and gradually get more intense... to the point where I would call it and walk home. Riding the bike also aggravates it.

The MRI is 2 years old but showed a "small effusion" and a small medial plica "without shelf like extension"

I have done a 12 week PT program with focus on building quad strength and stability in my core and hips. Some of the exercise's actually aggravated and caused pain. I started Yoga 2-3 times a week for 1 year with focus on flexibility with no improvements.

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I myself had my plica removed 2.5 years early on in my college career. I tried a lot of different things like prp,cortizone, PT, rest, etc. I was very skeptical at first about it but ended having it done because I couldn't more than 3 miles without pain. The surgery is not evassive at all and you start rehab right away moving and walking and doing whatever to can until you start PT. I personally rebounded pretty quickly from it and was able to get back to high mileage rather quicker than I expected. Hope this helps and best of luck to you.

I had sore knee for years with similar symptoms to you. Running and cycling aggravated the pain. I eventually had surgery and plica was removed. This sorted the pain and five years on all still fine. It took me a few months to get back to light jogging after surgery, but one year on I was beating previous PRs simply because I could string together decent training blocks without pain. So for me surgery worked!

Hi Nickshmel, I was reading this post and wanted to know what you eventually ended up doing? Did it work? I have the same problem.