Knee bursitis - housemaid's knee

[Arjimlad]

I've had an enlarged sac of fluid in front of my right kneecap for about 3 years now. It came on after kneeling on a laminate floor to paint a skirting board.

If I have time off the bike, it does diminish, but I like riding too much - I shouldn't have to give up riding at 40 because of a stupid knee !

I have been to the GP at my surgery, who has a special interest in joints and knees.

He said that as I am a desk jockey rather than a carpet fitter, he'd advise leaving it alone unless it causes me pain.

He said there was no reason not to cycle and in short, nothing to worry about - and any procedures he might advise carry a risk of causing more problems, or simply not working at all.

It's not given me any pain at all, ever.

It just looks & feels like I've had a modest boob implant on my kneecap. The thing is about 4cm diameter and 10mm thick in the middle. Just seems to be getting bigger & bigger at the moment though.

I do worry that there might be something wrong in the knee which causes the bursitis, which ought to be looked at, or that I might have more trouble later in life if I don't get it sorted out now. I wonder if there's some friction on the kneecap which makes the bursitis worse.

Anyone else on here have a similar affliction ?

 

[MontyVeda]

yup... like yours it caused no pain or discomfort and my doctor said it should disperse in time.

I was gutted that it was diagnosed as 'housemaids knee' rather than something a bit more manly!

Mine did disperse after a month or two and didn't affect my cycling.

What does your doctor think about wearing a compression knee support to help disperse it? I didn't do this, just throwing out an idea which may be worth considering.

 

[Arjimlad]

Dr (recently) said nothing to be done, just live with it.

I'm possibly getting a bit hypochondriacal about it though.. it's been three years !

I took a look at the links on other knee-related threads on here and may have to do some exercises & see if they improve matters.

 

[ianrauk]

Yup, another sufferer here.
Popped up on my knee like a golf ball under the skin.
Quite painful at the time but it soon subsided and disappeared. I think a good dose of Ibroprufen helped. Though the doc said it could come back anytime.

 

[Arjimlad]

I'll resume rubbing ibuprofen gel into the thing. Although it might make me think of Keira Knightley!

 

[Arsen Gere]

I had one for 3 months after laying decking. It subsided eventually, the doc kept telling me to take ibuprofen. The under lying problem took 6-8 years to sort itself out but it did go.