A 57 year old lady presents with 2 months of ongoing posterior (behind) knee pain which only came on after she had surgery to remove a large Baker’s cyst which was causing her pain and discomfort. Normally these fluid filled cysts are left alone or just aspirated +/- steroid injection. A Baker’s cyst usually occurs in the context of a knee ligamentous injury or osteoarthritis when an excessive amount of fluid is produced leading to cyst formation. My patient had osteoarthritis so when there was pain after her surgery, the orthopedic surgeon suggested she go for a total knee replacement.
She did not feel this was appropriate as even though she had knee osteoarthritis, she never had this pain until AFTER the surgery. Her pain was always there – she was unable to kneel and it woke her up at night multiple times. On examination, she was tender over the surgical scar behind the knee, and was sensitive to touch lightly over the back and inside of her knee and calf area. These are classic signs of nerve sensitisation which if not treated early can lead to even worse chronic nerve pain.
Treatment:
I decided to use Korean Hand Acupuncture (KHA) – a similar system to the ear acupuncture only that I’m using the hands to treat all the pains in the body. Every session consisted of lasering the relevant point and sending my patient home with a press pellet. A press pellet (pictured) is a small round ball of metal that is stuck with some tape on top of an acupuncture point. If you press on the ball, it will apply focal pressure to the skin and stimulate the point (aka acupressure).
Session #1: Laser acupuncture KHA point for posterior knee. Press pellet applied.
Session #2: Laser acupuncture KHA point for medial (inner side) knee. Press pellet applied.
After these two session – she could now kneel. She had not been able to do so for 2 months due to the pain. She now sleeps through the night without waking up from the pain.
Session #3: Laser acupuncture KHA point for anterior (front) knee. Press pellet applied.
I eagerly await the results of the next visit. She has made a 75% improvement to her symptoms. With her positive response, I am aiming for a 90 – 100% improvement to symptoms and I anticipate this may take another 3 or so sessions spaced further apart.
Luckily she did not have the total knee replacement as her knee pain was definitely NOT osteoarthritis pain – it was post surgical nerve pain. Acupuncture has great results in neuropathic pain treatment.
