Case Summary  |  Knee problems worsened by car accident resulting in pain in back as well

Initially, I started to have trouble with my knees after roller blading one day. The pain continued and never seemed to get better, so I made an appointment with my orthopedic doctor. After x-ray analysis and sending me out to get more tests, he found that my right leg was actually .5in. shorter than the left, thus calling for the use of orthotics or "shoe inserts" along with a knee brace, and also strengthening exercises. All of this really seemed to help a lot, but I was still getting shooting pain in my knee every now and then, so at my recheck visit I asked a bout a cortisone shot which my doctor readily assented to. Not only was the shot itself very painful, and I have a high tolerance for pain (I've had three children without epidurals), but it actually seemed to be worsened after the injection. It took about a month before the affects of the shot finally wore off though. About a year after doing all of this work, I was hit by a drunk driver, while I was pregnant with number three, and my knee was severely injured and so was my ankle and then began the back problems.. I immediately began to see a chiropractor and a physical therapist on a regular basis. The physical therapist gave me so many exercises and also did ice and ultrasound to my ankle, which really relieved a lot of pain and I believe helped me walk again without a limp. This was also the effect of seeing the chiropractor almost 3 days a week, as well. I improved dramatically from seeing the chiropractor and the physical therapist, but I still have flare ups with my knee. My back and ankle are completely restored back to normal. I just have to remember to do strengthening exercises for my knee and back and I also try to do other exercises to lose weight because that really made a big difference in how my knee felt.