I just returned from the doctor because the pain in my knee I was talking about a week or so ago has not gone away. This pain usually occurs after about 20-30 minutes of bowling and usually is so painful that it hurts to DRIVE home from bowling class, let alone bowl or walk around and do normal things.
It turns out that I have a form of Osgood-Schlatter disease, which apparently has been affecting me since I was about 12 years old when I was active in basketball and football. If you’re like me and don’t like clicking on links until after you’ve read the whole post, or you don’t understand familydoctor.org, this is basically what’s happening.
The muscle from my quad tore a piece of bone off of my shin (which causes the pain and swelling in my knee and shin) when I was younger, and has still not healed or gone away. The constant squatting motion of playing offensive line in football, or how I used to play basketball (with wreckless abandon for my knees or the person I was boxing out. I also liked to take charges and dive a lot in practice.) is the most likely cause. Why it has not healed after about 3 years of playing football and occasionally playing basketball I don’t know. I might still be growing, even though I’m 20 years old, which would be weird.
If the pain continues I may not be able to bowl for the rest of the semester, my doctor said he would work with me. He wrote me a prescription for an anti-inflammatory today, so I’m going to see how it works out tomorrow, and see if the pain goes away while I bowl. The chance of that happening though seems pretty slim right now, which is a major bummer. Especially considering bowling is what I look forward to on Monday’s and Wednesday’s. It’s kind of like a reward for dealing with the people in my Study Skills class every week.
My Study Skills teacher would be proud, I’ve found an extrinsic reward for attending study skills.
11 responses so far ↓
Aitch // Feb 15, 2005 at 4:34 pm
Glucosamine Chondtrotin baby!
My Dog swears by it!
(She has to take 1500 mg a day for her torn ligaments in both knees… she got the torn ligaments from repeatedly jumping off high docks into Priest Lake at 40MPH. What can you say to her, she’s a lab?!)
Ern // Feb 15, 2005 at 5:30 pm
Sports injuries blow! Especially the ones that sort of drag on for years. I’m way too young to be complaining about my shoulder and my ankle. And you are too young to have to grunt and groan over a knee injury! Ah, the tragedies brought by an overly competitive youth.
Anonymous // Feb 15, 2005 at 6:39 pm
my son has this and i have posted a litle on it. let me know if you would like more info.
amanda
http://argblog.typepad.com
aggierae@cox.net
anna // Feb 15, 2005 at 7:19 pm
I suffered from this in the 5th grade. I was advised not to play during PE, and that’s about it. But I still have a small lump directly under my knee where the pain was.
Amanda B. // Feb 15, 2005 at 10:03 pm
Ouch. That sucks, sorry you have to deal with that. And OUCH.
I dunno, my friend Jeff grew 6 inches after high school. A few of those inches were after the age of 20.
I have fibromyalgia, so I understand. It sucks to hurt and not be able to do things that you enjoy. Hopefully you will heal, and be able to bowl in the future. Cause I know you look hot in those shoes.
__snowflake__ // Feb 16, 2005 at 8:19 am
Bananahead, I’m leaving a comment. My comment is: my uncle didn’t stop growing until he was 28.
Oh, and sorry about the possible loss of bowling. That sucks.
Honey Bunny // Feb 16, 2005 at 9:01 am
yikes, GEORGE!
take care of yourself.
my stomach hurts bad today. i guess we’re both in pain.
Anonymous // Feb 16, 2005 at 9:59 am
My youngest son was diagnosed with O-S when he was in 8th grade. He grew 7 inches in 6 months, and 3 shoe sizes (although his size 13 doesn’t quite match with his uncle).
He had to dress for PE, but was medically excused from actually doing anything strenuous for the whole Spring semester. Now at almost 20, he still gets aches in his knees when he jogs too long.
And a friend’s son grew 2 1/2inches his first year of college.
It sucks about missing bowling, but listen to your doctor.
Long-term, your body will be grateful. ~~MrsDoF
Sarah // Feb 16, 2005 at 12:26 pm
I was diagnosed with Osgood-Schlatter disease when I was 12. They said it would go away after puberty. I am now 28, and it has not gone away. It sucks so bad. I’m sorry you have to deal with it, too. On the bright side, I can tell when it’s going to rain because I can feel it in my knees. Good luck! I hope you get to bowl!
anna-bellie // Feb 16, 2005 at 5:07 pm
my bro josef has O-S. he’s had it for a while now, playing football. he has a brace that he wears that helps with the pain when he does physical activity. that sucks kid.
Hindrance | veryGEORGE!.com // Jan 30, 2008 at 8:02 pm
[...] originally wrote about my knee pain back in 2005 when I was in bowling class and started experiencing pain after bowling a few frames. That pain [...]
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