7 Years of Leg Stiffness Worsening

[SwiftTaySwift20]

I haven't posted on here in awhile but my leg stiffness continues to get worse. I have had this condition for over 7 years now and for a time it seemed like my condition had stabilized but now its getting worse again. I started getting a really bad flare of stiffness in both of my hamstrings in May that wouldn't release. The muscles kept pulling and pulling until I started developing burning pain on the back and medial side of my left knee. I thought it was just tendonitis and tried rest, ice and ibuprofen which helped some but the pain returned as soon as I tried to walk slowly on a treadmill at about 3 mph. The tightness became so bad I had to alter the way I moved and how I would bend down to pick things up off the floor. The tizanidine/Zanaflex I was taking really wasn't helping much so I called my neurologist and he prescribed diazepam/Valium 5 mg in the morning and afternoon. It helps some but really makes me sleepy and dizzy plus I can't take it at work. I had my knee examined by an orthopedic surgeon earlier this week and an MRI showed a medial meniscus tear and medial collateral ligament sprain. I have to have surgery on July 3rd and a 6 month follow-up with my neurologist on July 5th. This stiffness is horrible. My hamstrings get so fatigued and begin burning after walking just a short distance or up a flight of stairs. I don't know how this is going to end. If this stiffness keeps progressing I will get to the point where I will be unable to walk anymore.Swift_TaySwift20

 

[herty18]

Well it sounds like the problem is in your knee. I had tears in my miniscus and strained ligaments and my knee swelled up like a balloon. The swelling eventually decreased but it impacted the way that I walked and caused stiffness in the surrounding muscles.

 

[SwiftTaySwift20]

When I stand the hamstring muscles in both legs keep contracting so much that I have to force my legs to straighten by contracting my quadriceps. This is putting so much stress on my lower back. It's also stressing the attachments of the hamstring muscles at my knees. The left hamstring muscle just continued to contract nonstop until I could feel tendonitis develop. I had so much stress at this joint I could not bend or squat down like normal and the surgeon said it probably caused me to twist the leg in the wrong position causing the tear. I use be able to run a mile in 4 min 35 sec and a 26 mile marathon in 2 hours 49 minutes but I can barely walk now because of this stiffness. I have to walk very slow and almost shuffle my steps. If I have to use the bathroom in the middle of the night I have to hold on to something firm to get out of bed and shuffle step to the bathroom because it feels like my hamstrings or achilles tendons are going to tear. It's really scary and really sad. I don't know how far this is going to progress.Swift_TaySwift20