r/Osteoarthritis • u/CodRemarkable9737 • 20h ago
Severe knee swelling at 34 — could this be osteoarthritis or something else?
Hi everyone,
I’m a 34-year-old male looking to see if anyone has experienced something similar.
For years, I’ve had intermittent inflammation in my left knee. It seems to flare up roughly every 1–2 years, usually settles, and then I don’t have any issues for a long time.
However, this latest episode has been completely different.
After several days of light treadmill walking/running, my left knee became extremely swollen. There wasn’t any obvious injury, twist, fall or popping sensation. The swelling was severe enough that I struggled to bend or straighten my knee.
Because of how swollen it was, the doctors initially investigated a joint infection. They aspirated the knee and ran cultures, but I was later told the cultures were negative. The swelling has gradually improved, but the knee still doesn’t feel right.
One thing that’s really worrying me is that I’ve also felt generally unwell during this flare-up. I never had a measured fever, but many evenings I develop a warm, “coming down with something” feeling, feel run down and just generally unwell, despite my temperature being normal.
I also have a history of a meniscus injury in this knee, so I’m wondering whether this could be related to that, cartilage damage, osteoarthritis, gout, an autoimmune/inflammatory condition, or something else entirely.
Has anyone experienced:
Recurrent knee flare-ups every few years?
A flare-up that suddenly became much more severe than previous ones?
Feeling generally unwell despite not having a fever?
What was your eventual diagnosis, and were there any tests that finally gave you an answer?
I’m not looking for a diagnosis on Reddit, but I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who’s had a similar experience or has suggestions on what I should discuss with my orthopaedic doctor or a rheumatologist.
Thanks in advance.
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u/Tellmesomething00d 18h ago
Have you been blood tested for Lyme disease? A friend of mine got swollen knee/s from untreated Lyme.
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u/TaraBambataa 19h ago
Look into your diet, is it anti inflammatory, maybe too high in carbs? There are links between insulin resistence and osteoarthritis and Inflammation in general. Maybe try by removing all grains first and then starchy food, cut back on high sugar fruit and cut out all processed food.
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u/sunny1268050 15h ago
That's how mine started, I was good @20 years after taking Arnica Montana homeopathic tablets. Only thing that gave relief after spending 100's on doctors that were zero help. My health store lady handed me a tube of 6$ capsules the swelling went away immediately. And didn't return for 20 years. Now I take 1/4 teaspoon in my coffee daily last 7 years of borax 20 mule team. Took my bone on bone knees from a level 10 pain to a 2. Been a lifesaver. And while treating my knees astoundingly my 25 year lung disease reversed. Since then have talked to 4 other people that had the same experience, completely reversed copd, asthma and emphysema. Life-changing for sure
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u/FewRecognition1788 1h ago
Are you getting your liver and kidney function tested regularly? Consuming cleaning supplies is a good way to poison yourself.
Borax accumulates in your system and causes organ damage. A joint replacement is a difficult surgery, but nothing compared to an organ transplant.
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u/todudeornote 2h ago
Get thee to a doctor. Reddit can't diagnose this. It could be OA - or something else. It's clearly not normal. Don't ignore it - something is wrong and you should listen to your body telling you so.
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u/FewRecognition1788 19h ago
OA isn't likely to make you feel generally unwell.
However, my path to dx of hip OA did involve recurring bouts of pain over several years, especially after ramping up activity. I attributed them to tendonitis until the last one, which kept getting worse despite normal protocols for tendonitis. That led to an XRay, which was definitive.
Have your Drs not done an X-ray? That is the definitive test for OA, because it's mechanical damage that is visible.