Pinched nerve...anyone?

From what you described above, surgeons want to operate on your back and knee at the same time without having a definitive diagnosis. That is very aggressive IMHO. L3/L4 compression can be causing all of the pain you described.

The progression of the L3/L4 compression pain often follows a pattern. It starts in the "Back Pocket" area. Next it wraps around down to the hip. As the compression progresses, it travels down to the knee and eventually propagates down to the foot and toes. As it travels down, the pain intensifies. It is a combination of burning, cramping, electrical pain and stabbing. The pain can become inhuman.

My opinion:

If you havent been diagnosed with generalized arthritis (affecting the hip and knee), I'd get with a spinal orthopaedic surgeon and pursue a discectomy/laminotomy sx for the compressed disc. That may relive all of your pain.

As MRIs are becoming more common, drs are realizing that disc compression and joint degeneration is pretty common. They find these thing looking for other maladies. They can see severe compression of multiple disc and the patient has no symptoms. Point being your knee may not be the genesis of the symptoms even with the degeneration. That's more likely than the knee pain radiating up to the hip but not impossible.

Getting back on track, injections and the meds are mostly a palliative, short term treatment. Find an trusted Ortho Spine Dr.

Good luck. If you find yourself descending into pure hell as in the pattern I described above, PM me.

 

I had a pinched nerve once, without any physical damage though, and the sports doctor used electrical therapy to make it better. You should pursue all courses of action before surgery.

 

Always try physical therapy before you let someone open you up.

 

Be cautious about the spinal injections.

I had two:
First one was into the epidural space and did not help.

Second one went into the spinal sheath, the puncture did not heal and I had severe headaches from loss of cerebral-spinal fluid. I had first one, then a second and finally a third "blood patch" to stop the leak. This procedure involves taking some of your own blood from your arm and injecting it in the area around the spinal fluid leak to form a "patch."

First patch lasted 5 days, then leaked again. Second lasted three days and leaked. Third patch did not work at all and I had very, very severe migraine type pain with nausea and was bed ridden for two weeks. They were about to put me in the hospital to try a laser treatment to stop the leak when it finally, miraculously, sealed on its own.

In my own research I could find no one who had ever had to have 3 blood patches done.

That was the worst three weeks of my adult life, so be cautious if you let them put needles in your spine.

I still have pain down both legs that is quite severe at times, looking at other treatment options.
Alden

 

I have a pinched nerve in my right shoulder which intermittently causes everything from my whole arm going numb to localized excruciating pain. The best fix I've found is electrical therapy mixed with regular PT. There are a lot of movement exercises you can do that might help. I went a year with it before I finally went to a doctor expecting the worst and he prescribed PT, saying cutting is a last resort.

I personally will have to be at death's door before I let them operate on me in that "we think this will work" kind of manner.