Osteoarthritis knee never ending inflammation
I've got mri in December 2025 due to pain on my left knee which I had dull pain for years but this time I knew it was different. And everytime I use "roman chair" at the gym, I would start limping on the way go to the home. There was temporarily almost little lump on the back of my knee after sitting for long period time. Anyway, I got my mri orthopaedic checked my results and explained that there is nothing big, little cartilage thinning and recommended to go to a physio and strengthen my leg muscles which I heeded.
6 months forward, my knee got worse to the point more inflamed and started limping. Almost I am 40yo but my knee is 70years -80years old.
So in may 2026 I got another mri which shows grade iv cartilage loss, so no cartilage left. Everything else looks intact. So doctor recommended pain management as there is no point of reconstruction surgery since everything else looks intact. I was giving some options; cortisone injection, prp injections or stemcell.
I opted for prp which I read positive experiences from heaps of people, after first injection I started to improvement immediately. I was able walk a bit faster, less pain while going down to stairs, no more locking. I just had my 3rd prp injection, 2 weeks apart. Doctor had to drain fluid before my 3rd, almost 30ml as much as it could fill a small tea glass. And there were still so much fluid inside.
Now I have almost no pain. But my knee is over swollen and I cannot get rid off inflammation. Doctor stated my mri results and my symptoms are not matching, as in I have so much symptoms. I just completed a blood test, results indicates no auto immune disease, no rheumatoid arthritis (not in family history as well) but this inflammation is not going anywhere.
I am wondering has anyone experienced this and what happened afterwards? Did you end up finding the cause and how did you deal with? Because I kinda feel stuck, I am limping at this age, my left knee is not fully getting straighten and I have a healthy life style no smoking, just a glass of red wine once in a every 2-3 weeks and I didnt even have that one for last 2 months. Eating healthy, nice veggie, fish, egg balanced diet.