There’s More to Knee-Pain Than You Know…

Kingsway Boxing Club’s High Performance Trainer, Jo-Anne Sheffield, was diagnosed with Baker’s Cyst and wants to help educate the community about it so that it can be identified and TREATED early.

Baker’s Cyst are extremely common, however they frequently go undiagnosed and mistreated.

As you know the pain behind my knee was not getting any better and I had originally been told it was: hamstring, sciatic nerve, ITB syndrome, meniscus tear but never Baker’s Cyst.

~ Jo-Anne Sheffield

What is a Baker’s Cyst?

A Baker cyst is a fluid-filled sac that forms behind the knee. It’s also known as a popliteal cyst or popliteal synovial cyst.

The knee joint is filled with a special fluid (synovial fluid) that cushions the joint. A Baker cyst forms when an injury or disease causes extra synovial fluid to leak into the extra space behind the knee.

How to Diagnose

Be sure to get regular medical exams, stay informed about your medical history and talk to your doctor as soon as possible, when experiencing the following symptoms:

• Swelling behind your knee, and sometimes in your leg
• Knee pain
• Stiffness and inability to fully bend/stretch the knee

Coach Jo-Anne Sheffield was, luckily, diagnosed right away.

“My friend who is a triathlete coach diagnosed it right away last week when I reached out to her for help. That’s when I called my doctor and asked her for imaging.”

You can see the cyst on an ultrasound and most people can get an ultrasound within a week.

Other methods of diagnosis include:

• An X-ray, to get more information about the bones of the joint
• An MRI, if the diagnosis is still unclear after ultrasound

Cures?

• If there are no symptoms or it has been diagnosed early on, it will go away on its own
• With symptoms, the treatment could depend on the specific symptom. For example, physical therapy would help with osteoarthritis.
• Over-the-counter pain killers
• If severe, surgery to remove the cyst

Update on Jo-Anne

After the initial pain, I am now walking up and down stairs and without crutches. I’ll attempt a slow walk outside and take it slow for this next phase. The best thing that has come out of this week is the nagging pain is gone now that the cyst has ruptured. I just have a slight pain on the lateral side when I bend it.

Links to Read More on Baker’s Cyst

Canadian Trail Running Magazine

Mayo Clinic Definition and Treatment

Cedar Sinai Definition and Treatment

Dr. Jen Frabino – Physio has some good exercises to get rid of Baker’s Cyst