Bone edema treatment
Bone edema treatment
There are several issuess with bone edema, firstly in the beginning pain starts some time (12h-36h) after the exercise so at start it can be misinterpreted regarding connection to exercise, secondly bone edema has less defined feeling of origin of pain, more like general discomfort in that area. General loss of origin of pain sometimes leads to misdiagnosis e.g., pain in tibiae plateau usually is misdiagnosed as meniscus injury and leads to operation which in the end does more damage than good. In later stages, pain grows so high that you may feel short weakness of the limb e.g., leg with knee in certain angle shows muscle weakness and pain but with the change of knee angle, function and strength of muscles is restored.


Not all bone edemas are bad! Some therapies increase rate of healing, bone can show more edema but that is caused by more osteoblast activity trying to fix the bone. Those edemas are shown as more diffused and lacking initial fracture/focal point.


Therapy that we use for bone healing is combination of bisphosphonates, prolotherapy, physical therapy, vitamins and oxygen therapy. Combination of bisphosphonates is applied locally and intravenously. Best results are achieved during 3-5 days of therapy sessions. Partial recovery is expected 1-2 weeks after therapy and 70-100% recovery 3-6 weeks after the therapy. Usually one therapy cycle is enough to achieve bone strength adequate for normal function.




Short Summary


Symptoms: Unlocalized pain in the area, starting several hours or day after exercise. Weakness or loss of strength in leg for specific knee position.

Treatment: Combination of combination of bisphosphonates, prolotherapy, physical therapy, vitamins and oxygen therapy in accordance with WADA antidoping prohibited list. 

Treatment time: Several therapies lasting 3-5 days

Expected time to full activity: usually 3-6 weeks after the therapy