Still Sharp pain after knee surgery

She is a 46-year-old Kiwi woman.

In October 2023, she twisted her left knee while crossing the street. The pain was severe, and she couldn’t walk. An MRI showed an ACL and meniscus tear. Based on that, doctors recommended arthroscopic knee surgery.

She had the surgery in March 2024. The surgeon cleaned out “intra-articular debris,” and the pain improved for a few weeks. Both she and the doctors felt the operation was successful.

But about a month later, the pain came back—this time in a different way.
Sharp, electric-like pain at the back and outer side of her knee, radiating down to the outer calf and up the back of the thigh.

She returned to the hospital. They said it was a normal part of postoperative healing. She was told to do more physio, take painkillers, and wait.

But she knew—this wasn’t new pain. It was the same pain from before, just more specific and intense.

When she came to my clinic, she had already lost faith in treatment.

I examined her and found one key spot—the lateral popliteal sulcus, a groove behind the outer knee. Pressing that area triggered all her symptoms. I diagnosed her with Lateral Popliteal Sulcus Syndrome, where the common peroneal nerve gets compressed by tight fascia or muscle tension in that region.

That was the real cause from the beginning.

The MRI findings—ACL and meniscus tears—may have been preexisting and weren’t the main reason for her pain. The surgery didn’t address the actual issue.
The temporary relief post-op was likely due to anesthesia, anti-inflammatory meds, and reduced activity—not because the true source of pain was fixed.

I released the fascia in that area with a single treatment. She sat up and said:

“It’s gone. The pain is gone.”

This wasn’t a miracle—just a missed diagnosis finally uncovered.

True diagnosis isn’t always found on scans.
Sometimes, it’s under a fingertip.