Question
Hi, I'm 35 years old. I took a fall back in 2011 after which I have started experiencing electric shock kind of feeling behind my right knee( an inch above). It lasts for a second or two and comes randomly. It is pretty painful. It might come once/twice a day or once/week. I have ignored it since it does not interfere in my normal day to day activities. After my fall, I do walk differently on my right foot. I had an ankle surgery on the same leg in 2013 for bone spur. But this feeling has been there since 2011. Should I be concerned?

Answer
Dear Punam,

Generally, I don't think you should be concerned, but if it bothers you too much, make sure you have a thorough exam to exclude a neuroma, a benign growth around a nerve, which sometimes develops after trauma. The acute and short-duration, electric-like pain sensation you experience might be the reason.

You might also try to exclude one common complication happening after a nerve trauma, an outbreaks of Herpes virus. The virus normally resides inside the nerves not causing any problems but any conditions that weakens the nervous system give the virus the opportunity to grow. The irregular occurrence of your pain episodes could be explained. I would try taking the amino acid supplement L-Lysine to keep the virus at bay. It is usually advised to take 2 grams when you notice the increased frequency of pain and then take 1 g a day until it's not that frequent. The supplement is OTC and inexpensive.

Hope this helps,

TZ