DeeDoo’s Digital Scrapbooking Blog

For as long as I can remember, my knees and ankles have made little cracking noises when I walk. I inherited this from my dad, who was unable to sneak up on you if it was too quiet—his telltale cracking knees would give him away every time.

I don’t know if cracking and popping knees is a sign of future trouble with those joints, but I think maybe it is. Very late last summer, my left knee began to have pain that was sometimes severe enough to make me cry. Eventually, walking anywhere was excruciatingly painful. Something had to be done. An MRI showed a torn meniscus and I had surgery to clean out the joint.

After the pain I had been experiencing, the recovery was a piece of cake. Although it did take awhile, as expected, for the swelling to totally subside and full function to return, overall the surgical experience was good. Because there was also some arthritis in the joint, the surgery could not totally free me from knee pain, but now that I knew what real pain was, the arthritis threat seemed minor.

For months I have not been able to sleep well due to throbbing in that joint and the pain that comes with bending and straightening that knee. Aspirin helped some, but aspirin therapy sometimes creates unwelcome side effects. Finally, about 6 weeks ago, a friend recommended that I try Tylenol PM. Eureka! Not only do these little pills help eliminate (or disguise?) the pain, they also include a mild sleep aid. I have to tell you that taking just one of these pills before bedtime has brought me much more (and better) sleep at night and I now feel more rested each morning. Now I don’t want to be without my Tylenol PM! If any of you suffer similar aches and pains, you might want to give this product a try. There is nothing like a good night’s sleep to improve your outlook on whatever the day may have in store!