Help! knee/plica pain experience anyone?

Hi,
A couple months ago I developed a very painful condition in the medial plica of my left knee (not that I had ever even heard of a plica before). It's been a major bummer, I missed a couple months of work (I'm an electrician and have to crouch, kneel, etc a lot), and it continues to be painful, though I'm working again. Going up stairs/hills/ladders is ok pretty much, and I'm back to doing some 5 mi 1000 elevation gain hikes in the past week, but the way things are, I'm worried about being able to backpack again, in particular a month from now.Has anyone ever had this experience or know anything about recovery? thanks

I would see an orthopedist as soon as possible. I had knee pain following a motorcycle accident last October - I ignored it for about 4 months expecting it to get better but it didn't. I also had a big baggy bursa, aka housemaid's knee, all this time. They did an MRI of my knee and it turned out that I had a "complex tear of the lateral meniscus". They are treating it conservatively with anti-inflammatory meds, needle aspiration, and a pressure bandage. They tell me that at my age (mid-70's) something like this is likely to heal very slowly and incompletely. Fortunately, I can still hike: I managed a day hike up Ben Nevis (4200' climb) in Scotland early this month but it was pretty sore by the time I got down. Ibuprofen to the rescue!

The knee is a complex structure and often won't heal if left to itself. See someone who knows about knees.

I'm pretty jaded on the whole knee thing. It is in my personal opinion that for the most part they can't do much for knees, other than replace them. I've had an achy swollen knee for close to 10 years from a car accident. MRI and xrays say nothing is wrong. They would like to scope it, but they can't convince me they'll find anything (oh and HIGHLY needle phobic). So since the MRI etc says nothing is wrong, they can't do anything. Ibuprofen and the occasional knee brace (not over used!) - yoga as long as I'm careful helps too.

Sorry about the rant - I've seen a knee guy (he made it worse - freaken cortisone shot hurt worse than the knee does) and a boat load of drs.

YMMV of course - and I really hope it does.

Iam pleased...no, make that ECSTATIC to say that my knee is quite well recovered, enough that I did a 7 day backpack in the Wind Rivers with NO knee pain. Quite a change from last April-May, when I could barely even limp. Thank you physical therapist of mine!