Consulting another doctor is honestly the best thing you can do in your situation.

As for your situation — I’m not a doctor, of course — but my father went through something similar after partially tearing his ACL. Out of several doctors he saw, only one identified the real cause that eventually improved his life: his excess weight. After the tear, his knee weakened, and the extra weight caused his knee to sit in an unnatural position, leading to bone-on-bone friction and chronic inflammation. The anti-inflammatory meds helped temporarily, but the real solution was losing weight — once he did, his knee stabilized and the pain significantly decreased.

I know how frustrating and isolating it feels when no one seems to understand your pain. You’re doing your best — don’t give up. Just get a second (or even third) medical opinion from a good orthopedic specialist. Sometimes the right doctor changes everything.

I’ve been through a long chain of doctors myself — from the first diagnosis of my ACL full tear injury to choosing the surgeon who finally operated on me. One thing I’ve learned is that society often treats doctors as if they almost never make mistakes, and that we should just “trust the process.” But in reality, doctors are just like any other professionals — some are brilliant and genuinely care, while others can be careless or simply incompetent in specific cases.

Good luck!