I had a somewhat similar experience but got no help till a woman doctor
that was recommended to me.....looked the knee over....she put an
interestingly large needle into the area and withdrew a humongous amount
of a straw colored yellow fluid.  She followed this up with a shot of
cortisone which eased things up considerably and I have never had a
recurrence.  I have never indulged in the type of physical activity that
you probably experienced in the service so perhaps that is why the one
shot cure worked for me.  In laymans terms she said I had 'water on the
knee".  The relief was tremendous and thankfully complete.  I might add
that the knee involved was one that had a fair amount of surgery on it
when I was a youngster, surgery that left me with a pronounced limp
which may have eventually caused the problem.
--- WILDMAIL!/WC v4.12 
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