Stick around and read awhile.

You may have arthritis, or it could be an injury.  And injuries can
lead to arthritis.......ask any athlete to whom  that has happened.

... 98% of all dead owls don't give a hoot!

I'm not trying to drive you away.  I was just wondering if there was a
reason to believe it might be arthritis.  One usually doesn't go to a
rheumatologist unless they have a reason to suspect arthritis. Fluid
on the knee could be from many other things.
Thumper

You're in the right place (as right as any) to ask these questions and
get advice as to how you should/might proceed, Alya.

You might want to tune out now. It's okay, really, it's only going to be
a rant right down to the signature file.

<RANT class="medicalIgnorance>
    <p>It's blanket statements like that which make these doctors look like
morons to people who actually know a bit about exercise science. I guess
it's to be expected, given that so many doctors these days can't answer
basic anatomy questions. I've known people who had problems with
insurance and were told by their pudgy doctors that they were
obese...with visible abs and very broad shoulders: athletes. The doctors
were using BMI, which is a quick and easy but totally inaccurate way to
estimate body fat percentage. Doctor's also think, and this is from my
own experience and from the snickers of people I speak with who also
train with weights, that using 'machines' is much safer on the knees
than doint squats with heavy weights. The shear forces across the knee
joint from those 'safe' leg extension machines have wrecked more knees
than properly done squats ever will. The same goes for those leg press
machines, but they tend to wreck more backs than knees. Doctors love
these 'safe' machines, too. I see people all the time with sore joints
who are using itty bitty ranges of motion and using too much weight and
they can't figure out why they're sore...using a restricted ROM is safe,
right? I also see people who are trying to improve their strength and
health accomplish neither of these goals because they've been told not
to use heavy weights are work through a full range of motion (not a
maximal range of motion, but a full range of motion for a given
exercise). As a result, they get no results and the obesity epidemic,
and all of the associated complications including joint problems,
continues unabated. I'd like to thank the well meaning but ignorant
doctors for their assistance in making sure people don't hurt themselves
with the end result that they don't improve their health either.</p>

    <p>Gentle knee bends will only help people who are recovering from
injury, as part of PT, or who are extremely week. For other people, it
does SFA. Like those women at the gym using the little pink dumbbells
and thinking they're actually doing something with their time...week
after week after week. If you want to be able to protect your back, like
the doctors tell you to, then you need to do a deep knee bend to pick an
object up off the floor. Wait...no...everyone should just use grabbers!
A deep knee bend is not the same thing as letting your body drop into a
fully flexed knee and hip position then bouncing out of the bottom (like
in those 40s and 50s films of people exercising). /That/ isn't great on
the knees done over and over again! In the cardio classes I've seen at
the gym you do not go bouncing out of 'the hole' as it's known in
powerlifting language when doing any sort of squatting motion, it's slow
and controlled and designed to improve flexibility and balance. If you
want to support your joints, you need to strengthen the supporting
muscles and improve the flexibility of those muscles (sometimes this can
be accomplished at the same time). A gentle knee bend does very little
to promote this except, as I said above, in cases where people are
recovering from significant surgery or injury and this actually /is/
work for their muscles.</p>
   
    <p>In Alya's case, she needs to get to the bottom of what's happening
before returning to /any/ vigorous exercise. But she is the exception,
not the rule (as are we all here on this newsgroup). If what you've
relayed is accurate regarding a blanket statement made by some doctors
about /all/ people then I think I'll choose to be thankful that my
doctors don't by into that garbage. I like my doctors and I choose to
think that their 'kind' make up at least half of the medical community
that stays silent and cares for patients rather than giving out ill
conceived advice as blanket statements. Their attitudes are to do as
much as you /safely/ can while you can to improve and maintain health
and quality of life.</p>

</RANT>

As you pointed out, It may be from favoring the right knee.
Thumper

What kind of tests were run?
Thumper