Extreme knee pain

(colorado)

I am a dancer, I have been dancing for about 8 years and before that I Figure Skated for 4 years. Now I started having knee troubles then. I had fallen on the ice so much with my left knee that the lower outside of the knee had become numb my coaches just said it had messed up the nerve endings and that was all I thought of it. I stopped skating and started dancing and about 2 years ago I was getting pain on the top part of my knee cap, My dance teacher said it was because I was "gripping" with my quad and gave me some strengthening exercises, the pain stopped. Now I am dancing professionally and harder then ever and I am in more pain then ever, about 6 months ago the pain came back and is effecting my day to day life...walking up stairs,running,kneeling,sleeping its so painful, not to mention dancing which is my life. The pain is on the top and wraps around the sides to the bottom. My knees have always popped and now it the only thing that reliefs the pain. they swell after dance so I ice them, some say I need a MRI but as we all know dancers don't have insurance. I need help please!!! I hope its not Patella Femoral Syndrome I don't want to stop dancing. Allyce~