In mid-May of this year while performing sitting hamstring curls, probably too recklessly, I injured the rear of my right knee. I didn’t notice anything during the exercise, but when I stood up from the machine, I noticed severe tightness in the back of the knee that just wouldn’t go away. No pain, just tightness. Only feel anything while standing, not sitting or lying down.
Ever since then, it comes and goes but always comes back. Vast majority of the time I only feel tightness and no pain. Sometimes though I only feel pain and no tightness. Sometimes even both. I feel pain and/or tightness in different parts behind the knee. 97% of the time I feel the pain or tightness below the knee, the remaining time I feel a substantial pain above the knee. When the pain is below the knee, it isn’t that bad. When it is above the knee, it is usually significant. On one brief occasion, it was extreme. So I feel the pain and/or tightness in several different places, the only constants are that they are always the medial and posterior parts of the knee.
Even though I feel it in multiple different locations behind the knee, they are always mutually exclusive.
When stretching, I always have a harder time stretching the right hamstring.
Over the months warming up, stretching, and foam rolling the area always provides temporary relief, but invariably it always returns like nothing ever happened. It hasn’t gotten any better or worse.
For a while I thought it was a cyst moving around the knee, but my doctor told me cysts don’t move around. MRI did find a cyst, but on the OPPOSITE side of the knee.
X-rays found nothing.
MRI found:
“No definite tear of the lateral meniscus. There is a focal fluid collection/paramensical cyst anterior to the anterior horn of the lateral meniscus measuring .9 x 1.2 x 1.5 cm. Parameniscal cyst can be associated with meniscal tears, but no discrete meniscal tear can be visualized. There is some T2 hyperintensity/edema and mild irregularity of the articular cartilage, midline and lateral facet, consistent some chondromalacia patella/prior trauma.”
I’ve seen two doctors about it but they almost laugh at me. The only things they suggest is a cortisone injection. I want to solve the underlying issue. I believe this tightness is affecting my right hip because I now have right hip problems. Need to get it solved, but I don’t know what else to do. The only thing I can think of doing is having the cyst removed, but since it’s on the opposite side of the knee, it doesn’t seem like that would help much. I’ve never felt anything on the lateral side of the knee where the cyst supposedly resides.
Another thing is my right kneecap painlessly pops all the time, but not sure if this has anything to do with the problem. This is also kind of a recent thing.
Anyone know what could possibly be the issue? I’ve pretty much reached the end of the line with doctors.