Knee Trouble

Bigger Stronger Leaner Powerlifting & Strength Sports
1

Hey folks. I’m gonna keep this short. There is a wealth of knowledge on these boards, and I’d love to get a couple opinions on some knee trouble I’m having.

Couple weeks ago I hurt my knee during a stupid muy thai class I decided to partake in. Heard a loud, nasty pop. Wasn’t super painful right away, just weak and felt . BUT, the next day I woke up and it was stiff and painful as all hell. Not swollen or bruised though. Went to the orthopedic doc, he took xrays and jammed his fingers all up in my joint.

No bone problems, he said it definitely wasn’t an ACL issue, and none of the pushing on my knee joint cause me any pain. what really hurt was full extension/flexion - I couldn’t lock my knee joint out, and bending it all the way hurt like hell too. Doc told me it was weird he couldn’t make it hurt, but that the story about the POP made him think it might be a meniscus tear. He said rest for 2 full weeks, and come get a mri if it was still painful after that.

The knee steadily improved, so that now 2 weeks later I don’t have pain during normal, every day activities, but full flexion and extension still hurts. So my dilemma: I really want to cancel this follow up appointment because it’s incredibly inconvenient with my class schedule, and I feel like 90% sure that it was just a bad hyperextension or something, followed by nasty tendinitis (I have a history of bad tendinitis in my elbows). I want to just start squatting again and take care to be careful with it. But at the same time, I don’t want to be an idiot, work through the pain and just totally fuck my knee up. Basically, the issue is I’ve never hurt my knee before so I don’t know if the pain I AM feeling is something to be worried about or can just be attributed to some connective tissue inflammation that will get better with time as long as I don;t go crazy.

So, TNationers who are far more knowledgable than I and have had knee issues: Do you think I should be worried about a torn meniscus, or does it sound to you like that isn’t the problem?

2

Do you have any knots in your piriformis, glutes, or calves?

I had sharp pain underneath my kneecap that hurt on both extension and flexion, but only through certain spots, and only when loaded.

I had tried strengthening my VMO using quad sets, but that didn’t do anything to help, nor did one leg step ups. It wasn’t until I realized I had some really bad knots (which were incredibly painful to work on) that things started getting better.

It could be a million other things, and it’s good you went to the doctor first. This is just something else to consider.

Just my n=1.

3

You know, my calf has been kind of jacked up from the knee brace I was wearing for a couple days, and then having to walk around gingerly for a while till the pain subsided. That definitely could be a factor. Thanks for that, hadn’t thought of it, ill roll my poor calf out on a bar tomorrow haha. My least favorite thing to do.

4

I have almost the same problem. It first happened 5 months ago when i front squatted without proper warm up. It started to hurt on full extension but mostly on full flexion and when i touch just below the patella.

5-6 days later i felt 80% better and started to squat again (low and high back squat only). Each time i squatted high bar the pain came back for about two days so i dropped high bar for a while and went with low bar only with wider stance and less forward knee travel, focused on foam rolling 3-4 times a week, quad stretching, more mobility drills, joint support supplements and things were getting better until yesterday when i decided to front squat again :frowning: since i was feeling 90 % better and the pain came back.

I wasn’t checked by a doctor since i was improving and i don’t think it’s any kind of tear and depending on how i feel the next couple days i may go to the doctor or resume my own rehab program since i don’t like doctors.