The KNEE PAIN Thread

Training Injuries
161

Mike,

I?d love to get your help with some knee problems that I have had for a few years. I have pain in both knees (I think the actual pain is just above the knee cap). I have the pain when I squat, lunge or otherwise do a movement where my knee approaches a 90 degree bend. The pain is worse when lowering but also hurts when lifting. The pain is worse with traditional squats and somewhat better with front or hack squats. After squatting, the knees hurt for a day or two. During this time, it hurts to sit for long periods of time and when I first stand up my knees feel unstable. Here are a few other points that may be helpful:

? I have had a crackling in my knees for years
? My feet point slightly outwards
? My hamstrings are tight. I?ve been stretching a lot more recently (using your article) to help with this.
? I?ve had problems with tendonitis in other areas (feet, hand, elbow)
? I use chrondroiten, glucosamine and fish oil but haven?t really noticed any improvement.

I?d really appreciate any advice you could provide.

162

hey mike i can feel your pain…literally

i tore my meniscus on the right side of my right knee last november and i tore it again on the top in this past april(hehe,doc said no running,i wanted to play soccer again)i waited to june to start lifting again and i have some pain now and then,mainly when i lift and run on the same day but its not something that can stop me(yet)and i havent gotten the surgery yet,i plan to get it sooner or later but at the moment i have no money to get it done

163

Stern,

Just from your description, it sounds like you are tighter than a banjo string. You already state tight hamstrings, the fact your feet toe-out indicates tight hips/glutes, and the pain above your kneecap sounds like it could result from tight hip flexors and quads.

Give the “Hardcore Stretching” program a go in conjunction with the “Feel Better for 10 Bucks” program and let me know what you think!

Stay strong
MR

[quote]Stern3657 wrote:
Mike,

I?d love to get your help with some knee problems that I have had for a few years. I have pain in both knees (I think the actual pain is just above the knee cap). I have the pain when I squat, lunge or otherwise do a movement where my knee approaches a 90 degree bend. The pain is worse when lowering but also hurts when lifting. The pain is worse with traditional squats and somewhat better with front or hack squats. After squatting, the knees hurt for a day or two. During this time, it hurts to sit for long periods of time and when I first stand up my knees feel unstable. Here are a few other points that may be helpful:

? I have had a crackling in my knees for years
? My feet point slightly outwards
? My hamstrings are tight. I?ve been stretching a lot more recently (using your article) to help with this.
? I?ve had problems with tendonitis in other areas (feet, hand, elbow)
? I use chrondroiten, glucosamine and fish oil but haven?t really noticed any improvement.

I?d really appreciate any advice you could provide.
[/quote]

164

yeah, it sucks. Regardless, good luck with getting yourself healthy and keep us posted on your progress!

Stay strong
MR

[quote]jmwintenn wrote:
hey mike i can feel your pain…literally

i tore my meniscus on the right side of my right knee last november and i tore it again on the top in this past april(hehe,doc said no running,i wanted to play soccer again)i waited to june to start lifting again and i have some pain now and then,mainly when i lift and run on the same day but its not something that can stop me(yet)and i havent gotten the surgery yet,i plan to get it sooner or later but at the moment i have no money to get it done[/quote]

165

It like the spurs on the top of my tibia and fibula are too wide. My hamstrings actually click over them when I go to parallel squat.

I haven’t done a rock bottom squat in over 2 years. It seems like a bad idea to make that click with 100kgs on my back.

I’ve seen 2 doctors about it and spoken to numerous trainers and a pysio. They all agree that it’s just the way my knee is and i’m right to avoid it happening under load.

Does anyone have any ideas of anything that could be done bar surgery? I’d rather work with what I have than have to recover from potentially worse side effects of surgery, but I’d love to be able to hit a rock bottom squat.

166

C’mon. Someone’s got to have an idea.

167

I have patellofemoral pain syndrome in my right knee. Are there any particular exercises you would recommend to help this?

168

I my knees recently started to hurt after doing a particularly stressful set of 10x3 squats. I’m pretty sure my knees internally rotate as i get more tired. I have pretty flat feet and slight external foot rotation. I haven’t been doing deadlifts for the last couple of weeks but my PR was 315, so i’m not totally weak in my posterior chain. My patellar tendon on my left knee is sore, and my lower quad/tendon above my right knee is also sore. I’m two weeks into the Waterbury Method, but i might just scrap it and start NNM to correct my problems. From what i know about my own body, I’m pretty sure that the knee pain might be hip flexor related, do you think the pain will lessen with ITB stretching? Any suggestions?

169

I had surgery on my meniscus from a football injury a year ago and i went through all of the rehab and i still i have pain in my knee. Just recently they have found some tissue ( medial plica) in my knees and told me that may be my problem. However they still cannot explain the pain behind my knee and have scheduled me to see the surgeon again. I havent been able to squat in over a year without extreme pain.

170

well i squated yesterday and today my right knee is bothering me. when i walk it cracks every like 20 steps or so and kind of hurts when it cracks. it was doing this like a month and a half ago but stopped and now is doing it again and it was a little worse today. i squat with a pretty wide stance with just a belt. any help on what this might be??

171


Mike,

this is a very old thread, hope you still see my post.

I want to ask question about how to strengthening my knee. my Squat
sucks because my knee is so weak!!

i’ve hurt both of my knee 2 years ago, i jump from a more than 7
feet high platform to ground(and squat to rock bottom to absorb the
force), and within one day i go playing basketball. after that, i can
barely walk, my knees are so painful!!

i don’t know i’ve tear something or not, but so far 2 years
later, i still able to train. but not very heavy(free weight squat).

right now my box squat is 100kg for 1 rep(MAX), at bodyweight of 215lbs(is it sucks?) what can i do?

More details about my lower body situation: I have klocked knee, flat
feet(internally rotate femour?)different tightness of IT band, hip
flexors between right & left side(due to different times of injuries of left
ankle, right knee muscles=>walking on one side more), very tight calves
muslces(my right calf tear something, but still functional).

172

[quote]Monster Wong wrote:
Mike,

this is a very old thread, hope you still see my post.

I want to ask question about how to strengthening my knee. my Squat
sucks because my knee is so weak!!

i’ve hurt both of my knee 2 years ago, i jump from a more than 7
feet high platform to ground(and squat to rock bottom to absorb the
force), and within one day i go playing basketball. after that, i can
barely walk, my knees are so painful!!

i don’t know i’ve tear something or not, but so far 2 years
later, i still able to train. but not very heavy(free weight squat).

right now my box squat is 100kg for 1 rep(MAX), at bodyweight of 215lbs(is it sucks?) what can i do?

More details about my lower body situation: I have klocked knee, flat
feet(internally rotate femour?)different tightness of IT band, hip
flexors between right & left side(due to different times of injuries of left
ankle, right knee muscles=>walking on one side more), very tight calves
muslces(my right calf tear something, but still functional).

[/quote]

The latest seems to be to work on ankle mobility, glute strength, good shoe choices. Get balanced from left to right.

My knee gets sore when my quads tighten up. Look at those also. Get massages, stretch, roll on the foam.

I’m still trying to get my knee right after a few months of on and off pain. Very frustrating I know…good luck.

Check out www.michaelboyle.biz and read his anterior knee pain article.

173

I have been trolling the boards for a little while looking for an answer to my knee problems. Hopefully someone may chime in with some much needed help.

The current issue
I believe I have ITBS. When ever I run the pain on the left side of my knee hurts sooo freaking bad it hurts to walk, drive a stick and stairs look pianfull. This problem flairs up and then goes away. I had this problem ever since BCT in the Army (first time it really was noticable!). I have actually had it in both knees before, but for some reason my left leg is killing me not my right this time.

Background
Yes I do have flat feet, and yes I do hate running. Infact if I could get away with not running I would, but then again I have a PT test to do, and every morning I get to run on it for 1-2 miles as PT. I have used the method RICE to cure this problem which does help but the next day I am right back to the RICE method. Not to mention the multiple ibuprofen tablets I eat like candy.

The current things I have cut out of my workout. No running on tredmill or running outside, No inclined/decline tredmill hikes. I am only doing low impact cardio like the elliptical, swimming, and the unmanly/sinful bike. from what I have read I know I shouldn’t cut back my leg exercises, but latly it just freaking hurts when I bend my leg. I do realize there are no quick fixes for ITBS, but any tips to getting my ITBand back in shape to run without the pain whould be most appreciated!

174

[quote]chrisb71 wrote:
Another injury is IT Band Syndrome (ITBS). Your IT Band is the big tendon on the outside of your thighs. IT Band syndrome is usually an overuse and imbalance injury that results in it being swollen and tight, thus causing pain.

Oddly enough, it usually will not hurt on the sides of your leg or knee, it hurts right underneath your kneecap.

Other symptoms are pain when lowering/raising yourself from a squat. Also if you just feel it on the outside just above your knee, it will feel tight and stick out more. If you ignore it long enough you will just feel pain all the time, like I did.[/quote]

Sounds like my problem. Both knees have patella tracking issues. ITB is as tight as a guitar string, and can be seen(!) and felt as it approaches the knee. A massage therapist told me I’ve got the tightest ITB she’s ever seen. I’ve usually heard people say that ITB problems cause pain on the lateral side of the knee, but for me the pain is directly under the patella on one leg and near the patella tendon on the other leg.

Tried lots of stretching/rolling, but didn’t make much difference as the ITB would stay tight; same with hammies. Then I read a lot of stuff from The Ass Master and The Shoulder Guy. Turns out I was a neanderthal. Started on glute activation a couple of weeks ago, and my hamstrings have definitely become a little more flexible and it seems that my ITBs have started to loosen ever so slightly. Knees still hurt, but I guess it will take some time to correct imbalances that have been building up for years.

175

Hey Mike,

A couple years ago I tore the MCL and meniscus of my left knee. The ligament seems to have healed just fine, and the meniscus healed about as well as it could I guess (though it’s still fucked). The last couple years have been a bit hectic so I haven’t been on a decent lifting program until just recently.

Unfortunately I’ve noticed that I seem to either be compensating for that weak side by over emphasizing the right, or the muscles over there just aren’t firing correctly. I usually notice it in the legs/glutes during squats, and feel a lot more emphasis on the right side during pulling. I’ve included quite a bit of uni-lateral work and am working muscle recruitment exercises during stretching and pre-hab, but it doesn’t seem to be helping as much as I’d like.

Any tips on getting things back to normal balance between the two sides?

176

Mike,

I get pain in both knees just below the knee cap after conditioning work. Any suggestions on what may be causing this and how to stop it from happening?

177

[quote]CantStop wrote:
Mike,

I get pain in both knees just below the knee cap after conditioning work. Any suggestions on what may be causing this and how to stop it from happening?[/quote]

I’m not an expert on the matter but I’ve dealt with this exact knee problem for about five years. I’ve found that stretching religiously eases the pain. I read somewhere on this site that if you have a problem with your knees, it’s due to a lack of stretching below the waist.

I always concentrated on my hamstrings and quads, but I neglected my hips, ass, and calves. Since I’ve started stretching everything, I haven’t had a single problem.

my .02

178

[quote]Paste42 wrote:

[quote]CantStop wrote:
Mike,

I get pain in both knees just below the knee cap after conditioning work. Any suggestions on what may be causing this and how to stop it from happening?[/quote]

I’m not an expert on the matter but I’ve dealt with this exact knee problem for about five years. I’ve found that stretching religiously eases the pain. I read somewhere on this site that if you have a problem with your knees, it’s due to a lack of stretching below the waist.

I always concentrated on my hamstrings and quads, but I neglected my hips, ass, and calves. Since I’ve started stretching everything, I haven’t had a single problem.

my .02
[/quote]

Thanks for the advice. I will give it a try.

179

I’ve had some knee pain above my knee for about 6 months. Originally felt the pain from basketball league games and thought with time it’d heal. Leg ex, back squats are painful. Front squat is not as painful. My numbers are starting to suffer at the expense of my knee. Does not hurt to walk, sit, stand. Hoping it’s just simple tendonitis, but am unsure. Any advice anyone could give me from the above information would be extremely helpful and appreciated.

180

I have pain in the inner grove of both of my knees, and my lower left quad is constantly inflammed. I have pain if I squat all the way down or if I do anything else that pushes my knees forward past my toes. What gives me the most pain is wrestling which, in addition to stressing the knees from every possible angle, involves a lot of contact with the ground. For anyone who knows the basics of wrestling, shooting hurts the most. I have recently not been able to wrestle for about 6 weeks due to another problem, and during this time I did continue to lift weights. Randomly after about a week of no wrestling, my left knee reallly swelled up. I could jiggle it around it was so big. My first though was that it was bursitis, which I have had before, and that it would go away after a few days as bursitis tends to do. It remained for two weeks. After one week we tried draining it a few times, but we could never drain all the fluid out as if there were different compartments of fluid. The fluid was bloody and not the clear yellow a normal bursitis drain is. On the third attempt to drain, in a new spot we got out 120 cc of liquid, and that still wasnt all of it! Finally what did the trick was a shot of cortisone. This got rid of the liquidy swelling, but it did not eliminate the pain.

I know that was long and detailed, and thank you for reading thus far. Does anyone know what this might be or how I can treat it? It has had about 4 weeks to heal with the only stressor being one big leg work per week. Also, is there anyway to “toughen up” the knees for impact (for wrestling)? Should I get an MRI? Any help would be extremely appreciated, I have several injuries right now, and my goal is to be 100% by wrestling season.