Tweaked my Knee -- Best Course of Action?

Hi,

I’ve gone several years without an injury, but a couple of months ago, my leg slipped laterally slightly when squatting. It hurt a bit, but didn’t cause a huge amount of pain when it happened.

I now still have this niggling knee pain; oddly, it only hurts when I touch my knee, and only when my leg is fully extended. it’s just below the patella at the patella tendon, and it feels a bit bruised when I touch it. I don’t have any pain walking or anything.

Realistically it doesn’t cause me any problems, but given the fact that it’s been several months and still hasn’t gone away, I am a bit worried about making it worse.

I’m guessing plenty of people have experienced similar. What did you do? Should I continue squatting?

Thanks!

IMO, this sounds relatively good. But I must ask, do you notice knee pain doing any exercise? Have you tried any NSAIDs? I am not saying that you should.

I would see an Orthopedic specialist your an expert opinion. It would be best if he specialized in sports injuries.

Lastly, do you know why your “leg” slipped laterally when squatting? How many reps had you done when your leg slipped? Was it relatively heavy weight? Was it your foot slipping? Have you made any changes so that won’t happen again?

What happens if you do single leg stuff?

If you did a lunge, or a step up or a leg extension with 1 leg would your legs/knees move the same way? Does one side feel stronger than the other? Would pain in the bad knee alter your movements? Or is one leg obviously weaker?

No difference, no problem! If there were some huge discrepancy I’d be more careful.

Nope, regular walking and cardio causes no pain. I haven’t tried any NSAIDs, no; to be honest I’m put off them due to the supposed effects on muscle growth.

Regarding the slip, it was when I was un-racking the bar; I’m certainly much more careful now.

What sort of Orthopedic specialist should I be considering? Thanks.

I had a go at some lunges after reading your comment: I did actually notice some tightness in the area on my right knee – not pain exactly but I could feel where the injury was as I was lunging. I did seem to dissipate the more lunges I did, though.

No actual difference in the ability to complete the lunge between legs, though. Thanks.

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One that specializes in knees (obviously). You might need to ask around. If you live where a pro football team plays, find who is the team’s knee specialist. It might be a bit overkill, but you’d have the best for knees.

Shall look into it, thanks!

This is the most important part.

I also suspect you’ll have that tenderness to palpation for a good 6 months or more.

Good to hear, do you think it’s just tendonitis, then? Cheers.

Possibly.
I’d personally be leaning more towards it being more generalised joint inflammation given there’s no obvious mechanical triggers (although reducing symptoms as you warm up does line up with a tendinopathy).
Where did the inflammation originally stem from? Could be patella tendon, could be tibial plateau, could be meniscus, could be the patella itself. Again, not super relevant (or helpful) to try and pin point it except to say they all have a tendency to linger and take ages to completely settle.