Help! My knee problem.

[RegenerativeCauldron]

Hi,

The area around an old knee injury has become inflamed and I am resting the knee until the inflammation goes away. However, I would love to be rid of this problem once and for all. The history of the problem is that when I was about 23 (I'm now 31), I damaged my patella retinaculum; I was working as a bicycle courier. One day, whilst working, I felt something give way in my left knee. Thinking it was no big deal I continued riding through the pain for a couple of days not realising the damage that I was doing to myself. I soon realised the damage I had done and stopped cycling soon after. I thought that if I just left the knee alone, it would heal itself.

After a few months, I got back on the bicycle and was soon in a lot of pain with my left knee. It felt like something had given way in my knee again and I realised that whatever the problem was, it had recurred. I went to a physiotherapist and they quickly diagnosed the problem as a torn patella retinaculum. My problem was that the retinaculum had not healed correctly and 'wasn't doing it's job properly'. Instead of acting like a sheet of film covering the whole kneecap and keeping the patella aligned, part of it had torn and it had healed in large clumps around the kneecap area. So, when I used the knee, the scar tissue would grate against the knee itself, thus causing pain. Anyway, the physiotherapist administered some electro therapy that helped to break down the scar tissue - I did this on 2/3 occasions. It was then a very lengthy process of cycling with a knee support and gradually building strength back into the leg. Thankfully the process basically worked but the problem is still there to a lesser degree.

Over the last few years, I have since cycled many thousands of miles. Over time, other knee and joint problems have arisen and I've dealt with them with appropriate stretching exercises. However, this particular problem doesn't seem to want to go away.

My body shape is that I am a bit knock-kneed and my left leg is slightly shorter than my right. So when I walk/cycle, there is extra stress on that inside area of my left knee. (Imagine facing my knee head on - the specific problem area is the bottom left of my kneecap – see photo). The black outline is the patella and the shaded area is the inflamed trouble area where the original injury occurred.

I’m currently applying various leg strengthening exercises to the problem area. However, whilst this might help, I still don’t feel that this will ultimately deal with the issue. Perhaps I might need to have more electro therapy on the area.

Also, might I need to have some surgery done to clear away some of the scar tissue?

Anyway, I’d really appreciate some advice. Thanks.

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