Knee Pain

[lol76]

I have full range of motion in the knee with no weight on it.


Only with weight on it and when straightening it does pain occur.

[morwenna]

I'm assuming this is your right knee.

It could well be a problem with patellar tracking leading to wear/roughening of the posterio-lateral aspect of patellar.

If you strengthen the VMO, stretch the ITB and lateral soft tissues, these things should help. Sometimes taping is helpful, but not a permanent solution, more as a diagnostic tool.

As others suggested it may be worth looking further into the biomechanics of your whole leg (Hip and ankle/foot). A visit to a Kinesiologist or orthotist may help analyse your gait and see if there are any other areas that need to be addressed.

Sometimes surgical release of lateral soft tissues at the knee is indicated, or an arthroscope. It is hard to say, without seeing you, and unreasonable for you to ask for a time-frame to become painfree, in my opinion.

[lol76]

Hi,

Thanks for the post. Actually it is my left knee. My left leg is my strongest leg. I wear orthotics pretty much all the time. According to some recent xrays without the orthotics, my left hip does not sit inline with my right.

Im due for a review of my orthotics so maybe something has changed since the last time i had them made. That and combined with pretty much heavy leg exercises for the last 6 months have brought the problem to surface.

[tuja]

Hello, does your knee hurts when landing from a jump? do you feel pain right under your patelar tendon?
Well by loosing some weight you would release a lot of stress of your left knee.
Best luck

[morwenna]

Hi,

Thanks for the post. Actually it is my left knee. My left leg is my strongest leg. I wear orthotics pretty much all the time. According to some recent xrays without the orthotics, my left hip does not sit inline with my right.

Im due for a review of my orthotics so maybe something has changed since the last time i had them made. That and combined with pretty much heavy leg exercises for the last 6 months have brought the problem to surface.

Sorry, I did not read all the posts properly ... you did say it was your left knee ..... but you are having pain on the right side of the patella? ... the inner (medial) edge?
If the patella was tracking laterally due to tight ITB etc, I'd expect lateral patellar pain.

So the story doesn't quite add up to me. If you have had orthotics for some time then it definitely indicates a muscle imbalance problem and is more complicated that just treating the knee.

I know it's a cost thing, but basically you invest in a proper evaulation and treatment, or you continue to curtail your activities to operate within the pain-free range, or you take pain meds etc and carry on. I guess you have to choose. Certainly get the orthotics checked, but that is addressing the effect as much as the cause of the problem. Weight loss would help as well. Good luck with it anyway.

[lol76]

Ok obviously its a bit hard to diagnose conditions at the best of times let alone on the net but also relying on the patient to come up with the description itself without having first hand knowledge of the afflicted body part.


Reason why i said it was to the right of the knee is due how it feels the pain is originating from. Just as i read the latest post i specifically squatted down on the left leg just to make sure i was describing it right. Specifically the pain is behind the knee car towards the part where the quad muscle links up with the knee cap. So im sorry for saying it was towards the right but that was what it felt like.

On my initial consultation the physio basically described that my vmo had changed its muscular function and was no longer acting as a stabilizer for the knee. And therefore the pain was originating from that.

With regards to the orthotics, i have flat feet as well as uneven leg length. My gait was mesaured as well as my running style. You are saying its a treatment of the effect but when that effect is from birth, how/what is the solution? have my other leg broken and shortened?

Basically i believe the problem with the knee, which i have stated in the first post is from embarking on a heavy exercise schedule involving the legs. This program involved heavy squatting, dead lifting, power cleans and over head squatting. This was a 5 day program. I was doing these exercises with a wide stance with the feet pointed outwards, with rom all the way to the ground, ala powerlifting style.

[morwenna]

You are saying its a treatment of the effect but when that effect is from birth, how/what is the solution? have my other leg broken and shortened?

Sorry, my comment was more a general statement on the provision of orthotics without regard to trying to alter body mechanics to fix a problem. Obviously leg length discrepancy is not something that can be fixed, but you had not mentioned that as a factor previously.

You have been given sound advice by Physiobob and others, and I do not feel I have anything else to contribute to the discussion, personally.

Hope it improves. Good luck.

[lol76]

Thank you everyone who has posted.

I will have to bite the bullet and go back to the physio, preferably someone else rather then the initial one i went to.

My question then goes to.....what can i reasonably expect for the physio to do when i see one? I was told by another physio that if when you see a physio and all they do is break out the ultrasound machine and electric stimulation machine then they really are not doing their job. Is that a valid point?

I just really do not want to pay good money for half way solutions.