Urgent... Sudden Knee Pain

Hi I was at the gym earlier htting the punchbag and all of a sudden when i stood up straight after finishing a round my knee had a sudden pain i then tried to walk it off and realised i couldnt walk due to an extreme tighness across the patellar.

i then tried sitting and realised that my knee will not bend past 5 degrees odd without severe pain!

i have looked at my knee and its very swollen and seems to have shifted to the inner side of leg slightly, what could i have done?

i can bear weight on my leg with little to no pain but and lie straightened but theres no bending without excrutiating pain.

please reply thanks aaron.

Hi Aaron

I don't really know. Possibly you may have torn a meniscus that may be locking your knee in extension. Or perhaps you have done something to your patello-femoral joint. From the activity you described there is no clear mechanism of injury although you probably did do something while using the punching bag

You definitely need to get it looked at. Don't put off doing something about it.

hi thanks for the reply,

I decided not to go to a+e lastnight and decided to take some painkillers and go to sleep, this morning my knee sweeling has reduced dramatically and i can curl my leg while standing using my hamstrings, and i am able to sit whereas yesterday i wasnt.

Is this symtoms of a meniscus tear?

I still cannot extend my leg from sitting though, do you think going straight to the local physio will be best thanks again aaron.

The fact that it settled down quite a lot may indicate not too much damage. I would suspect you may have given one of your menisci a minor injury. However you would need to get it checked out to be sure. I think if you can't get it straight then get it checked out. The physio can do a clinical examination of your knee which may indicate what is going on. A good examination doesn't give you 100% certainty about the diagnosis but it is a good start. They can also advise you on what to do to facilitate it settling down and healing. If there is a major problem there or there is some concern they can refer you on for imaging or and orthopaedic opinion.

hi, i have a similar problem since couple of months, infact currently i m on physio for my knees and hamstring...the docs diagnosed VMO weakness and ITB tightness due to which i have severe pain in my knees (outsides and in the centre) while i climb the staris or be in sitting posture for long and so on (my knees kinda get locked and cant be moved further down)...i can absolutely not do lunges and squats is also not possible with weights...!! i have been taking "jointac" a painkiller / anti-inflammatory med for 3 weeks, not too sure if it has helped...but the stretching / electric treatment on knees indeed has.
My query is: the docs think it cud be due to lack of exercising, but i m active with my gymming and have been pretty much doing my regular lunges, squats, leg press etc with good amounts of pounds...!! the knee pain had surfaced bout 10 yrs back, but nothing was then found in x-ray...it has now suddenly cropped up and giving me trouble. Also when i do enough stretchings i m comparatively fine, but if i skip it for 2 days or so, it gives me trouble the next day...i do not wish to continue like this for sure...kindly suggest!!

Cheers!!
AK

Not sure. The ITB could be something to do with it. A tight ITB could be stressing the patelo femoral joint when you work the quads while the knee is flexed as in the activities you have described. There are related bursae (cushions of synovial fluid that reduce of friction of tendons sliding against bone and other tissues) that could be inflammed.

Has your physio observed you performing squats, lunges and stair climbing? Your physio should work with you including doing weights to work out the problem.