KNEE INJURY

[ianthompson]

Hiya! I'm a noobie. And I have a poorly left knee. I sprained it a few years ago and now it isn't as strong as the other. Every so often (like now) it is sore at the bottom of my knee cap on the inner leg side and swollen on the opposite side.

Any clues to what my ailment is and how I can fix it/strengthen my knee.

Ta,

Ian

[1212jtraceur]

ask dackpt.

jtraceur

[squirrel]

post shudve been in PK injuries......

[Dackpt]

First things first, when theres any inflamation, your first priority should be to ice it around the area.
A bag of peas should do the job, hold them on the area for around 10-12 minutes. wait 2 hours and do the same again, and as many times as you can throughout the day. Try elevating it (above your heart) when watchin telly or such. If you can get some tubi grip to compress it the rest of the day, it would help. However, dont compress and ice at the same time because it will reduce the bloodflow a little too much.

Also, dont rely on Freeze Sprays instead of ice, they may take the pain away for a moment but the cold needs to get deep into the area, sprays only cool the surface.

[Dackpt]

The problem itself seems to be a patella (kneecap) tracking problem but i cant be sure without getting my hands on it. When your knee bends, the knee cap drifts from one side to the other. Could cause future problems if it is the case.
After the inflamation has gone down you can begin stretching and strengthening, Specifically the Vastus medialis oblique (VMO) which pulls the patella in line.

Do you have any use of any gym equipment?

(If you look at the 'stregth conditioning' section, soon there will be some ideal stretching for your problem. For now, use the static stretches in the 'stretches' section of ukpka. Stretch hamstrings and quads)

[ianthompson]

Hi, yes I have access to basic gym equipment: free weights, leg press and leg curl machine. There doesn't seem to be much noticable patella movement compared to the other knee but to be honest I'm not sure what I'm looking for.

Any hints for building up the strength in my knee are gratefully received. I will conduct them at my own risk.

Ian

[Dackpt]

The movement is fractional but is causes enough friction to cause problems.

The treatment is more or less the same, whatever the injury.

keep doing your stretching as often as you can, watching telly or whenever. This relieves some of the pressure the muscles are exerting on the knee cap. Do this for a week as often as you can. (quads and hams)

after a week (or when you notice that your flexibility has improved) sit on a chair or the end of the bed with your knees bent. Then straighten your legs so your sitting in an L shape and squeeze the muscles (quads) as hard as you can (trying to push your legs super straight) and hold the squeeze for 5 seconds and let your feet down. repeat 8 times then have a 2-3 min rest to complete one set. then repeat for 2 more sets.

For your hamstrings, sit on a bed in the same starting position as before and pull your heels against the bed, trying to bend your legs further. Your feet or body shouldn’t move but your muscles should still be squeezing as hard as they can. Again hold for 5 secs, 8 of them and 3 sets.

Do this every other day for 2 weeks but continue to stretch as often as you can still.

(This strengthening uses the muscles but because there’s very little movement (isometric) it shouldn’t irritate the area, which would cause it to inflame again, if it does inflame, ice immediately)

After you've done this, let me know on here and I’ll give you some stuff to progress to.

Hope it helps

[ianthompson]

Thanks. I'll let you know how I get on.

[ianthompson]

Went to see my local quack Dr Bob today. Showed him my knee and got some good news and some bad news. The good news: my knee is stable and no ligament damage ;D

The bad news: I have probably got a torn cartlidge

I am off to see Dr Bob's good friend Dr Schmidt in the near future because he is a "knee artist" to quote Dr B.

[Dackpt]

If it is miniscus (knee cartilage, forget about the spelling, it's too late 4 me), it'll probably mean surgery. Dont dispare though, these days its as quick to recover from your knee been key-holed as a decent (use the word losely) tear. Stick to what the physio says and you should be fine. If they dont give you regular physio sessions, consider booking into 1. it'll be worth the money.

DackPT

[Pete]

what would you reccomend for pre patellar bursitis as I have been diagnosed with it and I have now got nowhere with my doctor

[Dackpt]

As with most injuries around that area, remember R.I.C.E

Rest
Ice
Compresion
Elevation.

You should refrain from PKing or any similar type of activity untill your symptoms subside completely. Starting again too soon will just bring it back.

Ice it as often as you can at around 10-12 minutes at a time- every 2 hours.

If you can, get a tubi-grib from the chemist or the Doc. to compress it. leave it on thoughout the day but take it off when icing.

When your watching telly or icing, keep your knee above the level of your heart.

Dont ice and compress at the same time because this reduces the blood flow to the area a little too much.

If theres no change after 1 week see the doctor again. He may need to aspirate it (suck out the fluid from the bursa).

It should be fine though after 1 week if you keep up self treatment.

When your back training, you'll need to work some flexability into your quads. on the main ukpka site, there will be some PNF stretches coming that will be perfect for developing flexability. If there not up by the time your ready, static stretches for the quads will do the job. For best results, stretch whenever you have free time, theres no such thing as too much stretching(for development).

Did you fall on it or has it gradually come on?

[Pete]

has been a problem now for 2 years

I have so far seen 2 doctors, 1 consultant surgeon and 5 physiotherapists

RICE failed miserably as have numerous different sets of stretching excercises and ultrasound

I don't think it's going to get much better to be honest but it doesn't stop me from keeping up with my Parkour

[Dackpt]

Have you had an MRI scan on it? At worst cases, the bursa can just be removed, but if its not stopping you PK there should be no need. still would advise to ice after you PK just to minimise inflamation and continuing to stretch wont make it any worse.

DackPT

[Alyth]

i had a bad knee injury in january this year and it was while i was doing long jump, it kind of bent back as i landed. i got sent to the hospital where the treatment was poor and i had to keep going back every three weeks so that they could prod and poke at it. i then got an mri scan on it to see what happened and all they said was that i hadnt ruined the ligaments and they only THINK iv done in my cartilage too but they arent sure. i have had no more advice since that and it keeps playing up on me every so often.
do you have any way of building it up again so that it is back to strength?i dont have access to the gym stuff as of yet, im too young to join by 5 months.