Strengthening Tendons In The Knee

[BrknFngrs]

So last week I got a little sloppy with my form when I was going heavy on my leg press and now I've got pain on the front, inside edge of my left knee. I spoke to a few people (not doctors) and they believe it is the tendons in my knee that are giving me the pain. So Im trying to figure out how to deal with it, one person mentioned trying to strengthen my tendons in that area, others said to just stop working it all together until it stops hurting and try icing it.

I'm leaning toward tying to strengthen the area but I don't know any exercises to do so.

Anyone dealt with this before? Think its worth going to get it x-ray'd?

[buh_buh]

I had a similar problem with my wrist, and I couldn't do curls of any sort (except hammer curls) without pain for around 8 months. I always thought it had to do with my tendons too, but didn't know what to do about it. I basically couldn't put any weight on my wrist if it was facing upwards. I never went to see the doctor, but I'd try to not put any strain on it for a few weeks at a time, but the pain always came back. It wasn't until I took 3 months off from the gym when I went travelling that it went away completely.

[Hakkola]

Originally posted by BrknFngrs

Anyone dealt with this before? Think its worth going to get it x-ray'd?

I have this problem, got an x-ray in Finland and they said there was a problem with the tendon and some other things that I didn't undertand, like it was oversized or something. :rofl: It has been about 10 months since the problem started and it still feels weird. I saw my doctor about it a couple weeks ago and I'm getting an MRI, it will probably require surgery to fix.

Is it bad pain, or just uncomfortable and uneasy? Is it awkward to stand for a long period? Feel like it is going to give out and you are going to fall over?

From where the pain is it sounds like the same problem I have.

[BrknFngrs]

the pain isn't crazy or anything, feels fine standing up, walking/running/swimming etc but it gets really sore if sit with it bent at 90 degrees for an extended period of time

[JAYMEZ]

I had my knee rocked like crazy in Football , anyways my phsyio had me do the big ball workouts... You grab one of those big ass balls , and like a 45 weight..

1. Put ball against your back and lean against a wall with it (Ball is sandwiched)
2. Then do squats with the weight.... the ball just runs up and down your back as you do it.. I guess it helps strengthen your knees.

Herees a thing i found on the net

http://www.myfit.ca/exercisedatabase/images/elastic/ballsquats.gif

[TrevorK]

Originally posted by JAYMEZ
2. Then do squats with the weight.... the ball just runs up and down your back as you do it.. I guess it helps strengthen your knees.


I don't know if the word strengthened is the best word, but I would guess if you used the appropriate weight it would.

When doing squats, or any other exercise that involves bending the knee, the point of the single greatest force on the knee is 90 degrees. So I would guess if you went down to 90 degrees on your ball-squat then you would be placing a lot of force on your knee, which if used with the appropriate weight would strengthen it or used with an inappropriate weight would damage it.

[sl888]

If it hurts let it heal. It sucks not being able to work out but why make it worse. The absolute most I would probably do is that ball squat with no weights.

[~Leah~]

In a case like this, rest for a couple weeks then slowly work your way back into your routine a little at a time. You don't want to screw up your knees for the rest of your life... trust me, it isn't fun. I can't squat or lunge or do many every day activities without a huge amount of pain, but I didn't have a choice when I was younger.

Do yourself a favour and save yourself now. Go see a physiotherapist about it if the pain persists for more than a week. RICE it, care for it, don't worry about your routine for now.

[breen]

sounds like it could be a ligament...i tore my mcl in april and i played baseball on it 4 weeks later, it doesnt really hurt but it was just a lot less flexible and stiffened up on occasion. I still have the same problem with it

[Tik-Tok]

If you come up with anything, let me know. Since I went surfing 2 years ago, my knees have been FUCKED, I've tried a variety of things, and the only one that seems to help is NOT doing anything, for weeks, but then when I do something physical with my knees again, the hurt comes back.

[qbnb]

See a doctor, plain and simple.

[broken_legs]

Learn From My Injuries and prevent your own


I used to squat heavy (for me at the time) in Highschool

I had lots of pain, i never did anything about it. I used to overshoot transitions in the snowboard park and just suck it up, it hurt bad, but i was invincible. If I would have seen a doctor then I would have been fine, could have got a brace and prevented this from happening.

I messed up my knees in snowboarding and in soccer then I tore my ACL once out of my left, had it repaired, tore it out again, had it repaired, now its loose as fuck and I have no confidence

Then a couple years ago I tore my ACL/MCL out of my right knee and had them both repaired.

I have zero confidence squating, hiking, running, I'm always second guessing myself now. I did everything the doctor said, ate healthy, took care of myself did the physio religiously but both my ACLs are still loose. Lots of people have no problem so maybe im genetically predisposed to this or something


If you have any kind of swelling or fluid in your knee theres a great chance its your ACL/MCL causing you problems. Could also be the PCL, or I jsut met a guy this weekend you tore hie Pateller tendon(sp?).

The MCL might* heal on its own without surgery but could still be loose.

ACL has no good blood supply to it and will probably require surgery to fix is you pull it out too much or tear it completely



After three physios from those three surgerries I'll say that the best thing you can do to avoid shearing those ligaments is stop walking *down stairs, down hills (especially running down hills) don't ever bend past 90 degrees with any load on your legs

stop plant and pivot sports unless you have a brace, a real GII brace or something not a crappy tensor bandage.

I'd seriously think of seeing a doctor and getting a brace made, it might help you avoid getting surgery and allow you to play sports and push weight with confidence

Good Luck


EDIT:

Just saw the original post was by BRKNFNGRS

LOL

[BrknFngrs]

thanks everyone for the replies, I've kept going to the gym but am focusing mainly on upper body for a few weeks. The only thing that I am doing that involves my legs is a bit of treadmill/elliptical time because it doesn't hurt from doing that.

It's been better the last few days but there is still mild discomfort if I put it under major stress (running up stairs, supporting "heavy" weight for shoulder shrugs, etc) but it does seem to be getting better (healing I guess?)

[broken_legs]

Just go to the doctor man. They can pull on your knee and see if theres any funny movement.

[JRSC00LUDE]

As much as I hate to agree with anything a guy named "broken_legs" has to say about, well, broken legs, I think you should listen to him. :rofl:

Don't gamble with serious joint damage when a 30 minute stop at the doctor's office could prevent it. If something is wrong, catch it before you damage it worse. Just because pain is going away somewhat doesn't necessarily mean it's healing. You could be getting used to the pain, you could unconciously be moving with slightly modified form so it doesn't aggravate the injury so much, etc. etc.

[cmodem]

:werd: go with broken legs and cool lude on this. Definately go to physio too because sometimes family doctors won't do much.

Unrelated topic when i hyper-extended my elbow i'd get mad capsule pressure and any kind of activity would cause fluid leakage and it'd look like i'd have a golf ball sticking out near top of your elbow by the bottom of your tri.

I left it alone figured it'd get better (but kept boarding every week) till the point where even if i just slightly hit that area i got like that golf ball sized protrusion haha. It ended up that my fibres on my outside forearm had gotten smaller and inside forearm stretched... so my arm was healed in a slightly off angle always putting some pressure on the capsule of my elbow and any impact caused it to leak fluid.

Because i was lazy for 6-8 weeks (till the end of sb season) it took like 4 months of physio to get it back to alright (not even 100% anymore).

So the jist of it is go get it checked out ASAP... especially when it is load bearing joints like your knees.... mine is just my left elbow whatev's i'm right hand dominant anyways haha.

[broken_legs]

Originally posted by JRSC00LUDE
As much as I hate to agree with anything a guy named "broken_legs" has to say about, well, broken legs, I think you should listen to him.


^ I don't think that sentence makes sense LOL

:rofl:

oh its late and ive had a few...


They can test your tendons out in minutes by moving your knee in specific ways to see if a tendon is deficient. Takes literally minutes.

[Hakkola]

Originally posted by broken_legs

They can test your tendons out in minutes by moving your knee in specific ways to see if a tendon is deficient. Takes literally minutes.

That is what my Doctor did, and the left kneecap was far looser than the right, so he sent off the paper work for my MRI.

[H4LFY2nR]

I sprained my MCL and ACL pretty bad in June, and reinjured my MCL last week, before it had healed from the first injury. My MRI is at the end of the month. If I still had pain and hadn't regained full movement after two months of resting (this is before reinjury), what are my chances of needing surgery? And how much does physio for a knee generally cost? I've gone before for my back but that was on my insurance's tab.