Front of Knee Discomfort Solution?

[TimberHunter]

About a year ago I started to develop some light, front of knee discomfort. Mainly during heavy deadlifts and on squats when I dropped down too fast.

I backed off on the squats and deadlifts but now the front of knee (not under knee cap, more like the tendon in the front) starts to show some mild discomfort on hikes.

A few months ago I started doing some knees over toes (reverse sled pulls, walking backwards, etc). I didn’t follow a schedule just on and off but usually a time or two a week. No benefit from what I could tell, potentially made it a little bit worse

Any suggestions on how to reverse this? I’m in my early 30s and no previous knee injuries, body weight is below avg for my height so no over weight issues


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[TimberHunter]

I should also mention it is only my right knee. My right ankle has some issues with the tendons in front of the ankle holding the talus bone in place and reducing range of motion.

But I’ve been working through that with a chiropractor and have it much better but knee discomfort is still there when some times hiking or lifting


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[Poser]

Anybody, including myself, commenting is just going to be taking a guess. That being said, the most common culprit with mild to moderate symptoms where you are able to continue on with life and training while experiencing discomfort to mildish pain (depending on your definition of pain) is.... a torn meniscus.
Its supper common, happens athletes that are still teenagers and most athletic people over the age of ~35 have some sort of compromised meniscus. But, there is no way in knowing that for certain uless you get a MRI possibly combined with load bearing Xrays.

If its not locking up on you, you probably don't need surgery. You may not even need time off from training, but you will absolutely have to be mindful of it going forward.

Common training adjustments:
-Ditch the front squat
-Switch from high bar to low bar squat (more vertical shin angle = less stress on the knee)
-Do box squats for a period of time, more often, or possibly exclusively (less stress on the knee)
-Avoid/be mindful of rotating/counter rotating the body independently of the knee
-ice your knee
-prepare for a future of living with knee arthritis by addressing inflammation

But, again, get an MRI and a proper diagnosis.

 

[P Carter]

In my experience, pain over the front of the kneecap, rather than under the front of the kneecap, is often Patellar tendinitis or similar. When this flares up on me, I do quad-centric exercises (quad extensions, quad extensions with a band) and it really helps. Not sure if this is correct, but I visualize the pain as caused by instability in the knee, which causes friction between the knee cap and the tendon, or the kneecap not "tracking" correctly. A few weeks of quad strengthening usually fixes it, though the relief could also come from ramping down on pain-causing stimuli for a few weeks.

I know some people struggle with this long-term. For me, it flares up once in awhile but has never become chronic or problematic on a large scale.

That said, as Poser notes, internet information on this is going to be unreliable. Probably should see a physical therapist or other professional to get a diagnosis.

 

[TimberHunter]

Thanks guys, I’ll looking into seeing someone this week.

Physical therapist a better route vs a knee surgeon?


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[P Carter]

Thanks guys, I’ll looking into seeing someone this week.

Physical therapist a better route vs a knee surgeon?


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I’d say yes. As they say: to a hammer, everything looks like a nail. A PT should give you exercises to try to see if you can avoid surgery. MDs are really good at solving medical problems and getting people to “functional,” but aren’t used to/not equipped to/don’t care about either increasing performance or addressing issues that don’t rise to the level of a typical medical problem. Just my two cents.

 

[TimberHunter]

I’d say yes. As they say: to a hammer, everything looks like a nail. A PT should give you exercises to try to see if you can avoid surgery. MDs are really good at solving medical problems and getting people to “functional,” but aren’t used to/not equipped to/don’t care about either increasing performance or addressing issues that don’t rise to the level of a typical medical problem. Just my two cents.

Thanks, got a PT scheduled for this week


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