Ongoing Knee Pain/Tendonitis

[mcdonkey]

I'm going to try to make this as short and sweet as possible. Back in February, I had a really bad case of tendonitis in both of my knees from muay thai. I saw the doctor and took ibuprofen, iced my knee, and wore support for many months until most of the pain went away.

The tendons on the back of both knees where the hamstring is also feels a little tight at times but is bearable. However, my left knee still has ongoing pain, but only while I'm sitting. The burning sensation and spasm sensation is gone, but it gets a really tight feeling and starts aching. I got an MRI and it says that nothing is wrong. The orthopedic surgeon told me that there was nothing wrong and my quadriceps are just weakened. He told me to do physiotherapy. I did it for about a month and nothing really improved. It still bothers me a lot.

The doctor was kind of young and I'm kind of skeptical about what he said. Just wondering and the sherdog community has any advice or similar experiences and can share your knowledge with me. Thanks in advance.

 

[Origins]

Have you tried doing squats?

 

[mcdonkey]

Have you tried doing squats?

Yeah, that's basically what I did. Doc told me to do squats and leg presses. I mean if everyone on this forum agrees that this is what I need to do, then I guess I just need to be patient and keep at it...

 

[Origins]

Yeah, that's basically what I did. Doc told me to do squats and leg presses. I mean if everyone on this forum agrees that this is what I need to do, then I guess I just need to be patient and keep at it...

I don't think that anyone on this forum will tell you that squats are the only thing you can do, but I think most of them would say it is a good place to start for a lot of knee physical therapy-type questions.

Are you squatting with a full range of motion? Have you recorded yourself to be certain of this? Are you using low-bar or high-bar?

 

[mcdonkey]

I don't think that anyone on this forum will tell you that squats are the only thing you can do, but I think most of them would say it is a good place to start for a lot of knee physical therapy-type questions.

Are you squatting with a full range of motion? Have you recorded yourself to be certain of this? Are you using low-bar or high-bar?

I squat until my knees make a 90 degree. I don't go lower than that because the tendon makes an uncomfortable snap. I've always been like that though.

As far as the bar, I have no idea what your talking about... lol. I use the 45 lb bars, if that helps in any way.

 

[miaou]

Educate yourself on proper full squat technique. Mark Rippetoe's book (Starting Strength) has a very thorough explanation of squat mechanics.

 

[millasur]

I have this same thing happen, but ONLY on my right leg.. any ideas for this lol? I can see this is probably because I've been deadlifting for a long time, and not squatting enough (deadlift is better than my squat by a decent margin) due to gym equipment availability......

What kind of things can I do to try and remedy this?! I was thinking one legged squats (pistons) but I don't want to imbalance my legs any more.

 

[CRZA]

Not sure if this helps or not, but I had some knee pain a while ago, this was back when I did BB style training.. I started doing full squats(low bar), started doing some hamstring work(straight leg deadlift), and I have not had any pain ever since.

Also single leg exercises are good for reducing knee pain, as they strenghten your knees, because your standing on one leg, so you work your balance. I recommend Single leg split squats.

 

[Oak]

When trying to rehab a knee, do you have to squat heavy, or would body weight squats when you are at home be sufficient?

 

[mcdonkey]

Not sure if this helps or not, but I had some knee pain a while ago, this was back when I did BB style training.. I started doing full squats(low bar), started doing some hamstring work(straight leg deadlift), and I have not had any pain ever since.

Also single leg exercises are good for reducing knee pain, as they strenghten your knees, because your standing on one leg, so you work your balance. I recommend Single leg split squats.

Was that the root of your tendonitis? Weightlifting?

 

[CRZA]

Have no idea, never got it checked.

 

[mcdonkey]

Any more helpful suggestions/comments or personal experiences would be very much appreciated

 

[djm4791]

When i had tendinitis my athletic trainer told me to do stretches because my knee wasn't flexible enough

 

[mcdonkey]

When i had tendinitis my athletic trainer told me to do stretches because my knee wasn't flexible enough

I stretch all the time, does me no help. In fact, it makes the tendons on the back of my leg where my hamstrings are (what are those damn things called) feel worse :icon_sad: