What the heck did I do to my knee?
May 21, 2012 4:40 PM Subscribe
I injured my knee somehow. I don't know how. I just remember noticing one day that it really hurt. What the heck did I do to it?
When I first noticed the injury, I couldn't even squat down. Walking around was fine though.
Now it is around a month later and things have loosened up a good deal. I can squat down. I used to be able to do one legged squats up. I still can't put all my weight on my one knee from a squat position, let alone stand back up. I also notice that my knee is sore after I uncross my legs after having sit cross legged for a while.
I haven't seen an orthopedist yet because I am noticing gradual improvement. My question for you all is what did I most likely do, and how the heck did I do it without noticing it at the time? Also, is it OK to just let this heal on it's own, or should I really go see a specialist just in case?
When I first noticed the injury, I couldn't even squat down. Walking around was fine though.
Now it is around a month later and things have loosened up a good deal. I can squat down. I used to be able to do one legged squats up. I still can't put all my weight on my one knee from a squat position, let alone stand back up. I also notice that my knee is sore after I uncross my legs after having sit cross legged for a while.
I haven't seen an orthopedist yet because I am noticing gradual improvement. My question for you all is what did I most likely do, and how the heck did I do it without noticing it at the time? Also, is it OK to just let this heal on it's own, or should I really go see a specialist just in case?
I am not a knee doctor, but I have spoken to several in the course of pre- and post- operative treatment of both my knees. Apart from nthing the above advice to go see a specialist (whatever is wrong with a knee can degenerate fast into something worse), here is my layman answer to your very specific question:
What the heck did I do to my knee?
You may have not done anything to it, in its two meanings:
- It may be that your muscles are weak (or some of your muscles have excessive tone), and your knee joint has some freedom of movement (or extra friction) that it shouldn't. In this case, some exercise to strenghten (or stretch/relax) that part of the leg will help you feel better, no permanent damage.
- It may be that something inside the knee gave out through usual wear and tear. You didn't do anything unusual that you didn't do everyday; it was doing that usual thing that you do everyday, like walking and standing up and crouching several times per day and maybe exercising that finally wore your knee out.
In either case, take care. And I can only speak for myself, but I notice a difference when I'm at 90 kilos from when I'm at 95 kilos. From pain to no pain. So don't think that you need to lose a lot of weight to feel better.
posted by kandinski at 9:31 PM on May 21, 2012
What the heck did I do to my knee?
You may have not done anything to it, in its two meanings:
- It may be that your muscles are weak (or some of your muscles have excessive tone), and your knee joint has some freedom of movement (or extra friction) that it shouldn't. In this case, some exercise to strenghten (or stretch/relax) that part of the leg will help you feel better, no permanent damage.
- It may be that something inside the knee gave out through usual wear and tear. You didn't do anything unusual that you didn't do everyday; it was doing that usual thing that you do everyday, like walking and standing up and crouching several times per day and maybe exercising that finally wore your knee out.
In either case, take care. And I can only speak for myself, but I notice a difference when I'm at 90 kilos from when I'm at 95 kilos. From pain to no pain. So don't think that you need to lose a lot of weight to feel better.
posted by kandinski at 9:31 PM on May 21, 2012
my bet is you tore a meniscus/acl/mcl/patellar tendon. Could be a lot of things. I tore my medial meniscus doing a lunge at the gym, but I wasn't exactly killing myself, so I would imagine the same could happen walking up stairs or any number of other innocuous things.
There's no chance in the world I wouldn't get this checked out. Doesn't sound like nothing to me, and if your knee goes bad because you didn't fix it, what are you going to do? I've had a couple of friends who decided to just let knee injuries heal, and you know what? They both were still "letting them heal" years later. Bad news.
posted by facetious at 11:29 PM on May 21, 2012
There's no chance in the world I wouldn't get this checked out. Doesn't sound like nothing to me, and if your knee goes bad because you didn't fix it, what are you going to do? I've had a couple of friends who decided to just let knee injuries heal, and you know what? They both were still "letting them heal" years later. Bad news.
posted by facetious at 11:29 PM on May 21, 2012
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posted by bearwife at 5:08 PM on May 21, 2012