Knee help?

[snowgem]

You all have given so much good knee advice I decided to post my situation for help. I haven't read about this condition anywhere. When skiing for longer periods on consecutive days in crud or something challenging, the back of my left knee hurts (not much the right knee). (The left knee is the weaker one, anyway.) It doesn't seem to bother me much while skiing, but shows up after, and it will hurt behind my knee to straighten my leg out. It sometimes looks a bit puffy back there. I actually can keep skiing the next day or two, tho it's limiting in that I don't want to push it and it hurts more later. It is better after a week or two of rest. The most I can figure is a ligament gets stretched, and/or my knee is hyperextended, but I really don't know. That said, any clue on what's going on, how it happens, how to prevent it, and how to strengthen and ski better so it won't happen?

 

[liquidfeet]

Don't know. Never had any problem behind the knee. Just above the knee on the front, where the quads connect to the ligament that goes over the patella, yes. That registers stress almost every stressful ski day. Behind the knee, not so far.

 

[Jilly]

Hamstrings??

 

[Gloria]

The best advice for you is to see a physician. Swelling in the back of the knee means nothing in particular, just that you have an injury somewhere and the only place for the excess fluid to go is in the back of the knee. Could be anything from a meniscal tear to a weak muscles or ligs somewhere causing the knee to over lubricate. You just can't know until you go and find out.

 

[snowgem]

Thanks for the comments. I am having difficulty getting myself to go to the doctor and spend the $ on this - it really hurts when it happens but only happens when skiing tough conditions over consecutive days, then is better in a couple weeks. Years ago when I went to a knee dr. it cost a lot of money and time and tests to find out I had a Baker's cyst - left knee - and then be told it would get better with time (It did)! But, I've never heard of anyone's having it hurt behind the knee and hurt there when straightening the leg out. If I am hyperextending that leg, then a question could be - at what point in turning or cruising would I likely be doing that? And then, what to do instead? (Boots are aligned). I'd still love any thoughts on this situation!

 

[Gloria]

I have pain, swelling etc behind the knee as well. In that knee I have some meniscal scarring, patellar tendonitis, have torn the MCL, the popliteal tendon and have a serious amount of uh gosh I can't remember calcified you know arthritis type scarring. Anyway the pain and swelling in the back of my knee is not "localized" but "referred" and I may be mixing the terms up, essentially, there is nothing wrong with the back of my knee itself except the fact that fluid ( swelling from ) the other injuries collects back there and the pressure from the swelling causes pain, there maybe a nerve back there. I have a hard time rememberring everything as, the problem started way back in college. The long and short is pain and swelling in the back of the knee doesn't necessarily mean that the injury or problem is in that part of the knee, but may only be affecting that part of the knee. You might try a Cost Care or similiar and just get a preliminary exam, they may be able to determine whether there is an underlying injury or if it's something more like the Baker's Cyst you mentioned above. Try googling Bursa Sac, it may be helpful in explaining the collection of fluid. Good Luck.

 

[pinto]

I have pain, swelling etc behind the knee as well. In that knee I have some meniscal scarring, patellar tendonitis, have torn the MCL, the popliteal tendon and have a serious amount of uh gosh I can't remember calcified you know arthritis type scarring. Anyway the pain and swelling in the back of my knee is not "localized" but "referred" and I may be mixing the terms up, essentially, there is nothing wrong with the back of my knee itself except the fact that fluid ( swelling from ) the other injuries collects back there and the pressure from the swelling causes pain, there maybe a nerve back there. I have a hard time rememberring everything as, the problem started way back in college. The long and short is pain and swelling in the back of the knee doesn't necessarily mean that the injury or problem is in that part of the knee, but may only be affecting that part of the knee. You might try a Cost Care or similiar and just get a preliminary exam, they may be able to determine whether there is an underlying injury or if it's something more like the Baker's Cyst you mentioned above. Try googling Bursa Sac, it may be helpful in explaining the collection of fluid. Good Luck.

x2 on all of this. I had the same thing going on last summer, mostly referred pain.

Of course, about 10 years ago on the other knee, I had been having some intermittent pain on the back of my knee. I had an MRI for another issue (torn meniscus), and it was discovered that I had a golf-ball-sized cyst on my ACL.

So you never know. You really should see a doctor just to check it out. If it's "something," you don't want to make it worse. Knees suck.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

I definitely have heard stories of people with posterior knee pain. Impossible to know the source via description - this one does merit the expense of a doctor trip. If nothing else, to eliminate the possibility of anything serious. If that's the case, it could well be that certain strengthening exercises could lower the stress on the knee.

Wishing you luck, hope it's a remedial cause, but you really should have it looked at and checked. Let us know. Lots of knee talk here. Wonderful joint

 

[Pequenita]

Gretchen - here are some responses I got when I posted about pain in the same area to give you some ideas, but seeing an MD is a great idea since it doesn't seem like your pain's gone away. In my case, the pain went away after a few days and hasn't reappeared while skiing (or while doing anything else, for that matter).

 

[IcyBum]

I would recommend seeing an orthopedic osteopath. A couple of years ago I jumped into a heavy duty cycling training schedule and almost immediately developed severe knee pain (turned out to be chondromalacia, aka cartilage deteriorating from old ski injury!). I first saw a surgeon who said that my inner quads weren't strong enough so my kneecap/patella tracked too far to the left and rubbed on this worn out spot of cartilage. He said he could slit my ITB (bunch of ligaments that run from top of pelvis down to knee and stabliize all the other big muscles) to the left of my knee and loosen things up. I wasn't keen on surgery and recovery so checked around and heard about a local osteopath who works with many athletes to strengthen their legs and heal them without surgery (osteopath = specialist in musculoskeletal health as basis for whole body health). I've seen him on a "maintenance" schedule since then and he's helped me with all sorts of aches and pains. It's been a lot of PT and work on my part to get my body in better shape but I have been very happy to avoid "The Knife".

Ironically, despite the great improvement from all the exercises to strengthen and stabilize my inner quads it wasn't until I broke my femur and they actually DID have to cut through my ITB (at my hip) to place the bolt, plate and screws in my femur that things really loosened up enough at the knee.

But in any case, osteopathy is worth checking into.

 

[SueNJ]

I agree with everything that's been said--in a nutshell, you should probably bite the bullet and get it checked. It's a recurring situation, so there's something going on. Take it from one who learned the hard way: don't ignore knee problems, especially if the problem keeps coming back. Your knees are trying to tell you something's up. Let the orthopedist (or whoever you go to) know about your financial limitations--maybe they can minimize your costs but still give you an accurate diagnosis.

 

[cyn]

I don't have a specific knee injury, but I have very advanced osteoarthritis in both knees. I get hyaluronic injections in both knees twice a year and they help a lot.

A couple of weeks ago, someone turned me on to hyaluronic acid capsules.I checked with my osteo and he told me to go ahead and take them, and that they wouldn't hurt me. I've been taking them for less than two weeks now and I feel like a new woman. I can actually walk without pain and skiing is way more pleasant now without that "end of day" swelling and soreness. Even my hip problems, which were caused by the knee thing, have disappeared. This is almost too good to be true.

 

[lv2ski]

Oh those knees

Hi,
I found an interesting sight and found some info. as I was looking firther into my knee pain. I think I have chrondomalacia in my right knee from skiing:( . Here is some info. and a link to the sight. good luck, get checked out too as I will also.

"Pain in the back of the knee: "Pain in the back of the knee can be due to the formation of a cyst, called a Baker's Cyst, in the back of the knee joint. Also common is for kneecap pain to be felt in the back of the knee".
https://orthopedics.about.com/od/hipknee/a/kneesymptoms.htm

 

[Daria]

Cyn, on the capsules, what strength do you take and how many per day? Are there other ingredients in the capsules like MSM or glucosamine?

 

[liquidfeet]

A couple of weeks ago, someone turned me on to hyaluronic acid capsules.I checked with my osteo and he told me to go ahead and take them, and that they wouldn't hurt me. I've been taking them for less than two weeks now and I feel like a new woman.

Tell more! Interested.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

Ditto. Need more info.

 

[SueNJ]

Ditto, ditto. I've had one round of injections and am getting my second series when I get back from UT. But I take various other supplements every morning and can easily add these if they're worth the money (I've seen them, and the ones at my local health food store were a bit pricey...).

 

[MaineSkiLady]

Found several variations/brands on drugstore.com - interested in knowing what strength and dosage worked best.

 

[cyn]

I take two 50 mg capsules after a meal twice a day for a total of 4. The label says to take "up to 4 per day." They are pure hyaluronic acid - nothing else added.

I order them on line here:

https://www.puritansale.com/pages/i...hyaluronic+acid&imageField.x=0&imageField.y=0

They arrived in a couple of days and cost less than $10 a bottle!

I don't want to gush, but my knees have not felt this good in about 5 years.

 

[Daria]

Thanks!! I am going to buy some. Will let you know how it goes.