Possible knee injury? Please help.

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LaurenAOK
LaurenAOK Posts: 2,475 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm not sure what's going on with my knee or what I should do. I've never had problems with my knees before, and I danced for years with no issue. Well a few months ago I did Insanity and I started to notice that my left knee would start hurting when I did the intense running in place stuff, or a lot of jumping or squatting. It would sometimes be a little sore the next day but nothing that noticeable. After I stopped Insanity my knee went back to feeling totally normal.

Well now I'm doing Stronglifts which includes squats 3x a week, adding more weight every time. I only started the program a few weeks ago and started with the empty bar, so I'm up to 80lbs now. Well when I did my 80lbs yesterday I noticed that by the last few reps my left knee was hurting - bad. I finished out my sets but it was tough. Today my knee has been sore all day, even when I'm just sitting still it's like a dull throbbing, and if I crouch down standing back up hurts a lot.

I've never dealt with injury before so I'm not sure what to do. It doesn't look swollen or anything and it does hurt less now than it did at the beginning of the day, but it still hurts a bit to bend it. Do I refrain from exercise? For how long? Should I go to a doctor or what? I'm pretty clueless. If anyone has an idea of what this sounds like it could be or what I should do please let me know! Thank you all!

Replies

  • GiddyupTim
    GiddyupTim Posts: 2,819 Member
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    Does not sound normal to me. I would see someone. You do not want to hurt yourself permanently.
    It can be difficult to see an orthopedist and take a while to get an appointment. But, in my town, we have a number of physical therapists who work with runners. It can be much easier and quicker to get an appointment with them, and they can easily diagnose a serious problem.
  • BrownEyedGrrl
    BrownEyedGrrl Posts: 144
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    Definitely go to a doc as soon as you can. Refrain from doing any activity that aggravates it til you find out what is wrong. Good luck! Hope it's nothing too serious!
  • geminai
    geminai Posts: 9 Member
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    My response probably isn't going to be very helpful - all I can say is please don't mess around with knee injuries. I screwed up my knee in a motorcycle accident when I was in my 20s and didn't rehab it properly. Now I'm in my 40s and it has been a huge hindrance to me in many things I've wanted to do throughout my 30s. You're so young - a trip to a doctor could help you lead a much better life as you get older. Even if you get advice here, I wouldn't let it replace the diagnosis given by a medical professional.
  • Emile_Jarreau
    Emile_Jarreau Posts: 29 Member
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    sounds like it may be time to strengthen the glutes more than thighs and stretch hip flexors to reduce to reciprocal inhibition that exists.
  • 70davis
    70davis Posts: 348 Member
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    Bump
  • ktmmom189
    ktmmom189 Posts: 132 Member
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    My response probably isn't going to be very helpful - all I can say is please don't mess around with knee injuries. I screwed up my knee in a motorcycle accident when I was in my 20s and didn't rehab it properly. Now I'm in my 40s and it has been a huge hindrance to me in many things I've wanted to do throughout my 30s. You're so young - a trip to a doctor could help you lead a much better life as you get older. Even if you get advice here, I wouldn't let it replace the diagnosis given by a medical professional.

    This. I had 17 breaks in my knee from a motorcycle accident. 45 and up for knee replacement. Knees are nothing to mess with, I would see an orthopedic.
  • BunniPage
    BunniPage Posts: 49 Member
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    My response probably isn't going to be very helpful - all I can say is please don't mess around with knee injuries. I screwed up my knee in a motorcycle accident when I was in my 20s and didn't rehab it properly. Now I'm in my 40s and it has been a huge hindrance to me in many things I've wanted to do throughout my 30s. You're so young - a trip to a doctor could help you lead a much better life as you get older. Even if you get advice here, I wouldn't let it replace the diagnosis given by a medical professional.

    This. I had 17 breaks in my knee from a motorcycle accident. 45 and up for knee replacement. Knees are nothing to mess with, I would see an orthopedic.

    Agreed. You should at least try to get a referral to see a sports doctor.

    I'm 31 and due to injuries obtained from martial arts and ballet I've had surgery to remove torn cartilage in both of my knees. Now everything from lunges to skipping hurts. :(
  • dsjohndrow
    dsjohndrow Posts: 1,820 Member
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    If it goes away when you are not exercising, it's the exercise. You probably went up in weight too fast.

    I have had a number of injuries and a few surgeries. First, get it looked at. Second, no matter what your program says, listen to your body. And lastly, heavy lifting is not required for strength training.

    If you are body building, you need a solid foundation. I suggest backing off the heavy reps, and spending 90 days getting a solid core strength doing 3 sets of 12 reps using your favorite exercises. Then keep up 30 minutes of cardio 3x a week for the rest of your life.

    A knee surgery will set you back a minimum of 8-12 weeks and longer if it's an ACL.

    And for some (35%) chondroitin and glucosamine really help along with a lot of water!
  • LaurenAOK
    LaurenAOK Posts: 2,475 Member
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    Thanks for all the advice, everyone. I guess I shouldn't have asked whether or not to see a doctor - I know I should see one, haha. I'm a college student and money is tight, but I'll see what I can work out :ohwell: I was more looking for tips on what I should do in the meantime. I really don't want to stop exercising right now. I have a couple of things coming up in the next couple months that I HAVE to be in tip top shape for! Any suggestions for low-impact things?

    Also, it definitely could be too much weight, and I'll decrease the weight for sure... but the thing is it was bothering me when I did Insanity, which has no weights at all. Like I said, running in place was irritating it quite a bit.
  • grendel322
    grendel322 Posts: 105 Member
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    Is it the inside or outside of your knee? I just got done with three months of PT and slowly building my running back up after "overdoing it" and coming up (down? :) ) with a case of "runner's knee". Once that ligament was strained, it hurt to lean the wrong way or put any pressure on it. If it's the inside, that could be the problem. The main culprit seems to be an imbalance, usually building up of quads will help. (that's what I went and am still going through). If outside, it might be IT band. There are stretches and exercises you can do to alleviate that. I will echo what everyone else said though, get it looked at if you can. I was relieved to find first and foremost it was nothing chronic and nothing structural. Second, it helped to have a program to get it back and worked into shape. I am FINALLY getting back to where I was before deciding I needed to double my miles all at once. :)
  • grendel322
    grendel322 Posts: 105 Member
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    Sorry, just saw the "low impact" part of your post...do you have access to a pool? Swim! Biking and swimming are two of the best low impact options. I was also able to do treadmill work, as long as I kept the resistance low. Good luck! Catwoman??? :)
  • Faintgreeneyes
    Faintgreeneyes Posts: 730 Member
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    Having had knee issues (torn acl and meniscus in the same knee) I went years after my injuries without having any knee pain, and then after I had started running for a bit, I started getting pain in both my knees, not just the bad one. I tried resting it, and it would feel better, but as soon as I started the exercise again, the pain would come back.

    I finally went to the DR and got referred to a PT. The PT basically explained to me that I was overcompensating for the weak muscles in my hips and thighs and was causing me to push my knees out of alignment. So they gave me exercises to do, and since then I have been pain free.

    Moral of the story- it is always better to get checked out, then to keep waiting and then end up doing something terrible to your knee. It would be that you are over compensating for a weaker muscle and taking the brunt of it on your knee which is causing the pain. I say see a DR, or a specialist if you need to and get it sorted out before it becomes a bigger problem.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,239 Member
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    First, get to see a sports medicine doctor. Your GP will likely not be able to help much.

    Second, likely the problem is being caused by form breaks in the squat. It would be wise to have someone video tape you squatting and post it here or elsewhere so people can comment. Even better, get a trainer to help you get your form down. If your form is of on heavy compound lifts, it puts the stress in the wrong places. A good video series on youtube on squatting is "So you think you can squat" I believe it is a 5 part one. Well worth watching to learn a lot about squats.
  • TexasTroy
    TexasTroy Posts: 477 Member
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    When you're just sitting in a chair normally with feet on the floor,especially for extended periods, does your knee (s ) hurt? If it does, you definitely need to get it checked out- that could mean possible damage. If not then its probably either adding weight to fast or the repeated jumping. The insanity program has lots of intense moves that could be irritating especially if you are not used to training like that.
  • nicolabradley87
    nicolabradley87 Posts: 95 Member
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    Hi

    I am a physio, and without looking at your knee it is not possible to accurately diagnose it. However it sounds like it is caused by a muscle imbalance which lead to patellar maltracking (ie poor alignment of the kneecap during certain movements). The muscle imbalance can either be due to poor activation of the VMO (muscle on the inside of your knee), tightness in structures on the outside of your thigh, weak gluts leading to internal rotation of the hip.....and the list goes on. To get it properly diagnosed you need to see someone specialist. In the meantime you could try taping (google McConnell taping) and I would advise reducing your weights and focusing on your knee alignment during your squat. Your knee should be in line with or just outside your toes as you squat. I would also incorporate gluts work, particularly glut med (clam shells and hip abduction lifts are good).

    BUT even if you try some of this, get it looked at, like I said it isn't possible to be accurate without doing a full assessment.

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