Left Knee - on the outside leftish are - pain on when moving

Discussion in 'Injuries' started by quacky, Oct 10, 2010.

  1. quacky

    quacky Regular Member

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    Hello,

    Would someone give me some advice for my knee.

    Info:
    1. No past history of knee injury except falling on them as a kid. This seems different.
    2. Recent and is acute. Happened after I did lunges on my left leg about 4 days ago after watching a warm up video. (I never warm up with doing left leg lunges before).
    3. I'm right handed, the pain goes away when I play (maybe adrenaline).
    4. Pain occurs when I am walking around the house and sitting up.
    5. Pain is on the outside of my left knee. On the left side of it. Feels like a fiber is been dragged across it and straighten out on it's left after it finishes sliding by. (Imagine when you floss and pull the floss pass your teeth, it immediately straightens.)

    The pain is tolerable, but the concern is the sensation of a fiber moving.

    This is my guess of what happened:
    1. I should have talked to someone before trying the dynamic stretches in that video.
    2. My left leg can take a lot of punishment but it is not familiar with the lunge and so the muscles were out of balance.
    3. Since I recently got serious in badminton, I am building up a muscle imbalance.

    If anyone can give advice, that would be great. And if you need more information let me know.
     
  2. quacky

    quacky Regular Member

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    Addition: If I hold my knee and extend my leg, it feels different. It feels like the rounded part of the femur is sliding under the kneecap, pushing on the membrane between the two. If I don't hold it, the same action happens and pushes the kneecap slightly right until it clicks back into place when my leg is nearly extended.
     
  3. Fidget

    Fidget Regular Member

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    Sounds like your kneecap is sliding out of the groove in the femur. The kneecap usually slides up and down along the femur in this shallow groove. It is is held in place by ligaments that go to the muscles on the inside and outside of your thigh. The kneecap can completely dislocate, which is very painful. But often it can just slide slightly out and in of the groove if the muscles of your thigh are not evenly balanced.

    It could be that the unaccustomed type of exercise on that leg put a little strain on a hitherto unnoticed imbalance. If so, gentle exercises to tone your thighs will help. BUT......... you should really let someone see your knee before you make any assumptions. A trainer, a physio, a doctor, a shaman, ....anyone. Good luck.
     
  4. quacky

    quacky Regular Member

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    Thank you Fidget.

    I recognize that I should see a professional, but I don't have immediate access to anyone right now. My school has free services, but right now I will still need to wait several weeks to see a nurse unless I complain that it's urgent. I'm not used to making a fuss >_<. A few weeks ago, I saw the nurse for my shoulder which started being painful only after two weeks of returning to badminton. They told me I had an impingment of the rotator cuff and gave me a handout of exercises. Those have helped quite a bit, not resolved but definately help. If you know of some for the leg, I would like to try that as well. In particular, exercises that would strengthen the tendon and prevent the left kneecap from sliding right.
     
  5. Fidget

    Fidget Regular Member

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  6. quacky

    quacky Regular Member

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    Thanks Fidget. You're search definitely helps. Now I know what to call it when I talk to someone in person.

    I have a question: I remember a post saying never heat your joints, only ice them. I read it while going through the other "knee injury" threads to find my problem. One of the links suggest using ice when it's acute and heat when it's mild. Do you know if either comments are accurate?
     
  7. Fidget

    Fidget Regular Member

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    They say ice a joint because if a joint hurts, it is probably because it is actively inflammed (hot). Whereas muscles can be sore if they are inflammed (use ice) or if they are simply stiff and tight after inactivity (in which case heat might help).
     
  8. quacky

    quacky Regular Member

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    Hello Fidget, I just want to report back that after a week of the exercises, my left leg is back in shape. It's well balanced now. Thank you to your experience, knowledge, and also your googling skills. I have a followup question which may be a no-brainer but bare with me please. So I did the exercises for both legs thinking, "I better strengthen my right leg too so it doesn't get injured". Well, now my right knee feels out of balance. It is not in pain or do I have trouble seating up or taking the stairs like I did with the left leg. But the right knee does a very slight snap to the left when I bend my leg. It might get worst if I use it a lot, but I haven't been as active this last week because of my left leg. Since the exercises strength my leg so it stops sliding to the right. Are there particular exercises to go the other direction for my right knee? I think that maybe the Hip adduction in the link you gave might be it. But since I don't know physiology, I didn't want to change the number of reps until I asked you about it. -Quacky
     
  9. Fidget

    Fidget Regular Member

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    Glad to hear about your left knee!:)
    Now the right is causing trouble? Hmmmm. I'm not sure what hip adduction is going to do for your knee. It could be a kneecap thing, like on your left. But clicks and noises can also be in the knee joint proper.

    I'm afraid we've reached the limit to what can be done online. If the right knee is just making noises and not hurting, then there is no emergency and it might go away. BUT maybe it's time to take that school nurse up on her offer and make an appointment. :eek: Best of luck.
     
  10. quacky

    quacky Regular Member

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    The right knee noise is very slight. I think it's the same thing as the left knee, but in the early stages and in the opposite direction. (The left knee slide right out of place while the right knee is sliding left out of place.) The left knee only made a very small pop sound when it slide in and out, but it was a sharp pain. The right knee has an ache instead of a sharp pain.

    Do you know how each of those movements affect the tendons and muscles? Since I don't have a background in psysiology, I don't know where to start searching though I know the info is avialable. But if I kow that, I can probably strategize the complementary exercises needed for the right knee.

    I'll see the nurse next week. Thumbs up to you.
     
  11. visor

    visor Regular Member

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    Fidget's got you covered.

    May I also suggest you analyze why you're having this pain?
    I mean, badminton is not high impact like tennis or basketball, so you should try and find out if there is a problem with your technique (ie. lunges, jumps, landing, etc), footwork, shoes, etc.
     
  12. quacky

    quacky Regular Member

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    I think it all begin when I tried to incorporate lunges I found online and the squats I was recently taught. I have stopped doing both. The lunges was when I first felt the pain. I don't have the link anymore to show you, sadly since my hard drive recently died taking my favorites with it. The squats were taught in person and one aspect I kept wondering about is if my feet should be parallel and straight forward as I am taught or should angle out sightly (which is more comfortable).

    As mentioned in another thread you were helping me on, I used to be too sickly to actively do sports, so much of this I'm learning now.
     
  13. visor

    visor Regular Member

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    #13 visor, Oct 20, 2010
    Last edited: Oct 20, 2010
  14. quacky

    quacky Regular Member

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    I already see my first problem. While I was doing the lunge exercises, I landed toe first! In games, I think I land naturally with my heel, but when i was mimicking the instructional video, I landed toe first. Could be the reason for my knee getting misaligned.

    Do you know for certain if in squats our feet are parallel or slightly bent outward? Some guides say they track the knees slightly outwards, other says you must keep them perfectly parallel to prevent future knee injury. Either one or both schools of thought are wrong since they contradict.
     
  15. visor

    visor Regular Member

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    Hmmm, idk abt squats...

    But you don't need power in badminton, you need speed and stamina.

    IMO skipping rope would be much better for badminton than squats.
     
  16. Fidget

    Fidget Regular Member

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    Quacky: Being a complete non-gym guy, I would still say that squats are important. They help with all those muscles that keep you low and stable.

    If you were instructed by a trainer, then you probably learned properly. However, the knee should be kept over the toe with a little tolerance to the outside, I would think. But perhaps your problem started from squatting too deeply. If you were going quickly up and down, or if you were carrying big weight, then that may have set your knee off.
    ___________________

    Visor: When are we starting up our BC for-profit consultancy service? :confused:;)
    "Slipshod Sports Medicine- for those who want answers that kind of sound right."
     
  17. quacky

    quacky Regular Member

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    The person that taught me the squat was a wellness adviser at the YMCA. He had me go deep and since I am only starting, I only used my body weight. It was already difficult. He also had me do squats on a wobble board which was great fun but oh so tiring. It was a 1 hour complimentary session. Additional weight training sessions would require a program membership.
     
  18. visor

    visor Regular Member

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    Heh, I think our day job would pay us much better. :)

    As it is I consider an honor to be able to help out fellow baddies who are as fanatical about badminton as me. Plus it's something that I can do to contribute to this forum that has helped me greatly. :)
     

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