Any ideas what (if anything) is up with my knee?

[TexasGortex]

Couple months ago I jogged up some steps at work and got a little knee weirdness. I don't remember a pop, more of a lock/freezing with some pain. Had a mild limp for a few days, wore a knee brace for maybe a week, pain went away.

Couple weeks ago my wife took a picture of me and I noticed my right knee seemed to be tracking in. Initially thought it was just poor form, but it planted the seed in my head.



So I started paying more attention. My knee tracks in all the time during daily life. My right foot duck-stances outward a little (this is new). My leg is very weak when forcing to to track straight, especially things like squatting. No pain.

High deductible health plan, so seeing a doc is going to be expensive to start (I cover the first $2,000, then insurance kicks in 100%).

I was initially thinking just do some new workouts to build up my quads, glutes, stabilizer muscles etc but it's a little weird the weakness is only on one side. Right side has traditionally been as strong or stronger.

Anyone experienced something like this?

[I've seen black diamonds!]

Sounds like you need help figuring out how to correct some glute imbalance. And better insurance.

[stuckathuntermtn]

My right knee tracks in slightly. Just the way it is. I can keep it from effecting my skiing, but I have to have everything just right with clipless pedals and shoes, including a homemade varus wedge, to prevent pain.
If you think something has settled out of alignment look up rolfers in your area. They don't typically take insurance, anyway.
http://www.rolfguild.org/practitione.../unitedstates/

It's possible a good physical therapist could help.
Stay away from chiros. That shit is junk.

[TexasGortex]

Just to be clear; the tracking and weakness are new.

I'm familiar with with some strength/stability differences between legs (noticeable during things like squats), but this is significantly more than in the past. Maybe my glutes got imbalanced while healing from the initial knee thing.

Would be ideal if I could PT or workout my way back to normal. I was worried about a MCL tear or something structural.

I'll look up Rolfing, but it doesn't sound like something I'd be into. Chiropractors aren't on my radar either.

As for the insurance... It's good and bad. I'm most concerned with catastrophic events being totally covered.

[Ski to Be]

That picture looks like your tracking issue is pretty severe. I would go see a knee doctor and get it checked out. Your workouts may possibly be hurting your injury. 2k deductible with 100 percent is good coverage. If you 2k seems like a lot to you you can get a lower deductible but it will cost far more in the long run.

[adrenalated]

That picture looks like your tracking issue is pretty severe. I would go see a knee doctor and get it checked out. Your workouts may possibly be hurting your injury. 2k deductible with 100 percent is good coverage. If you 2k seems like a lot to you you can get a lower deductible but it will cost far more in the long run.

This.

Keep in mind also that most providers will set up a payment plan if you ask. I've found it's usually as easy as just waiting for the bill, then calling them and asking. So you're probably not going to be on the hook for $2k all at once.

[intheways]

Maybe just see a pt and pay out of pocket. You might be able to rule out particular instabilities and/or muscle imbalance.

Then decide if you need an ortho.

[TexasGortex]

I don't have $2k to piss away, but it's something I could recover from. I didn't really want to make it into an insurance thread, but I think it's really good coverage for a guy like me (no ongoing prescriptions or medical issues). I'd much rather have to pay out of pocket for some initial doctor visits than be on the hook for a percentage of a major incident.

Knee doc would probably steer me in the direction of the best knee PT, that might be worth it alone.

Edit: intheways, I'd want to run it through insurance because it would count towards my $2,000 a year total liability. If anything else were to come up this year (or it progressed to surgery) it would be less out of my pocket in the end. I'm on the hook for every cent for the first $2,000 a year of medical expenses. They pick up everything after.

[boarddad]

High deductible plan - so you have an HSA, right? Suck it up, get thyself to a GOOD Ortho and have it looked at. The money comes out of the HSA and you won't miss it.

And for God's sake quit taking advice from a bunch of dentists on the interwebs.

[stuckathuntermtn]

Maybe just see a pt and pay out of pocket. You might be able to rule out particular instabilities and/or muscle imbalance.

Then decide if you need an ortho.

This is a good option. Even if it was a small tear, pt is how you fix it, not surgery. If there's no swelling, that usually means nothing is broken. Kinda sounds like something just slipped into the wrong place. Hence rolfing/structural integration and/or pt. A physical therapist can help figure out what muscles are or aren't triggering and what supposed to fit where. The 10 Sessions are the shit.

[doughboyshredder]

2k is not a high deductible or a high max out of pocket.

Sounds like a torn meniscus. Go see ortho, get mri, see how bad it is, do pt, if you can't live with it after pt get surgery. Don't fuck around with your knees.

[TexasGortex]

Ortho non-surgical-intervention-specialist sports medicine guy appointment booked. Good references, including NFL work. I guess he was the assistant doctor for a team. Not sure if that's good or bad news. If anything stinks I'll get a second opinion.

Thanks for the nudge guys.

[dabaier]

Locking and freezing with some pain is pretty atypical of a torn meniscus. You my subconsciously be adjusting you knee angle to compensate for the pain or to avoid the locking. I would go see a Doc.

[Shredhead]

Ortho non-surgical-intervention-specialist sports medicine guy appointment booked. Good references, including NFL work. I guess he was the assistant doctor for a team. Not sure if that's good or bad news. If anything stinks I'll get a second opinion.

Thanks for the nudge guys.

Good idea! Waiting could put undo stress on another part of your body.

[neufox47]

If that picture is representative of how you move you definitely need to see someone and I wouldnt perform any strength training or plyometrics (or hard skiing) until you see someone.

Your knees should track out and not cave in. Knees that cave in (valgus collapse) make you more likely to injure your knees, especially when landing, running or performing other high impact movements. Training athletes not to collapse inward is one of the skills that the gym I go to focuses on. Apparently changing that motion is one of the easiest ways to avoid a knee injury.

This guy knows his stuff and this is a good article about it.

https://bretcontreras.com/knee-valgu...lexion-drills/

[TexasGortex]

Quick update: X rays show some kneecap displacement but nothing major. Diagnosis of "runners knee". Prescription for PT. Hopefully it goes well.

I have confidence that the doc knows his stuff, but didn't love his bedside manner. Was more concerned about pain than function. I get that it's a diagnostic tool, but come on. Listen to me.

Oh, I don't run. If I do strict cardio it's swimming. Runners knee isn't limited to running injuries, but figured it was worth mentioning.

[adrenalated]

Quick update: X rays show some kneecap displacement but nothing major. Diagnosis of "runners knee". Prescription for PT. Hopefully it goes well.

I have confidence that the doc knows his stuff, but didn't love his bedside manner. Was more concerned about pain than function. I get that it's a diagnostic tool, but come on. Listen to me.

Oh, I don't run. If I do strict cardio it's swimming. Runners knee isn't limited to running injuries, but figured it was worth mentioning.

Lots of docs are like that, unfortunately. PTs tend to be way more better.

[bourbonisgood]

Can't believe it took me so long to see this thread. Anyhow, if that picture is at all indicative of your recent movement pattern, you almost assuredly have weakness of glut medius and secondary weaknesses in glut max and the femoral external rotator group (pirifirmis, gamelli, obturators).

This movement pattern is termed medial collapse/valgus collapse (depending on what part of the country or what rehab circles ya run in). Providing you don't have any structural pathology, it should be a pretty quick fix given the short duration of the problem.

Look for closed chain glut exercises and put emphasis on form. Strength is only half the problem in most of these cases. The neuromuscular re-education (forming correct/non-pathological movement patterns) can be the harder part.

Good catch on the part of you and the wife. That movement pattern is a huge predictor of a number of different knee injuries.