Hello,
I just saw the Knee Rehab Template for sale and wondered if it might help me with my recurring Medial knee pain.
Over a year ago I was using a gym that had no squat rack, so I was doing squats with a Smith machine. After one squat session using the Smith I developed inner knee pain. After some ‘googling’ I concluded it was most likely medial collateral ligament injury.
= Whilst I was doing that squat session, I began to feel something like a large elastic band ‘twanging’ from the front of my knee joint to the back each time I rose or lowered my body. The next day’s pain came from that ‘elastic band’! (What felt like an elastic band, anyway.)
I have tried a bunch of suggestions I found online but although I will often get to the point where I think it is ‘ok’. The next day or so, the pain is back again 100%
It prevents me running or squatting. And at its worst it makes walking difficult so I have begun using a knee brace (elastic knee wrap) which I now use whenever I walk.
Often, just sleeping in bed will provoke it, I don’t know why – but concluded that possibly my knee gets stretched or twisted in the night, so I now sleep with a pillow between my legs when I sleep on one side.
At its worst it feels like a ‘burning’ pain over approx a 3 inch area on the inside of my left knee joint.
It is not debilitating, just painful. There is no obvious ‘loosening’ of the joint or knee. It feels solid.
Most of the time it is just an irritation.
Right now, I don’t even feel it but I know that if I walk any distance it will come back. Or if I squat!
Last gym I was in they had a sissy squat ‘frame’ and I found that I could use that without causing any irritation.
Do you have any suggestions for how I might get this knee back into shape?
Do you think the Knee rehab template would be appropriate?
It’s a dumb nuisance. I would love to be able to squat and run again! Or walk without a brace!
Hey @Londoner - sorry to hear about your recent knee symptoms. The knee template may help return to those desired activities (minus running as this specific activity is not programmed in the template). With that said, you would likely benefit more from a consultation with us so we can address some of your specific concerns and individualize a game plan to return to those activities. If you are interested in a remote consultation with us, please complete our intake form HERE.
Thank you for your reply, @Michael_Ray
The consultation route looks very interesting but isn’t affordable right now, unfortunately.
May I ask you to clarify, a little, what you wrote in your answer to me?
I understand that if running is not part of the programming – but I I was just curious to know to what extent you think the knee rehab programming might (or might not) be appropiate for my specific injury/pain.
I see that in the template description, it specifically rules out knee pain that is “due to a fracture, dislocation, invasive mass, etc.” (Not sure what ‘invasive mass’ is, though.)
And the specific issues listed are: “tendinopathy, patellofemoral pain syndrome, jumper’s knee, runner’s knee or similar”,
But since it neither includes nor exludes MCL injury I’m not clear to what extent the template may, or may not, deal with the injury itself (EG: rather than whether it deals with running). My (completely ininfomed) opinion would be that since I injured my MCL doing squats, if I was able to rehab to enable myself to do them again, that would (currently) be sufficient! I can live without running! (If you see what i mean) and could possibly rehab that later if I was able to rehab my squatting ability first.
Of course, your use of the word ‘MAY’ may simply mean that you didn’t consider MCL injury when creating the rehab tempalte therefore you can’t say either way, with certainty – which is fair.
But if that is the case, how strong is your ‘MAY’? Would it veer more towards ‘may do’ or ‘may not’?
Sorry to get ‘textual’ on you, but I’d appreciate a clarification if you are able.
Thank you.
@Londoner these are difficult questions to answer without a consultation and does fall in the realm of individualized information. Without a consultation I can’t agree or disagree with your diagnosis of MCL sprain. Although, based on the information you’ve provided, I’m skeptical here. With that said, there are likely other topics we need to work through and discuss to help you through this process not discussed in the template. The template is designed for those specific contexts (PFPS, quad tendinopathy, and patellar tendinopathy) because my confidence for generalizability is higher the template can provide an acceptable outline to move folks towards their continued goals for resistance training with sufficient built-in auto-regulation. Hope that helps.
Thanks again @Michael_Ray
And I appreciate your skepticism, also.
Based on the specific location of the pain, and equipped with a human anatomy chart, I had assumed the issue was with the MCL. With no knowledge of these matters at all, that made sense.
But after reading your answer I began wondering – what on earth else could it be, if not the mcl?
Having Googled further on the matter, I am now wondering if it might be a meniscus tear.
I can fully extend that leg without issue (touch toes with knee ‘locked’ straight), but I have noticed that when I kneel (heels to butt) I get more tightness on that knee that the other, and occasional low level ‘pain’ around the inner knee on the same side as the mcl. I have ‘tight knees’ anyway, and can’t fully kneel with either knee (heels to butt), but there is slightly less flexion on the injured knee. And that low level pain – which occassionally feels like it might be at the rear of the knee joint also.
I hadn’t previously considered this remarkable, and assumed it was due to the mcl injury but I know wonder if this might indicate a meniscus tear – although the ‘sharpest’ most intense pain, when it occurs, is always on the medial side of the knee joint, on the outside of the knee (almost like it’s on the skin).
Not that I am in any better position to rehab that, than I would be to rehab an mcl injury, without professional help, but at least it stops me thinking I might know what the problem is; or focussing on a specific type of injury.
I wish I could afford a consultation with you on this, but the piggy bank is too small!
Thank you again.
I understand. You would likely find the article Pain in training: what do? of benefit for adjusting activity during these symptomatic periods. If you want to read more about meniscus issues, I wrote a blog on the topic a while back HERE.
Hi @Londoner I was about to make a post of my own but this pretty much address what I was going to ask for so Im gonna try to add to it a bit. First, did you find a way forward? My story is like yours. Only I did a heavy squat session last Sunday and I didn’t feel any pain or “pop” during the time. A day after I was in pain and the knee started to feel stiff. I decided to rest a bit and the pain increased somewhat, but its not at all unbearable. Its invoked when I “twist” the knee in certain angles and increases after Ive been sitting down for a prolonged time. I have been walking and have no problem living a normal life. I can squat down to slightly below parallel without pain, however, “heels to ass” is very painful and accompanied by a distinct feeling of the knee about to pop in or out of place.
@Michael_Ray So, I realize that its still hard to give specific advice, but reading your blog-post was interesting to say the least. I am going to see a physician asap and get a proper diagnosis, but what I am wondering is what I should do if (s)he find my symptoms to indicate a meniscus tear. In general, can I use the Pain in training approach with a meniscus tear? I have used that approach before with other injuries and its been great. I’ve worked through various strains and aches, however, In this case I am a bit unsure. Could it be that I actually need to completely rest or anything like that? I mean I get that if I broke my leg it would force me to certain decisions and I would gladly put them in the hands of a trained physician rather than my own internet research. Basically, is a meniscus tear more like a broken bone or a strained muscle?