› Forums › General › Unusual knee/leg issue has my PT stumped

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    • 04/08/2014 at 1:09 pm #70892
      AvatarDeven Williams
      Participant

        56 male new to CF, went through an 8+ day foundation program over the last month. Very active/athletic but mostly endurance activities the last several years. Mobility/ROM lacking so I was very cautious with movements. Right knee started a bit of general soreness and some slight swelling a few weeks ago so I limited movements with acute knee flexion. I also developed an occasional “pop” just below my patella. Clearly not a “mouse” but a pop just as I neared extension.

        One week ago as I flicked my leg forward to flip my shoe lace across my foot, I had a very acute pain that encompassed my entire knee for a second or so. A bit sore but not so much so that I limped, I went on with my evening. As time went on that night I developed quite a lot of discomfort in my entire posterior chain from glute to heel. It felt like two days after a huge day going for PR’s in dead lifts, just the pressure of sitting was uncomfortable. Over 5 days the discomfort has disappeared. At no time during that was there any discomfort in my knee, just the entire back of my leg like a had a huge lactic acid build up.
        My PT says he’s never heard of anything like that in his 40+ years of practicing.  
        Any takers?
        [Currently trying to work on and access mobility/ROM as it relates to deep flexion to see if general knee pain issue resolves with improvement]
      • 04/08/2014 at 3:23 pm #74469
        AvatarMax Sandlin
        Participant

          #1-do you have full knee extension?  I’m assuming that’s a no based on what i read.

          #2-I’m also assuming by “PT” you mean physical therapist, and if so, did he/she do a full eval to check ROM of the hip/thigh/lower leg/ankle/foot? That would help key in with where to start.

          #3-Does said “pop” hurt?

          Pain being the symptom, unless you abruptly did something traumatic like a knee sprain during running or jumping (at any point), I would say its probably assocaited with some sort of dysfunction up or down the chain. Address ROM of the muscles surrounding hip/knee/ankle/foot. Don’t torque on the knee joint, like i said, chances are its due to lack of ROM of the surrounding musculature.

          The two big ones i would see about:
          Your hamstring flexibility on each leg separately (where you’re unable to keep a flat back).
          You hip flexibility, predominantly the rectus femoris.

          I used to have a “click” near full knee extension (not painful), which could also be called a “pop”, following my most recent ACL surgery. I found addressing hip weakness and mobility in the musculature surrounding the knee and hip to be most effective in eliminating this and restoring proper ROM to my knee joint.

        • 04/08/2014 at 4:43 pm #74470
          AvatarDeven Williams
          Participant

            Andrew, Thanks.

            Yeah my knee extension is actually good.
            ROM in hamstrings is lacking as is the rectus femoris and I’m really targeting those areas.
            My click/pop was an “ouch, that felt good!” Kinda like when you get a “normal” crack out of any joint but this was not deep in the knee but near the surface.
            The real mystery is the 4 days of pain down the back of my leg. It wasn’t post cramp/spasm pain, but like I wrote before, pain like a days after a really big day that had torn up a lot of muscle.
            A ruptured bursa would leave my knee sore [which it wasn’t] was the thinking…..
          • 04/09/2014 at 9:43 am #74476
            AvatarMax Sandlin
            Participant

              Interesting. Sorry, i keyed in on the knee rather than the sitting pain. That honestly sounds more like a sciatic nerve irritation. Just a guess, having seen a couple people have similar issues/pain (sans knee “pop”). The “pop” may have been unrelated or just due to general tightness or the quad/ham and the patella glided back into proper position? Speculating of course, but i’ve had the same sensation just without the leg pain.

              I’d still advise working on hip abduction strength, and as you already were doing…loosening hams and quad (and calf/ankle/foot).

              Good luck. i hope it doesn’t occur again!

            • 04/09/2014 at 9:39 pm #74482
              AvatarDeven Williams
              Participant

                Thought about a sciatic issue but it wasn’t that. Seeing another PT on Mon. and it’ll be interesting to get their take on it.

              • 04/15/2014 at 12:43 pm #74509
                AvatarDeven Williams
                Participant

                  Ok, the whole lasting pain from my glute to my heel has everyone a bit mystified but the ‘good’ news is I just have a bit of patella tendonitis. 

                  I was watching vid #31 but I’m not sure what mobility moves I need to be making for my hip. I can’t listen as fast as KS can talk…….
                  Anyone that can link me to the vids that I need to work on to address up/down stream here would be great.
                  Thanks.
                  Alec
                • 04/27/2014 at 6:30 am #74550
                  AvatarKatie Hemphill
                  Participant

                    Now that is interesting.

                    I assume by this point you ruled out any other activities from the day of the onset of posterior chain soreness, or the days immediately prior, as a culprit?

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