What’s Wrong With My Knee?

Let’s talk about what to look for if you have a knee injury and what you can do about it. Of course, if you have a significant injury and/or have had an issue for a prolonged period, you need to go see your medical professional. But this is a good general overview of what to be aware of. Let’s dig in.

Clicking, popping, buckling going down stairs/feeling of instability, pain at various locations, and type of pain; these are all factors that we as Physical Therapists take into consideration when making a diagnosis. The more serious conditions that we test for are things such as fracture and severe ligament damage. 

For the sake of this article, we will boil it down by stating that if you can walk at least four steps, do not have significant tenderness over bony structures, and pass a few key ligament tests, you most likely do not have significant damage.  We can then most likely diagnosis it as some kind of minor strain or sprain.

So what to do at this point?  Usually there is quite a bit of a limitation in range of motion (hard to bend or straighten the knee) and decreased strength and balance.  We must get mobility back first and foremost.  Then, as symptoms allow, we ease into stability training, and finally strengthening to see long-term changes.  To begin getting some normal motion within pain-free range, try the following exercises:

Quad Set: With a towel under the affected knee, press down into the towel as tolerated and hold the contraction for 3-5 seconds.  Perform this 10 times.

Knee Joint Mobilization:  Using a rolled up towel (the bigger the towel, the more tolerable bending the knee will be), gently pull your leg back and hold for 5-10 seconds as tolerated.  Perform this 3-5 times within pain limits.

If these exercises irritate your symptoms and/or your knee gets worse, stop doing them and go see your healthcare provider.  If you have questions about your specific condition, we would be happy to help.

Best Regards,

Dr. James