# Bent legs + time = knee ache. Why?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bent-legs-time-knee-ache-why/693011>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 13, 2014, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bent-legs-time-knee-ache-why/693011 "2014-07-13T19:35:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bent-legs-time-knee-ache-why/693011/1 "2014-07-13T19:35:04Z")

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This is a question that occurred to me as I took a long motorcycle ride today. What’s happening in my bent legs that causes the kind pain whose only alleviation comes from straightening them out?

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**Author:** ![MonkeyMensch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@MonkeyMensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMensch)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bent-legs-time-knee-ache-why/693011/2 "2014-07-13T23:24:16Z")

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Just anecdotal, but I used to have chondromalacia, which was a roughening of the bearing surfaces of the cartilage in my knee. You can Google “Movie Theater Knee” for what might be some help.

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**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bent-legs-time-knee-ache-why/693011/3 "2014-07-13T23:42:27Z")

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I don’t know the answer but I used to have the same thing happen when I rode and never figured it out. I had other knee issues but nothing so serious as to seek treatment. I always figured it had to do with decreased circulation.

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**Author:** ![Scribble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scribble/32/3317_2.png) [@Scribble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scribble)\
**Post date:** [July 14, 2014, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bent-legs-time-knee-ache-why/693011/4 "2014-07-14T00:38:15Z")

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IANAD, but it seems to me that you might have patellofemoral pain syndrome:

[http://www.m.webmd.com/pain-management/tc/patellofemoral-pain-syndrome-topic-overview](http://www.m.webmd.com/pain-management/tc/patellofemoral-pain-syndrome-topic-overview)

It might be worth your while to see an orthopedist and get your knees checked out. Good luck!

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**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\
**Post date:** [July 14, 2014, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bent-legs-time-knee-ache-why/693011/5 "2014-07-14T02:43:17Z")

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I had this for a time… my knee would get an agonizing pain if I kept it bent while sitting. Only straightening it out, even for a moment, would make it better, and then instantly and for a good duration.

This was after I’d fallen and smacked the shit out of my kneecap on concrete not once, but twice in a week. After about a year, it stopped happening. (I had no pain any other time once the initial pain was gone.)