So a couple weeks ago I went to a parkour jam, I was a newbie so nothing intense, just vaults and learning how to properly jump/roll (standing long jump basically).
During the course of this, my right knee popped a few times and it was mildly sore, but nothing major. Now I’m having this weird problem where it keeps “clicking.” If I fully extend it (i.e. stretch my leg, no “fully extend” like when you walk normally) it “pops” and occasionally causes very mild pain, and if I move it past the same point while bending my knee (meaning I fully extended it, and now I’m bending it again), it “clicks” on the right side with the same mild discomfort and occasional dull pain.
Also, my knee occasionally buckles out from under me while walking. It’s not that common, but there’s no pain involved, my knee just decides randomly it doesn’t want to hold weight anymore and just lets me fall.
I’m looking at doctors to see (I don’t currently have one since I just stopped seeing my pediatrician a few months ago since they took people until their 22nd birthday) about this, but until I find someone, any word about what it COULD be? Is there anything simple (stretches, exercises) that could be good for my knees? Should I just stay off it aside from mundane “walking around campus” stuff for a while? I’m kind of paranoid that I ruined my knee forever, especially since that makes it really difficult to exercise like I wanted.
You are not my doctor, etc etc. I’m not looking for in depth medical advice, just more of a “holy shit see a doctor NOW” vs “you’re probably fine, but see a doctor anyway.”
When my knee plays up, not too dissimilar to what you describe including the collapsing, it’s a pinched nerve that’s at fault, trapped under my kneecap. Relaxing it during sleep usually sorts it out by finding its proper placement again.
Sounds like there’s a good chance that it either chondromalacia patellae or patellofemoral pain syndrome (I suppose it depends on where in your knee you feel the pain). Crepitus appears to be associated with both conditions.
Less happily it could be a meniscal tear. So you really are behooved to have the joint imaged as soon as you can.
IANAD, and I can’t provide any Latin names for the syndrome, but I can tell you I had something much like you describe after a knee injury. A physical therapist taught me a very, very easy exercise to strengthen a particular muscle in the knee area and within quite a short time the problem was gone. Of course, your problem could be completely different, so you need to see an orthopedic doctor. It could be midiclorian rapture or ossifinexus differential.
If it’s buckling while you’re walking, you may have torn something. If you could continue your activities after the initial “pop” and you never got much swelling, it might just be a sprain. Either way, you do need to see a specialist.
If your insurance doesn’t require a referral, go directly to a knee specialist. Don’t waste time with family doctors or urgent care. All they can do is x-ray and that won’t tell you anything about the ligaments.
I completely ruptured my ACL a year ago and in the time before my surgery, I only experienced buckling when I was doing something much more strenuous than just walking. However, I think a torn ACL is something you know right when you do it. I sure did.
The clicking, popping, and buckling sound like a meniscus tear, with a little piece of tissue now floating in the joint fluid. That little piece is called a “mouse.” It can float to places where it doesn’t belong, interfering with the proper motion of the joint, hence the clicking, popping, joint locking, and buckling.
“Meniscus” means “cup-shaped,” and it’s the cartilage that cushions the ends of the long bones of the leg in the knee joint. It sometimes tears under stress. The loose torn piece and the jagged edge where it came from both cause problems, and this is often repaired with arthroscopic surgery.
It won’t get better by itself. You really need to have it checked.
~VOW
Nobody can tell you what it is without an MRI. Sometimes they cant even see it with an MRI. I tend to agree with the torn meniscus theory. I’ve had 10 knee surgeries, most of them scopes. My first was when I was 18. My last a total replacement at the age of 48.
If you have a meniscus tear that has flapped over on itself, or have alot of ragged cartilage, its definately worth getting scoped. Depending on where the tear is, they will try to repair, but most likely remove part of the meniscus. I was still playing sports at a high level after my first 4 surgeries. I went down hill pretty fast by the time I was in my late 20s. My years between 32 and 48 were spent with chronic pain.
If they remove a large portion of the meniscus, they might advise you to get microfracture surgery. I did it, and it did grow new cartilage, but its so weak and flimsy that I shredded it within a couple years…recovery time is kind of long too. I dont reccommend it.
I’m surprised to hear suggestions that it might be a meniscus issue. I tore both my medial and lateral meniscuses at the same time as I tore up my ACL, and my surgeon thought that the meniscus was a much bigger problem. After having the meniscus repaired, I was on crutches for a full six weeks. (Which sucked.) Granted this was a while ago, and perhaps things have changed. However, I would have thought that someone with a torn meniscus wouldn’t be walking around.
Also, I have crap that snaps and pops and shifts around in my knee all the freaking time. It drives me crazy, but it has never occurred to me to see a doctor, as it doesn’t actually hurt.
My knees have snapped and popped since I was a teenager. Thankfully you dont have pain. You are also lucky they repaired your meniscus. They just kept cutting parts of mine out. I was bone on bone for so long that the uneven wear made me bowlegged on the left side.
Oh, and I walked ran and played football on a torn meniscus for 2 years. They operated when I decided the pain was no longer bearable.