It hurts when I try. I dislocated my left knee about three years ago, and since then I’ve had some problems with what feels like cartilage getting stuck in the kneecap when I’m walking- I’ll have to stop, and smack the inside of my knee lightly to get things back into place. Othwise it won’t bend without hurting like hell. It happens upwards of ten times a day.
My doctor hasn’t done a scope yet, but she thinks it’s either torn cartilage or a bit of free-floating something.
This is different. When I try to staighten my leg to full extension, it feels like I’m doing some sort of bad stretch- it hurts down the outside front of the kneecap. It’s definitely a stretchy pain, not like the sharp ‘ow cartilage stuck’ pain, and it’s not a good stretchy feeling. What on earth have I done to it? Any ideas?
IANAD, and it’s good that you’re seeing one, since that’s the only way you’re going to get any kind of useful answer. Maybe it’s a muscle spasm? Obviously all the knee parts are not working normally because of the injury, which eventually puts undue strain on other parts. Have you tried OTC anti-inflammatory meds (ibuprofen, for example)? When you see your M.D., maybe a muscle relaxant will be needed.
My own experience: I had torn knee cartilege. After that was taken care of, I still had problems with a different kind of knee pain, which included a weird sort of popping around the kneecap. My doctors and physical therapist told me it was weakness in a particular muscle that normally keeps the kneecap properly in place. They showed me a very simple exercise to strenthen the right muscle, and sure enough symptoms went away.