I worked in the yard for 9 hours Sunday, in workboots. I feel pretty good except my legs and feet are sore. Also, my one knee feels “inflamed.” When I went to step down a step in my house, my sore knee buckled - it wouldn’t hold my weight and had there not been a well to hold on, I would have fell on my face.
I can actually walk fine with a little limping and stretching to get it going. Not concerned about it at all. Chalking it up to general “weekend warrior” soreness.
But - What is occurring in a knee joint when it buckles like that? Is it the tendons or ligaments? Muscles? The joint fluids? It actually feels like the ligaments are TOO contracted to stretch out in the proper bi-pedal standing position. But an ignorant guess would make me think that excessive walking and standing would stretch those parts out.
Apparently not a stair way. With only one step up or down I would consider installing a hand hold or hand rail in the stairway. Glad I did while I could or else would have had to have it done when I was limited to one hand operations.
IANAD but better to stay off of it asmuch as possible. Cold packs for 15 min. followed by not too hot hot packs for 15 min.
Sorry I dont know but a visit to an Orthopaedic MD seems to be in order. Forestall an early knee replacement if there is any ongoing problem. He/she can answer any and all questions.
Sorry I don’t think I phrased my OP correctly. I’m not asking for medical advice or why my knee buckled or how to make the step down from my kitchen more safe.
More like: “What is happening in a knee joint when it ‘buckles’?”
One possibility is nerve entrapment. If your femoral nerve is being blocked somehow from efficiently transmitting impulses to the muscles involved, the result can be the sudden weakness that you describe. An orthopedist might help, but they will generally send to to a physical therapist. Even if your immediate problem resolves itself, you might look into treatment as you may be making alterations in your gait that will cause additional problems down the line.
As to the question in the OP, I suspect that most of the time, if you regain use of your leg, muscle weakness was the culprit. If your leg goes out and stays out, then all bets are off.
When my left knee (which I damaged a long time ago) buckles, I feel like it’s because something about the way I’m putting strain on it signals a “holy crap that’s about to hurt” reflex and my leg muscles suddenly let go in a refusal to help me inflict pain on my knee.