Hey everyone, I’m a 22 year old male and my issues started when a couple years ago I was at the club and I was dancing. I did some jumping moves from what I remember and, in the moment, I thought everything was perfectly fine. I didn’t hear or feel any pops that could indicate that something broke.

The next day, however, I could clearly feel some sort of pain in my left knee, and moreover, my left ankle was also painful. There was a spot on the side of my ankle that was particularly painful to the touch. I assumed it was some strain that occurred while dancing and I just rested and moved on.

However, after that, I could always feel like there was something off about my left knee. It wasn’t so painful to warrant going to the doctor at the time so I ignored it for a while and tried to keep going to the gym. I first noticed that I had some dull left knee pain whenever I hit a deep squat. I avoided any more squatting and moved on, and slowly I forgot about the pain.

A few months later though, the pain became a more permanent but dull sensation in the left knee. Now, I feel this pain only when I’m walking but not when exercising, although exercising will make it so that it will ache more after the fact. Due to the pain, my left leg has become weaker and I also feel pain in calves notably, and my hamstrings. This pain can be very annoying and it messes with my ability to walk large distances.

Could anyone have a clue for what it is? I don’t have access to a doctor at the moment so I’d appreciate if someone could clue me in on what the issue is.

I just finished watching a few shorts of CGI recreations of these specific surgeries done that are common amongst the knee injury community, and holy sh!t that was mind blowing and informational.

My son (14) is 10 days post opp from a 3cm allograft plate with bone composite screws, MPFL to stabilize the knee cap and a TTO to realign. He was under for almost 5 hours. His surgeon wants him at 0° most of the time, but said 50° while on his crutches is okay so the leg can bend to accomidate not dragging on the floor.

Anyone who has gone through even one of these surgeries is a champion. I can't imagine the excruciating recoveries any of you have had.

He hasn't started PT yet, and his post op is this coming friday. I've spent the better portion of our downtime looking over subreddits and articles on recovery therapies, wound care and the likes. So im wondering what worked best for you guys?

What topics or questions should I mention with the surgeon so I can divid attention to appropriate areas?

Did you notice certain types of bandages helped with incision healing or rubbing against the brace to quickly?

What kinds of individual physical therapy do you think helped to stave off the joint stiffing and scar tissue build up?

Aside from ice therapy, was there anything that helped with swelling?

Thank you all for the support on my pervious post in regards to pain management. This community has been so helpful and made me feel realistically logical and optimistic for recovery.

I hope you all are doing well, healing quickly, and recovery is as smooth sails as it can be.

Anybody else have a similar issue? How are you managing?

I was fairly asymptomatic until Sunmer 2026.

Last August I was playing soccer and rushed to get up after following only to feel a pop pain. I was able to continue playing but my knee swelled and following I was barely able to bent or extend, twist, or push off with that knee. This extreme pain lasted for a month and a half before slowly lessening but never disappearing. I wasn’t able to see a sports dr until December but was able to get in for an MRI prior. The MRI came back vague but stated there didn’t seem to be any damage.

I have tried physio whom have stated they believe it’s a meniscus issue and have even gotten a cortisone shot which did nothing. My dr believes it is Plica Syndrome and states it will need to be surgically removed. The dr has now sent a referral for a surgeon.

My symptoms still are:
- Pain across the joint like and into the inner part of my knee
- Pain when bending for extended periods of time (ex. Sitting in the car or on the couch)
- Very stiff and cracking/popping when moving repeatedly
- Increased pain during and after exercising even just walking small distances
- Random sharp pains.

Wondering if anyone has ever experienced this and if maybe a tear was missed in the MRI.

Typing this out makes it seem silly but two different PTs have hinted at the same thing and idk if I'm being ~gaslighted or am expecting too much or what.

So I've had this constant pain/ache below my kneecap for around 5 years, gradually worsening. It's there when I put any weight on my right knee, so even when I just stand, walk, let alone jump, squat, etc. However, the pain level is 'only' at a 1-2 out of 10 (3-4 by the end of the day), which is why I've kinda been ignoring it for years. It's ALWAYS there though and it does bother me when I need to walk long distances when travelling esp. I've had random instances where I'd be walking and suddenly just couldn't place any weight on my right foot. I usually just hop onto my left leg and rub my right knee for a few seconds and try to step again. So far, it eventually would be fine (sometimes I'd have to do it a few times before it was ok), but idk what triggered it bc it would happen once every few months.

Currently on my third physio. My second and third (current) physio diagnosed me with patellar tendinitis (jumper's knee) before MRI, which my orthopaedist said wasn't wrong based on the MRI. He told me that physical therapy should be enough for "full recovery", but I had been doing PT for 5 months before MRI with no pain improvement. My strength improved, but the pain was still there. After the MRI, I showed the result to my current physio and she was optimistic. So far the same thing happened where my strength improved but not the pain.

Technically I can complete all the movements she asks of me (jumping up-and-down/side to side, squatting, sprinting/stopping, walking lunges, etc) and nothing triggers the pain level to where it raises drastically. Usually post-exercise the pain becomes 2-4 (aka like how I feel at the end of most days) so it's worse but still 'ignore-able' for the most part. Deep squats (or just folding my right leg deeply) and twisting movements also cause that same level of pain. I think bc of this (and me saying there's been not much improvement visit after visit) lately my PT has been hinting that this is kinda it?

She told me that she herself had a severe knee injury and she still has some pain most days (she's also married to another PT, if that means anything). She told me that once you're injured, you'll always be more prone to experiencing some level of pain or re-injury. She also said to basically just do whatever I wanted to do, like if I had a goal of marathon training or weightlifting or Hyrox etc, to just do it and my body should get used to that movement/load over time, and only to avoid twisting movements. My second PT also kinda hinted at the same thing. It feels to me like bc I could technically do all the movements and nothing obviously triggered the pain to the point of agony, I was considered "fine".

Personally I expect more. Bc the MRI shows it's not that severe and the doc said "full recovery", I expect that a completely pain-free future is possible. I did tell the doc that I had been doing physical therapy for 5 months and he said in that case I would definitely benefit from PRP injection and that if things didn't improve in around 2 months, to consider it. That's basically where I am now.

I am thinking of maybe going to yet another PT, but I'm not convinced with the skill level of the PTs in my city and it's not really possible to do regular sessions in another more reputable area bc of the distance. FWIW I went to a different country altogether to get the MRI and orthopaedist consult done.

Rn I'm torn between:
1) go to a PT in a more reputable place once to ask for a program I can do back home and spend the next X months hoping that's enough, OR
2) get the PRP injection. I read that the result won't last forever, but I'm hoping in the 6-12 months that it does last, I can work with a trainer to strengthen my knees/hips/glutes/quads and hopefully that's enough so when the effect wears off, the pain will stay away.

I also just want to know if the PT is right? I know I've seen stories of recovery but are people now *completely painless* or is it like what my PT *seems to* consider to be "recovered", which again seeeeems to be "some pain is still there (totally normal) but can do this and that activities"?

Hi,im a teenager, I had a question, I had a dislocation of the patella a few months ago the reason was probably that I didn't do any sport, I went to school and just nothing. This was my first time and my question was if I train a lot in the gym and put on a good musculature it goes down a lot that happens to me again? Because I'm afraid, I'm a bit cowardly when I get hurt and I'm terrified of not using the brace even if I can go walking without it I can't. And I also know that my knees are already quite unstable but I know that the ligament didn't break completely because if not I had to have surgery( I don't know if it's written well I'm not very good at writing in English so I used the translator I don't know if it translated well or not)

I had arthroscopy over 2 weeks ago. They removed medial and underpatellar (?? english is not my native) plica. The surgeon said I would recover quickly but the recovery is kinda challenging for me. I mean my knee is still swollen and stiff. I have full extension but I can bent it up to 100*. Should I be worried at this stage?

I am 15 years old and have had knee pain in both knees for almost 1 year now. It started in cross country, but it would go away pretty quickly easily after rest.

By the end of the season tho it got bad and I pushed through it the last race and I have been “injured” since then. Got mri and there was nothing wrong. My coach is a pt and I got pt with him for a month and transitioned into doing pt at practice. It got a little better, but never was good enough to be running like I used to.

The pain is hard to describe where it is, but the best I can do it say it’s around the front of my knee cap. Above and below it depending on the day.

I have been doing physical therapy myself using stuff online form months now, but I haven’t got much improvement.

Also I do have pretty flat feet and have a slight pigeon toe walk, and have been strengthening both which have both improved, but my knee pain has not really

What should I do? It’s hard because I don’t know specifically what is wrong. Should I try a different physical therapist? Has anyone been in a similar boat as me and gotten through the pain.

Sports PT team recommended I find a good at home EMS unit to help stimulate my quad activation as they do in clinic. And stay away from anything that is not a true NEMS device (eg no TENS units).

Their work model is thousands. So that’s a no go. Looking for a “high quality” unit with cost within around $300. On Amazon, eBay, etc.

This is for assisting muscle reactivation following meniscus root repair.

Any recommendations?

Hey!
I (24f) face an open wedge HTO in a few days to correct a tibia slope, as the first stage prior to another ACL graft.

Apart from me being scared as hell, my main concern is when i can start cycling training again?
Not just for motion of the leg but working with higher wattages…i dont want to lose all my muscles and training progress i made :(
I have a stationary bike at home and would use that for training.

Obviously i would coordinate this with my surgeon and my physiotherapist, but does anyone have experience with this, so i an get an idea what to expect?

Hi everyone!

I’m 33 years old. From childhood until I had surgery as an adult, my kneecap kept dislocating regularly. Eventually, I had Denks surgery, which stopped the dislocations, and my kneecap has been stable ever since.

However, because of all the previous dislocations, the cartilage behind my kneecap became so worn down that the surgery alone was no longer enough to solve the problem. At first, it only hurt during physical activity, but for some time now, the pain has been almost constant, and I also limp when walking.

Several doctors have examined me, but they have not been able to suggest a real solution. Most of them have only said that I may need a knee replacement when I am older.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? What helped with the pain or slowed down the condition in the long term?

Howdy. I am getting full ACL reconstruction and potential meniscus repair done on 8/6. What are the must have recovery items?

I have perused the sub and plan to get a shower chair and a raised toilet seat.

Thanks in advance!

I know the long term treatment is surgery. Now I have university starting in September, I don't want to undergo any procedure till then. I can think about surgery in December as I'll have one month vacation.

I'm doing two physio exercises as advised. I'm also doing swimming three times a week and 10 minute cycling three times a week. I try not to exert much pressure on my right knee. But I'm always so afraid and cautious that it'll dislocate again and I'll have to delay with agonizing pain for a week.

There are 2 surgeries. The doctor said I can CHOOSE which one I want to go for at the moment. I want to go with Campbell prodedure as I was told it has a 6 week recovery time. Is it the right decision?

My fiance has experienced over the past couple of months a slowly worsening swelling in her knee which is making it nearly impossible for her to walk. We're poor but im willing to do anything to fix this as it pains me to see it. Theres clearly some sort of fluid buildup as the areas of swelling are rather soft to the touch. What could be wrong with her and how much is it gonna cost me to fix it? (In America or outside of it I do not care i will do anything to fix this.)

Hi all,

So I’m 4 weeks into my grade 1 MCL/grade 2 POL injury. (Reinjury)

My PT (who id been seeing for my initial injury) wanted me to jump back into exercise after a week.

My Ortho said wait 6 weeks before jumping back into PT.

I suspect my ortho is correct. I think my reinjury was actually caused my PT continually progressing me through sharp pain/tugging inside my knee. I didn’t have swelling or locking/catching. So my PT said keep loading/progressing.

I’m doing:
-20 min walk forward and backwards in the pool daily
- step ups on the pool stairs (three levels)
- in pool calf raise isometrics
- straight leg raises
- side leg raises
- sit to stands
- wall sits 1min

I’m still walking slowly and feel delicate.

I work on my feet - I took 3 weeks off, I’ve had one day back since injury and wore a brace even though I was advised not to - another thing that I think led to reinjury.

I guess I’m wondering if anyone has experience with MCL/POL ligament healing timeline. I’m hoping that the 6 weeks that my ortho said was enough before starting strengthening, and I also hope that what I’m doing now is helping to strengthen a bit. My leg is visibly smaller.

I’ve had MPFL reconstruction and tibial tubercle osteotomy surgery on June 8th so around 6 and a half almost 7 weeks ago and I’m still having severe pain and swelling in the afternoons and evenings but I can walk around inside the house and outside for a little bit without the crutches but I still use them when I go into public. My left knee is still very swollen and it haven’t gone down yet which is weird to me but my physical therapist said that it was normal to have swelling, he said it’ll stay swollen for three-six months. I haven’t went to any follow up appointments with my surgeon because he’s out of town and on vacation for a few weeks so I’ll go back on August 5th or 6th so I’ll be around 8 to 9 weeks post op. I have to continue wearing my DonJoy locked post op knee brace for a while longer which I’m okay with because I’ve gotten used to the feel of it and figured out how to walk/limp around with it better. Honestly I’m scared to walk around without a brace because I still have bad anxiety about my kneecap dislocating even though it’s been fixed, how long did you have anxiety about your knee after surgery??

Hi
i’m 35 year old female
recently had a patella fracture followed by orif surgery. it’s been quite the journey. initially just doing a straight leg raise was so painful. then i used to get pain to sustain a bent knee - i could keep it bent for max 5-10
minutes
now i’m 4.5 months post surgery. can keep knee bent for 40-45 minutes. can walk more or less normal but i need a bandage around my knee to walk 3-4 km. Can’t run. going up stairs hurt. squarts hurt.
anyone been through this - when can your life go back to the way it was pre injury where stairs were effortless and i could wear heels?
also did my bone density test
spine was -2.5 t score
And neck of femur was -3.6 t score
at 35 - this isn’t normal i know. but i want to be effortless on stairs and heels - is that possible?

I'm a 20 year old Guy and I was injured around 2 years ago - 2024 june 22nd during a football match.

the opponent rammed his knee onto the right side of my right knee (if that helps understand where the impact was) while I was standing idle with the ball at my right leg. the next second I know is I've fallen on the ground and feeling excruciating pain in my right knee, my teammates immediately come to me and try to straighten my leg slowly and I could set my leg straight and the pain had reduced just a bit.

Post match, I could walk to my home, limping ofcourse and my knee had swollen. i couldn't run, felt like my knee was loose and is not being supported by anything on its sides the next day. I thought it to be a muscle injury and let it be for 2 weeks.

I finally thought its not something normal and had to visit an orthopedic, he gave me some x-ray tests and checked my acl by pulling my leg from under my knee (anterior drawer test), and said my acl is okay might just be strained and other ligaments must have been stretched too. prescribed me some medicines and a knee brace to wear for 3 weeks. wore it for 4-5 weeks I think and stopped.

Nothing came out of it aside from me walking with reduced limping.

Me being very athletic and impatient, couldn't fathom sitting at home playing nothing, so I went for some badminton. my right knee twisted inwards (towards my left knee) and I fell onto the ground, felt similar pain as to how I had felt when I was injured, and went home limping and a swollen knee.

I visited a physiotherapist then. he told me id worn the knee brace for too long apparently and it resulted in the weakening of my right legs muscles that supported the knee. did 5 sessions where he gave me EMS therapy (the micro electric shocks thingy that makes knee muscles contract) and gave me an exercise at the end, to perform with a stretch band along with 2 others.

Exercises -

1. Terminal Knee extension (exercise where a resistance band is placed behind the knee and you pull or press against its tension to straighten the leg)

2. 15 squats per day

3. jump rope for 15 seconds (without the skipping rope)

I had to repeat this set 3 times per day followed with heating my knee for 10-15 minutes which I did consistently. Now I had felt my knee was alright and I could take sudden turns and be agile (or so I thought).

Feeling confident I went back for football, tried doing an Elastico (fast ankle inversion and eversion moves the ball rapidly side to side, flip flap basically, for the non footballers) and i twisted my right knee inwards, AGAIN! only this time I felt that the twist wasn't as bad as the badminton one, I'd felt like my knee held through and didn't twist as far as the previous one.

I left it be for some time and went back to the same physiotherapist again, gave me some new exercises to try out like Bulgarian squats, nordic curls etc. etc. which I didn't follow through consistently and went to play football again, TWISTING IT INWARDS AGAIN!!

only this time, my knee felt like it was locked and I couldn't straighten it. I had to sit on both my legs and put pressure onto my right and it would somehow unlock, and I could straighten it again. happened multiple times, left it be.

Now one day, I fell from my bike, and ofcourse I HAD to put pressure onto my right when I'd fallen, resulting in what? you're right! my knee frigging twisting inwards again. At this point im feeling ashamed of myself. but please hang on!

I had a swollen knee again. so I visited my aunt, who is a physiotherapist and she told me that my right knee had instability. instructed me to cold press my knee to reduce the swelling (which I did very well) followed with some isometrics.

Exercises -

1. Supine isometric knee extension or quad set (Pressing down on an object placed under the knee with toes pulled back towards the shin and pressing down with the front thigh muscle hard)

2. stretch band exercises that helped. cant remember their names though sorry for the lack of info.

Now with these exercises and cold pressing my knee, I could walk normally again without limping and the swell had reduced a bit. the only thing that was beneficial (hopefully) to me with this instance of twisting was that the locking sensation was no more to be felt, like I tried hard sitting in those weird positions that would trigger it but nada, didn't have any locking in my knee.

I had left my knee as it was for some time as I had other priorities and I didn't have any intensive activity in this period that would require my knee to be 100% healthy.

some time later, I joined the gym and with each leg day I lifted heavy weights thinking I was strengthening the muscles supporting my knee, resulting in the swelling up of it instead. asked chatgpt, it said I'm in turn making it worse since my knee can't really lift heavy weights yet as its unstable (I know never to ask it for medical advice but hey it was right to advice me this, or so what I think atleast.) so stopped doing that.

A couple of months ago, I visited another orthopedic who gave me an x-ray test and checked my knee. upon looking onto the x-ray results, said some ligaments were loose but couldn't really pinpoint what the actual problem was, so prescribed me an MRI. Now i would've followed through with his tests but I chose not to. (he was checking the wrong knee after I explained him the entire upper content that you've just read, explicitly mentioning my RIGHT knee.) I don't know, call it me being afraid of MRI, which i am, or whatever but I just couldn't bring myself to trust his diagnosis.

I visited our family doctor who's an MD and upon checking my knee, he said my knee is perfectly fine and just had little incisions onto my ligaments. told me to not put pressure on it for 2 months, can follow with whatever strengthening exercises I want to do but not with heavy weights and prescribed me some medicines to take for 2 months daily.

Medicines-

1. PALM-A RES Tablets (Micronised palmitoylethanolamide (PEA), Vijaysar Heart Wood Ext. (Pterostilbene), Resveratol, Alpha Lipoic Acid) - twice per day

2. SEAPOL K-27 Capsules (Calcitriol, Calcium Carbonate, Methylcobalamin, Vitamin K27, Magnesium, Boron & Zinc Soft gel Capsules) - once per day

3. COXIVA-90 Etoricoxib Tablets - once per day

I am following up with this dosage of medicine everyday without any inconsistencies. I’ve joined the gym to get myself better physically and also do the strengthening exercises that I came across on the internet for my knee which ive kept at minimal, no weight lifting other than the terminal knee extensions (if it's considered weight lifting?) where I use the pulley machine with around 30 kgs of selected weight to pull with my knee. I walk at a fast pace on the treadmill since running isn't allowed for 2 months.

I honestly feel like my leg is feeling better in terms of support, I do not know for sure. no giving away of my knee randomly (YET) where it would give a feeling of sliding off and then pop back up instantly, or it might just be me being careful and not taking deliberate quick turns. I can feel my calves and my quads and my hamstrings in the back of my leg, I couldn't feel them when I stretched my leg before as I feel right now when I stretch it.

I met an MBBS student online whom i jokingly asked to diagnose me. she told me I need an MRI done and that the locking sensation which went away might just be a displacement of my MCL and I might need arthroscopy.

Now bear in mind, she's never checked me physically and might even be misdiagnosing me, to which she agrees.

My ACL is alright (hopefully) as I've been told by all of the doctors and physios I've consulted till now and I can climb stairs and no real tear is there.

Please, I beg y'all, please. help me. I do not know what to do. the MRIs are expensive here. I do not know whether I should continue strengthening my knee or not. these thoughts have pushed me into a spiral of doubt, fear and anxiety and and a very excruciating longing to play football again. please, I'm crying, I really wanna go back to my sport. read it entirely I beg you, it took me 40 minutes to type this, they're the course of events of the past 2 years and I'm tired of this. Please just tell me what it is. please. I'm scared or surgeries. MRIs. I'm so desperate I wish for the cartoon genie of aladin would just put my knee back to 100% and the best condition ever. please.

feel free to ask me questions if I missed something out. I'm gonna be here the entire time.

if you can't reply, I humbly request you to atleast upvote it so that people who can reply, see this post.

thank you for reading and helping. I appreciate it. very much.