Knee Tendonitis Pain from jumping and squatting

by Aldo
(Miami, FL USA)



I first had some pain in my knee from (squatting, or jumping etc) so I took ibuprofen and took a day off.

The pain was gone, I didn't think anything about it, then a few days later it was back.

Then continued for several months, and now I am in considerable pain and it won't go away. As soon as I start any activity it hurts even more and can even become so intense that nothing helps it.

The doctors said I have tendinitis. Then I have consider to have surgery.

Any suggestions?

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Joshua Answers:

Hi Aldo.

You bet. I have plenty of suggestions.

First off is, have your doctor describe to you how surgery is going to help knee tendonitis. And ask where exactly they are going to cut, and how they know that that is where the tendonitis is.

So there's that. You describe the classic progression of tendonitis.

Now, a few more questions so that I have a better idea of what is going on.

1. What kind of tendonitis did your doctor say that you had?

2. Why did your doctor think there was no option besides surgery?

3. How long have you been jumping and squatting?

4. Are you a weight lifter? Basketball player?

5. How long has this been going on. It sounds like it just started a few months ago. True? Have you ever had knee pain before?

6. How old are you?

7. Do you have pain when you are laying down or sitting down? Or just when you start being active. What about just going for a walk, does that hurt your knees?

8. What have you been doing for your tendonitis pain other than Ibuprofen?

9. Where exactly in/on the knee does it hurt? Send a picture if you can.

Let me know, and let's get you going down the right path to healing your knee tendonitis.




Joshua Tucker, B.A., C.M.T.
The Tendonitis Expert
www.TendonitisExpert.com














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Jun 04, 2009
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		PART 2- Meniscus tear! - Knee tendonitis pain from jumping and squating
by: Aldo

Hello Joshua

The doctor said he is going to remove or repair the damaged meniscal tissue and may smooth rough cartilage by shaving it.

He is going to perform a Knee Arthroscopy.

He did not tell me what kind of tendonitis I have or where he is going to cut. The thing is that I have been with this for about two years already, sometimes worst, sometimes better.

I tried Ibuprofen and therapies, some relief, but once you workout the pain is back.

I am 39 years old, I do bodybuilding, not weight lifting, I am not a basketball player, but I try to play once in while but is impossible, this is worse than lifting weight.

I have no other problem in my knees, X Ray and "MRI" only show some tears in the meniscus.

I have pain when and sitting down, walking does not affect but running it does. The knee hurts in the top side, just between the quadricep and the bone ( patella ).

My diet is very good, high protein about 1 gram per bodyweight or even a little bit more, I take GNC sport vitamin, omega 3 fish oil, glucosamine helps a little plus 3 grams of vit C daily and 800 IU vit E, isolate whey, and glutamine.

Ice I think it make it worst also.

I take enough calcium from my diet, and some from the supplements. Please let me know what else I can do. I train my legs once a week, so I think thats enough resting days between workouts.

Please let me know what else can I do.

Thank you
Aldo

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Joshua Answers:

Oh.....meniscus problem. Ouch.

That's an entirely different thing than Knee Tendonitis.

Yikes.

Bruised Meniscus is bad news. Meniscus that is actually torn...that's worse news for an active person.

I almost never suggest surgery, but in this case, it may get you back on your feet, so to speak, faster than waiting it out.

Here are reasons why, and then we'll investigate a little further.

1. Meniscus is between the bones, basically. It's part of the padding. Every time you take a step, it gets squished, and thus irritated.

2. If there is a tear, then that tear gets irritated every time you do a knee bend, everytime you take a step, every time you hold up your bodyweight.

3. Same thing if there is a little loose piece(s) or flap of meniscus loose in between there.

4. Surgery can get in there an smooth it up. It's not the best thing in the world, but in the case of actually torn meniscus tissue, it may be your best option.

5. Anti-inflammatory meds are only good for reducing the pain short term, and really won't help healing.

6. Ice makes meniscus stuff hurt more as it has no direct blood supply, but is still helpful.



The variable to look out for is, how big is the rip/tear?

(Continued on PART 3)
Jun 04, 2009
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		PART 3 - Meniscus tear! - Knee tendonitis pain from jumping and squating
by: The Tendonitis Expert

(Continued from PART 2)



The variable to look out for is, how big is the rip/tear?

1. If it's big, then surgery may be your best bet for a quick recovery.

2. If it's small, it could permanently stay just like it is right now, mostly limiting.

3. It's been two years, and it sounds pretty stable.

4. You are doing all the right things, it looks like, nutrition-wise. I still think you can't go wrong with Bone Broth as the best Tendon Supplement


I had a bruised, or slightly ground up medial meniscus a couple years back. I had been running for two months, and one day I couldn't walk. I couldn't put any weight on my leg at all.

I was literally down for 5 days. Had to use a cane heavily for another two weeks. And it slowly got better as I favored it for another two months. It's fine now, but I don't run at all for other reasons, so haven't tested it. It's fine in the gym.

If you have an actual tear....you can imagine how that compares.

Neil Chassan is a PT and has this interesting tidbit to say about meniscus healing.

So, time -may- heal it if you continue good nutrition and limp along.

Surgery may be the best option.

You could try two things for a month or two and see if and how it helps.

1. Ice Massage with an ice cube. Follow with heat. You want to get blood into the area so the Meniscus can heal.

2. Rub the painful spot with your finger(s). Again, it's all about ciruclation. Force old stuff out of the tough tissue of the meniscus, and follow with heat to get new blood in.

(3. You could try Plasma Rich Platelet Therapy, where they inject your blood plasma into the damaged meniscus. But that's probably prohibitively expensive as it's a new therapy.)

If the (painful) icing/heat and massage helps, then keep on that route. If it doesn't......you may want to look at surgery.



Sorry, I know that's a sucky answer. But the fact is, Meniscus damage is WAY harder to heal than Tendonitis damage.


Did you see the MRI? Did you see the tear?

When you say arthroscopic surgery, do you mean into the actual interior of the joint, or just to get at the meniscus that is pretty close to the surface?

Let me know, let's keep at this until you have the best answer.


Joshua
Jun 05, 2009
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		PART 4 - Meniscus! - Knee Tendonitis Pain from jumping and squatting
by: Aldo

Hello Joshua

What the MRI shows is a small horizontal tear involving the posterior horn of the medial meniscus, everything else remains intact and in good condition, I do not know if I can recover from that doing what you said or I do not know if can heal by itself.

I've been with this for about two years already even though is limiting, but you feel uncomfortable not able to do or perform at full capacity, maybe I am asking to much for my age already, I really don't know.

The other problem is if having surgery I will recuperate 100% or at least feel better or perform better. I've been looking some professional players that after surgery are been able to continue playing.

Please any other suggestion, what you will do in my case

Thank you
Aldo

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Joshua Answers

It's a tough spot to be in Aldo.

The big clues are, it's been two years and hasn't gotten better, you seem to have good nutrition, you are very active on it and pain is holding steady.

It seems to my that you have 3 options.

Option #1 is to continue to do what you've been doing, and deal with that level of activity and what you get to do. Learn to be happy with that. Shit happens and we're not young and immortal forever.



Option #2. Take 30-90 days completely off. Keep as much weight off the knee as possible, no trauma, no challenge, no sensation of pain, as little squeezing the meniscus as possible, while icing and self massaging and a lot of light stretching.

This includes walking with a cane, to keep as much weight of the joint with each step as possible.

Give the meniscus total rest without constant irritation.

I'm not a big fan of 'rest'. This is one of the few situations where it may be a good idea to try it and see what happens. It's not rest, really, it removing any ongoing irritation/continual damage that is keeping the tear from healing over. Plus, Meniscus tears can take a long time to heal.

Yes, probably you'll get bored and fat, but I personally would try that before getting surgery.

If you keep all weight off the knee, etc, and the pain decreases significantly, that's a sign that it is an can heal. If you take 90 days actively keeping weight off, and the pain is no different, that's proof that surgery is likely your only hope of getting better.

Again, I'm not pro surgery, but sometimes it does actually work. Meniscus surgery is one of those.


Option #3. Get the surgery.

You're going to have several months of downtime with that doing option #2. But surgery can clean up any irritative outcroppings, and shaving helps the body grow back a new layer of tissue.




Take your pick of what seems the smartest for you.

Keep me updated, ask questions.

Joshua
Jun 05, 2009
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		PART 5 - Meniscus! - Knee Tendonitis Pain from jumping and squatting
by: Aldo

Hello Joshua

To tell you the truth I have never give a full rest to the knee, maybe and I know for sure, that is why it never recover, the maximum of time of rest was 20 days, and the pain was gone, but when I come back, yes I am happy with my training, but after 2 or 3 workouts the pain comes back, and start to getting worst.

Walking does not bother me, the pain range from 1 to 10 has been around 4 to 5 the worst and does not last to long, maybe a day or two after my workout day, but jumping it bother a lot.

I have a question for you. If I decide to go to surgery, once the meniscus is repaired or the torn meniscus is removed, and shave, once recovered, will I be able to workout, when I say workout I refer to any exercise, not just squat at 100% capacity or near.

Please let me know by your experience with other people. My doctor said that is not 100% warranty, but for sure I will be better than I am right now. I know people in my gym that have had knee surgery for others reasons and they do well.

Thank you
Aldo

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Joshua Answers:

Well, there definitely are no warranties nor guarantees that all will go well.

My instinct so far is that you'll have a good recovery from the surgery.

If you have maintained this for 2 years, with intense but limited exercise/ongoing trauma to the knee, that in many ways is a good sign. If it got worse and worse, that would be a different kind of clue.

It seems that you recover fast, such that you can then go do 2-3 workouts before it gets re-irritated.

So it makes sense that with a great surgeon and successful surgery, if not too much meniscus is removed (they may not have to remove much if they just smooth it out), your nutrition, and your motivation, you have very good chances.

The trick is to keep the meniscus from getting compressed such that it gets injured/irritated more than it heals. That's what I mean by 'rest'.

So to answer your question, you -should- be able to get back to 100% if you have a good surgery, and force yourself to recover the best way (which includes keeping it moving but not stressing the meniscus too much)

I still say try to keep as much weight off as possible for 30-90 days, keep your knee swinging but don't be doing squats with weight and such, no running or jumping, increase your nutrition with Bone Broth and such, and give yourself a therapeutic rest.

Give it one solid, last chance to heal, and if pain is gone, work back into activity -SLOWLY-.

It doesn't seem to be getting worse, so there's no rush for surgery.

If you give it a real therapeutic rest and it doesn't heal, that's good information for you to help you decide.

Joshua
Jun 09, 2009
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		PART 6 - Meniscus! - Knee Tendonitis Pain from jumping and squatting
by: Aldo

Hello Joshua

I definitely will go for surgery this coming Friday, hopefully everything will be OK.

I will try to keep the knee resting as much as possible after the surgery for at least a month with the therapies and such and depending how it goes I will incorporate light exercises like cycling, walking, maybe some light leg extension with good tendon supplements and nutrition.

I got a question for the bone broth:

How much and often you should take this ?

What do you think about collagen supplements, I have heard to many different opinions about the effectiveness of this supplements.

Any other suggestion will be really appreciate.

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Joshua Answers

Good luck with the surgery. Meniscus tear surgeries, as far as I can tell, are pretty successful.

It certainly is an tough decision whether to give it time to rest/heal and see what happens, or to have surgery now.

Your challenge is going to be to take it easy and keep weight off the knee while you do EASY movements with it and give it enough rest.

WARNING!: If you push the knee too much after surgery, you will regret it. It would be wise to let yourself heal appropriately and fully.

To answer your questions on bone broth and collagen supplements:

Bone broth is food, so you can basically eat as much as you want of it. It's pretty rich/filling/nutrient dense, so I doubt you're going to eat too much.

But as you are healing from surgery, I would east it a couple times a day. It's raw nutrients and has all the building blocks your meniscus needs to repair itself.

Throw some on rice, fry eggs up in it, toss it in soup, stew, sauce, etc. Dip bread in it. Lots of options.

Consider it a cheap collagen supplement. Collagen supplements are basically just a complicated, processed form of bone broth. More expensive, dubious quality, etc.

Joshua
Feb 08, 2011
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Back of knee, pain when I laugh or sit indian style
by: Crawford

Been having an odd knee pain. Only hurts when I laugh, no seriously, it only hurts when I prop my leg up on the other of sit indian style (can't really do because it hurts). Pain appears to radiate from back of knee.


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Joshua Comments:

Does it hurt when you bend the knee, or just when the knee is bent and it is forced down towards the floor as when sitting indian style. Or?

Does it hurt when you laugh in any position? Or just when standing/sitting/walking/etc?
Mar 13, 2011
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		By Knees - Knee pain-on top of knee - Knee Tendonitis Pain from jumping and squatting
by: Knees

For 3 months I have had pain on the top of my knee when squatting down. Not horrible but a true discomfort. I used to be physically active for years but have slowed down as I have gotten older.

When I do work out for a couple of days the pain eases up. Ive been taking motrin to help. What do you think it could be?


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Joshua Comments:

Hi Knees.

What could it be?

Tight muscles in the quads, tight connective tissue in the quads and/or around the knee, hamstrings not firing enough, out of balance hips, irritation of the tendon at the knee, inflammation, magnesium deficiency, dehydration, not enough good fats in your diet, etc.

Lots of options, and combinations of options.

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