Clicking Knee

[Ben Britton]

Ive had this loud click every time i bend my left knee for the last two weeks now. It recently come on after i did a P.B. 100kg front squat. It doesnt hurt at all and feels normal to move, but im just concerned because its pretty loud, just wondering if it might be something that needs attention...

[Marcus Allen]

Ben, can you feel the source of the click with your hands?

Does the click occur always when you bend your knee or only when you have weight on the leg?

[Steven Low]

Read this wfs

http://www.eatmoveimprove.com/2010/0...licking-oh-my/

[Ben Britton]

Originally Posted by Marcus Allen

Ben, can you feel the source of the click with your hands?

Does the click occur always when you bend your knee or only when you have weight on the leg?

I cant really feel anywhere, allthough i did have a bit of sorness after i did the squat at the top of my kneecap right at the side of the Vastus medialis. it seams to be a bit louder when i run up stairs on ball of foot. But for some reason its slowly getting quieter every day...any ideas? Should i be worried?

[Shannon Mullens]

Steven - Thank you. Thank you thank you. I just started having the clicking problem in my knees (the one with mild pain, not the normal stuff) and I've been trying to figure out what to do about it.

[Steven Low]

If the clicking is more anterior (anterior horn of lateral or medial meniscus) then you want to strengthen the hamstrings/posterior chain primarily and STRETCH the heck out of the quads especially rectus femoris. This is most people.

If the clickign is more posterior then you awnt to strengthen quads more, and stretch out hamstrings A LOT.

tight/strong quads pull femur forward more onto anterior horns of meniscus (thus the clicking) and vice versa for hamstrings. Obviously the stretching of either should be accompanied by strengthening of the opposing muscle groups (well, the whole chain to be exact, but yeah).

Doing this should help pull femoral condyles back more neutral into the middle of the mensical area which in most cases should take away pain and/or reduce clicking

Fish oil also helps obviously because usually tissues tehre are inflammed too much, and need anti-inflam properties to reduce the inflammation to a more managable level so tissue regrowth can occur.

[Shannon Mullens]

Mine at least is the former - strong, tight quads that need stretching, and hams/glutes that need strengthening. I was doing squats to try to fix that problem (I walked into this with strong quads and weak glutes) so I think I'm out of balance on my form and just need to stretch more and work more.

I'm also adding glucosamine and fish oil to my diet, as well as milk for the duration of the clicking and possibly beyond.

[Steven Low]

Do more specific work instead.

GHR on the GHD works, maybe some hamstring curls, glute bridges, etc.

Yeah... for some people with problems even squats may be the thing thats causing the imbalances in the first place so you want to be real careful with compounds

[Shannon Mullens]

Thank you for the advice - I'll look those up and get started, for sure. On a side note, I did my squats yesterday with your advice in mind (I hadn't seen your last post), and I think part of what's causing the problem is I was trying to go all slow and controlled. When I allow my body to go into position naturally (read: drop, more or less) there's no pain, no clicking, and I can engage hams/glutes that way, where it was all knee and quads before.

I'll still look up the exercises you mentioned though - I've got a LONG way to go before I'm in tip top shape anyway, and with my body and health issues, my weaknesses could use all the help they can get.

[Steven Low]

Originally Posted by Shannon Mullens

Thank you for the advice - I'll look those up and get started, for sure. On a side note, I did my squats yesterday with your advice in mind (I hadn't seen your last post), and I think part of what's causing the problem is I was trying to go all slow and controlled. When I allow my body to go into position naturally (read: drop, more or less) there's no pain, no clicking, and I can engage hams/glutes that way, where it was all knee and quads before.

I'll still look up the exercises you mentioned though - I've got a LONG way to go before I'm in tip top shape anyway, and with my body and health issues, my weaknesses could use all the help they can get.

Yeah, if you're having problems slow and controlled it's likely a muscle imbalance or tightness issue because your body is recognizing a motor pattern where it's activation a muscle too much and the antagonist muscle not enough.

Happens to most people with the quads especially nowadays, moreso for women than men.... and mostly because we sit down too much.