squat knee pain and compression sleeve

[bradl]

I'm a beginner at 44. My weight on squats has slowly been going up, only 20% over body weight now, but lately I've had pain in my right knee. My left knee has been fine. Back in 2002 I had a torn meniscus "repaired" (smoothed) in the right knee, so I don't think it's an injury prevention issue, too late for that. I don't know the cause of that tear. During squat reps I have concentrated on the track the knee takes relative to the foot and tried changing the orientation of the foot, but those didn't help. I have not tried moving my feet closer together, yet.

I've read some on BB.com and in a weight training book about knee wraps and sleeves. Apparently if worn loosely a wrap or sleeve can provide heating which can help with pain. If it's tighter then it can become a crutch that allows greater weights to be used, but doesn't allow the knee joint to get stronger and the joint may become weaker. I don't want to use a knee support for the latter reason.

Does the heat from a loose sleeve or wrap help or is the benefit due to the support? If I back off on the weight and am more patient, will the knee joint become stronger and ease the pain?

Thanks.

[Bad.bull]

Strange, I went to the doc. about a month ago for same thing. But my right knee was giving out when I walked, happened about dozen x's in a weekend. When I saw my orthapedic surgeon, he ordered me off squats indefinitely. Hack squats and leg presses, ok. When in therapy, therapist ordered me off the previous two exercises as well. I received a J_BRACE from my therapist, basically keeps the knee cap in place and more importantly is neoprene, so it dont fall down. Since then I have had to knee problems. Im hack squatings 360lbs, my angle is slight below 45 degrees, no problem with knee.

You might not be able to do squats. From my therapist veiw, and I dont always agree with her. Wide stance sqaut twist the knee cap and puts a load of stress on it.

My suggestion is to stay away, then if you must go back, go back light and build back up.

[MtnBikeMike]

I use the Tommy Kono knee sleeves. The difference is amazing.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/sck/kneesleeves.html

Also taking a bit wider stance and sitting back not down takes the pressure off the knees.

[ironwill2008]

I've got mixed feelings about knee wraps. Using one loosly, to keep the joint warm, might help; it's worth a try. If that doesn't work, it will be time to find substitute leg exercises that cause no joint pain.

I'm no doc, but what you describe sounds to me like a kneecap tracking problem. These things don't usually resolve themselves, but only get worse, if you persist in doing an exercise that aggravates them. Your best bet here would be to discuss this with a sports medicine specialist; a regular Ortho may not be very sympathetic to your squatting issue.

[crupiea]

I would first try taking a wider stance and putting the bar lower on your back.

Then focus on pushing your butt back to keep the weight on your heels.

I used to get terrible knee pain because I was putting too much pressure on my toes on the way up.

The above fixes are what I did and it stopped in one workout.

[bradl]

Thanks for all the comments.

I have tried to get my butt out and back, but sounds like I should work with my foot positioning some more.

If that doesn't help, I might try a loose sleeve, but it seems like it's time to call the doc.