Patella Injury

[Mark1T]

Over the years I have had various strains and pulls and tears, but I have never had a Patella injury. I say injury, but I don't know if it is a strain or a tear.

I noticed (past tense) the most irritation when doing Leg Extensions - the primary functional role of the patella is knee extension. I have stopped Leg Extensions.

Last week I started doing body squats, because I was afraid I might further injure my left Patella by doing my normal squats in the mid-300s.

By the way, the pain/soreness is directly on the knee cap. Anyone experience this and what did you do; what do you suggest?

[kimsquit]

check your reps

[x-trainer ben]

Originally Posted by Mark1T

Over the years I have had various strains and pulls and tears, but I have never had a Patella injury. I say injury, but I don't know if it is a strain or a tear.

I noticed (past tense) the most irritation when doing Leg Extensions - the primary functional role of the patella is knee extension. I have stopped Leg Extensions.

Last week I started doing body squats, because I was afraid I might further injure my left Patella by doing my normal squats in the mid-300s.

By the way, the pain/soreness is directly on the knee cap. Anyone experience this and what did you do; what do you suggest?

My doc told me ice it for 10 min daily and to do the last 1 third of the leg extension movement. The part b4 you reach the top of the movement (leg extensions).
It was bad sitting in movie theaters at that 90 degree angle ..am i correct?

[Mark1T]

Originally Posted by kimsquit

check your reps

Thanks, my brothah

Originally Posted by x-trainer ben

My doc told me ice it for 10 min daily and to do the last 1 third of the leg extension movement. The part b4 you reach the top of the movement (leg extensions).
It was bad sitting in movie theaters at that 90 degree angle ..am i correct?

Well, the entire leg extension movements hurts, so dropping those for a good while.

I do need to ice it. Thanks for the reminder.

[LogPressing]

My problem knee area is just at the bottom of the knee cap, I wear a knee sleeve for support and it helps a lot. It gives me the freedom of full range of movement that knee wraps seem to restrict.

[dbx]

Sorry to hear that, Mark. It's always been in the back of my mind that many here (a long time ago) have insisted that leg extensions are a dangerous exercise for the knees. I never found out if there was anything factual about that or of it was in the same category as folks saying ATG will kill you . I do them, but only occasionally and only high reps (15-20).

See what happens with some rest and go from there. Sorry I can't help you on this. Btw, I haven't forgotten about getting back with ya. Still working on it .

[Mark1T]

Originally Posted by LogPressing

My problem knee area is just at the bottom of the knee cap, I wear a knee sleeve for support and it helps a lot. It gives me the freedom of full range of movement that knee wraps seem to restrict.

On my heavier squats I use knee wraps. But, they do not help much with this injury.

Originally Posted by dbx

Sorry to hear that, Mark. It's always been in the back of my mind that many here (a long time ago) have insisted that leg extensions are a dangerous exercise for the knees. I never found out if there was anything factual about that or of it was in the same category as folks saying ATG will kill you . I do them, but only occasionally and only high reps (15-20).

See what happens with some rest and go from there. Sorry I can't help you on this. Btw, I haven't forgotten about getting back with ya. Still working on it .

No prob, Kevin. Yep, rest and some ice, we will see.

[x-trainer ben]

is the ice helping or are you "really" injured?

[ironwill2008]

Originally Posted by dbx

Sorry to hear that, Mark. It's always been in the back of my mind that many here (a long time ago) have insisted that leg extensions are a dangerous exercise for the knees. I never found out if there was anything factual about that or of it was in the same category as folks saying ATG will kill you . I do them, but only occasionally and only high reps (15-20).

See what happens with some rest and go from there. Sorry I can't help you on this. Btw, I haven't forgotten about getting back with ya. Still working on it .

Kevin, I'm not usually one to post "studies, " believing that most folks here would rather hear in-the-gym evidence about their questions, but I thought this might be of interest to you:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14652500

For anyone who may be unaware, "closed chain" refers to an exercise where the foot is contacting a surface, be it the floor, or the platform on a machine, etc. "Open chain" refers to an exercise where the foot is in space, such as when doing Leg Extensions.

Cliffs: Leg extensions have the capability to pull the knee out of alignment. Not good.

[Mark1T]

Originally Posted by x-trainer ben

is the ice helping or are you "really" injured?

Too soon to tell if the ice has helped yet, but will keep you posted, thanks.

Originally Posted by ironwill2008

Kevin, I'm not usually one to post "studies, " believing that most folks here would rather hear in-the-gym evidence about their questions, but I thought this might be of interest to you:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14652500

For anyone who may be unaware, "closed chain" refers to an exercise where the foot is contacting a surface, be it the floor, or the platform on a machine, etc. "Open chain" refers to an exercise where the foot is in space, such as when doing Leg Extensions.

Cliffs: Leg extensions have the capability to pull the knee out of alignment. Not good.

Iron, thanks for the input.

[erod13]

I have had patella problems for the last couple of years, doc says there really is'nt a sure fire cure (surgery, etc....) what he did give was a knee brace especially designed for the patella. If you google "knee brace for patella injury or something like that" you'll see what I mean. It works wonders, I can squat, jog, leg extension etc... If you want, pm later and I can give you the name brand of mine.
Hope this helps
Ed

[Kiknskreem]

Originally Posted by erod13

I have had patella problems for the last couple of years, doc says there really is'nt a sure fire cure (surgery, etc....)
Ed

What is your actual diagnosis?

[Mark1T]

Originally Posted by erod13

I have had patella problems for the last couple of years, doc says there really is'nt a sure fire cure (surgery, etc....) what he did give was a knee brace especially designed for the patella. If you google "knee brace for patella injury or something like that" you'll see what I mean. It works wonders, I can squat, jog, leg extension etc... If you want, pm later and I can give you the name brand of mine.
Hope this helps
Ed

Great. Thanks, Ed

[erod13]

It started when I first began trying to loose weight (look at my body space and you'll see what I mean) when I would jog I would not feel any pain. When I got home after about 20 minutes if I kept my leg straight (sitting on the floor or stretched out) or sit still for to long, it would stiffen up and the pain to either stand up and straighten the leg was unbelievable. I went to my orthopedic (he works on Florida State Univ athletes) and we first did an x-ray which showed a really bad bruise which I have no idea how I got it. He told me to do the rest, ice, no running etc... for a couple of weeks and see how it goes. Pain never went away, and depending on the activity is how much pain I would have. MRI was next, and there was nothing wrong with acl, mcl, etc... Doc really did not know what to do except giving me this brace which slides over the knee. It also has a strap that you criss cross across and behind the knee cap and it has a weighted gove to keep my knee cap in place and not move. As I said, it works wonders now, I am not as fast as I used to be in jogging, but everything else works fine.
Ed