unable to diagnose knee popping?

[panteri]

Hey guys. So I began cardio around 5 months ago and playing rec vball months before. After doing 30-40 min cardio sessions on the bike I read into it more and started doing hiit biking at home after a friend gave me a relatively nice one he didn't use anymore.

No more than two weeks after using the bike(almost every day) my knee began "popping". Not audibly and with no pain. It happens when I squat, when I walk down stairs - not up, and when I move through on a full rotation on my bike.

Naturally I'm scared to death of destroying my knee so I went to my sister in law who is a chiro. She assessed me and gave me exercises, but after a month - two months, no improvement. At this point I decided to stop cycling all together and squatting(which has its own problems of being difficult already from muscle imbalances and my knees buckling).

I then went to a friend who is a athletic trainer for one of the universities around me. He tested stuff and gave me some exercises, but alas... No improvement. After trying to self diagnose the best possible thing I can come up with is... A tight hip flexor.

The reason is say this is because I've done one self test lol. Laying flat on the ground keeping one leg completely flat and without bending your knee raising the opposite as high as possible. Whichever is lower, has tightness in your flexor. My right leg was about 6-8 inches lower than my left. If anyone knows something better, please enlighten me!

I have no other idea what could be going on at this point, or if a tight hip flexor can cause a pull on my tendons? The area the movement/pop is between my sartorious tendon and the distal end of the patellar tendon. If anyone has suggestions or has had this happen any help is appreciated. I am absolutely terrified to continue any stress either from cardio or weights. Thanks for any help!

[riseboi]

what did your sister in law and athletic trainer friend think the problem was and what exercises did they give you.?

[cowboy794]

Hey guys. So I began cardio around 5 months ago and playing rec vball months before. After doing 30-40 min cardio sessions on the bike I read into it more and started doing hiit biking at home after a friend gave me a relatively nice one he didn't use anymore.

No more than two weeks after using the bike(almost every day) my knee began "popping". Not audibly and with no pain. It happens when I squat, when I walk down stairs - not up, and when I move through on a full rotation on my bike.

Naturally I'm scared to death of destroying my knee so I went to my sister in law who is a chiro. She assessed me and gave me exercises, but after a month - two months, no improvement. At this point I decided to stop cycling all together and squatting(which has its own problems of being difficult already from muscle imbalances and my knees buckling).

I then went to a friend who is a athletic trainer for one of the universities around me. He tested stuff and gave me some exercises, but alas... No improvement. After trying to self diagnose the best possible thing I can come up with is... A tight hip flexor.

The reason is say this is because I've done one self test lol. Laying flat on the ground keeping one leg completely flat and without bending your knee raising the opposite as high as possible. Whichever is lower, has tightness in your flexor. My right leg was about 6-8 inches lower than my left. If anyone knows something better, please enlighten me!

I have no other idea what could be going on at this point, or if a tight hip flexor can cause a pull on my tendons? The area the movement/pop is between my sartorious tendon and the distal end of the patellar tendon. If anyone has suggestions or has had this happen any help is appreciated. I am absolutely terrified to continue any stress either from cardio or weights. Thanks for any help!

Being in recovery from two knee surgeries in the last year, I can only tell you what happened with me. Both of my injuries were at work. My knee was popping, felt like it was going to buckle, severe pain when waking up in the morning or prolonged sitting/standing, and I had a severe limp. I waited and continued working on the injured knee for 3 months before I had it checked. The first surgery resulted in the removal of 40% of the inside meniscus and 30% of the outside. It was still sore and I still had the limp, and pain when I had been sitting for long periods of time, but I was getting better. Then a coworker (350+) fell on me, and a month later I spilled in oil on the back of one of our trucks and fell 4 feet to the ground. Examination and surgery again, which resulted in the removal of 10% of the outside meniscus, and the removal of a pillaca (not sure on the spelling). The meniscus is easily diagnosed through a MRI, the pillaca can not be seen on the MRI, and is usually found during a knee scope for other problems, i.e meniscus tear.

Good look to you, but after what I have been through, I'd say go to an orthopedic doctor, specializing in sports medicine and let him check you.

[panteri]

Sorry for the late response, been working like a mad man lately. The exercises they both gave me included front/back/side lunges, ankle/hip stretches, squatting with a closed stance, and realignment of my lower back. I tried doing bridges the other day, and my right hip is angled down while my left side remains completely flat. If I lay on the ground sitting up with one leg straight out and one bent in and flat on the ground, my right hip is raised and I can't push that bent side down to the ground, but my left side sits there by itself flush. The trainer thought it was some type of ankle problem and the chiro thought it was some type of lower back issue. I'm not entirely sure where to go from here. The chiro is only realigning me at this point and not really investing much in it and the trainer can't figure it out :/

[lee__d]

Only way to know for sure is going to an ortho and getting an mri.


My knee pops sometimes, I can also pop it at will with no pain and no consequence.

When I tore my meniscus, my knee was popping with flexion...then I couldn't walk the next day. I'd say if it's been going on for a while and there's no pain, it's likely nothing major. But again, no way to tell without an mri (or at least having a knee specialist look at it).