Knee problems, the medical community pretty much has failed me

[imprettystrong]

Male 25 y/o 145lbs. Been lifting for 2 years now. I have a completely **** left knee, which has bothered me even before I started lifting. It pops, clicks, grinds, all to some degree while bending my knee > 90 degrees or squatting deep at body weight or with 135lbs. I did not have a major injury, banged it here and there like any normal kid does growing up. If there is some sort of major injury I am unaware of it.

Medical history: First thing I did a few years ago was see a PT, gave me some stretches and exercises to do. I layed off squatting and did them for a month or two with maybe 5% pain reduction and 0% improvement with popping,clicking and grinding. Went to another doctor who told me to do some different variation of stretches again, maybe 5% pain reduction and 0% improvement in my actual knee. I still was squatting after this visit and the most I did was 245lbs for a PR. Now I CAN squat, it just hurts to go parallel and my knee is sore for a couple days after a squat session. Most recently (6 months ago) I went and saw ANOTHER pt and he gave me some stretches and exercises to do which I did and again maybe 5% pain reduction and 0% improvement in my actual knee function. Lastly I went and saw another knee doctor, got some xrays and the guy told me to just stop squatting. Actually he told me stop doing anything where I bend my knee more than 10 degrees (hilarious).

So I stopped squatting. I haven't really squatted at all the past month. All I do is dead lift and bench as my main heavy lifts.

I am at my wits end. I'm 25 y/o and pretty freaking health and fit. So I do not get why my knee is so **** and why nothing I do makes it better. Honestly I think at this point the doctor is right that I should just avoid squatting but even at work sometimes I need to get down on my knees or under a desk and it f*cking hurts. Really I'd just like to know what is actually wrong with my knee even it I can't squat.

So I have a few questions:

1. Can anyone here at least point me in the right direction of someone that might be able to help me?
2. Is this normal for some my age and fitness level to just not be able to squat? Is it a genetics thing?
3. If I cannot squat anymore, is it okay to just bench and deadlift?

[Yodums]

Do an MRI, and that will tell you everything you need to know -- health of ligaments, cartilage, meniscus, etc. Right now you're doing a bunch of guesswork, and not really getting to the root of the problem, when you could have a fairly good analysis of the underlying condition of your knee through an MRI. If everything from the MRI is fine, I would look to mobility and tight muscles as the next issue to address. I wouldn't rely on deadlifts solely to build legs. I would consider other exercises as well.

I just had knee surgery done, and when I eventually reached a sports doctor, it was right to the hospital for an MRI so she could understand exactly what's wrong without trying to make guesses.

[Cadet4life]

i feel ur pain man.

keep doing those exercises the PT told u to do, prolly a lot of glute and hamstring stuff right? id take a long time off of barbell squats for like 3 months. squating is a stressful movement and you should address whats causing pain before going heavy. did the docs say anything about your hip mobility? maybe its time to check your hips out too.

good luck

[sowilson]

Skip seeing a PT and go see an Orthopedic Surgeon for a proper diagnosis.

[Xuaxace]

Male 25 y/o 145lbs. Been lifting for 2 years now. I have a completely **** left knee, which has bothered me even before I started lifting. It pops, clicks, grinds, all to some degree while bending my knee > 90 degrees or squatting deep at body weight or with 135lbs. I did not have a major injury, banged it here and there like any normal kid does growing up. If there is some sort of major injury I am unaware of it.

Medical history: First thing I did a few years ago was see a PT, gave me some stretches and exercises to do. I layed off squatting and did them for a month or two with maybe 5% pain reduction and 0% improvement with popping,clicking and grinding. Went to another doctor who told me to do some different variation of stretches again, maybe 5% pain reduction and 0% improvement in my actual knee. I still was squatting after this visit and the most I did was 245lbs for a PR. Now I CAN squat, it just hurts to go parallel and my knee is sore for a couple days after a squat session. Most recently (6 months ago) I went and saw ANOTHER pt and he gave me some stretches and exercises to do which I did and again maybe 5% pain reduction and 0% improvement in my actual knee function. Lastly I went and saw another knee doctor, got some xrays and the guy told me to just stop squatting. Actually he told me stop doing anything where I bend my knee more than 10 degrees (hilarious).

So I stopped squatting. I haven't really squatted at all the past month. All I do is dead lift and bench as my main heavy lifts.

I am at my wits end. I'm 25 y/o and pretty freaking health and fit. So I do not get why my knee is so **** and why nothing I do makes it better. Honestly I think at this point the doctor is right that I should just avoid squatting but even at work sometimes I need to get down on my knees or under a desk and it f*cking hurts. Really I'd just like to know what is actually wrong with my knee even it I can't squat.

So I have a few questions:

1. Can anyone here at least point me in the right direction of someone that might be able to help me?
2. Is this normal for some my age and fitness level to just not be able to squat? Is it a genetics thing?
3. If I cannot squat anymore, is it okay to just bench and deadlift?

What was the doctors reasoning for stop squatting? what did he "see" in the xray? - how is not squatting going to be better than squatting - loss of strength and weakness is a much bigger predictor for lack of function of the knee joint. There is a reason why people with Knee arthritis are given lower body strengthening exercises.

I would be wary of the suggestions above of Imaging/seeing an ortho - both bring a high level of bias towards some type of surgery. That said It does seem like you have had some ****ty PT that weren't that good (not suprised, there is a lot of ****ty ones out there).

Doing barbell squats are never necessary either way so if you can manage some other type of leg work at the momment, give that a try while you find someone properly qualified for this (e.g Knee specialist PT/ sport PT etc) - without an actual history i won['t bother making any asumptions