Knee's been bothering me. Any tips?

[Daniel D.]

for about two weeks now, since i competed, my knee has been bothering me. i'm assuming that i might've strained a ligament, but i'm not sure. my knee isn't swollen, it doesn't hurt to the touch, but when doing any kind of strenuous activity, whether from the gym or even going on a long walk, it starts to get i guess irritated and somewhat sore. if trying to put my left leg into single lotus, it starts barking, or, if i bend it a little, i can feel it as well. I was also having trouble keeping my guard and RG intact because of the pressure I felt on my knee.

i tried going to the gym last week, but haven't gone since in hopes it'd get better, which it's seems to maybe have improved, if only slightly. i finally went and got a brace yesterday and have started icing it more regularly, but not sure how much icing is helping since it's not swollen. i'd rather not go to the doctor unless i have to. i'm hoping that staying out of the gym for a little will help it get better. if anyone else has experienced something similar, what did you do to to heal up? any advice or tips is greatly appreciated.

[Kurzy]

The only advice I have gleaned from knee issues, when using Rubberguard, is make sure you pull your knee up high, as if you were trying to touch your knee to your shoulder.
Never pull your foot up higher than the knee. That will take a tremendous amount of pressure off the knee.

[ScottRay]

Im sure you know the whole RICE bit. I'm no doctor so I won't even guess at what it is. But here's some good advice: Treat it as if it were more serious than it is. Always play it safe with injuries especially knees and spine. "You only have one knee, better take care of it". It's a joke, but its also very real, very good advice...

[CTGRXB]

strengthen the other muscles around your knee without weights. just look up exercises to strengthen your thigh and hamstring. and slow down your training and build it up. go 50-60% rolling, then go up 10% every week and keep with the exercises.

[Tony Toffolo]

get over it, go out with somebody else

[Tom Carbone]

If its a ligament, its common to take months to heal. Even if you don't see swelling, still take advil and ice

[ScottRay]

Im sure you know the whole RICE bit. I'm no doctor so I won't even guess at what it is. But here's some good advice: Treat it as if it were more serious than it is. Always play it safe with injuries especially knees and spine. "You only have one knee, better take care of it". It's a joke, but its also very real, very good advice...

^^ Don't listen to him, he's crazy!

[HerbChao]

i'd rather not go to the doctor unless i have to.

Do u have health insurance? In my experience (having injured my knee, shoulder, ankle in 2 yrs of each other) at least go to ur primary care physician to make sure they don't think anything is torn or seriously hurt. In the meantime def keep icing it, and also mix in some heat treatment as well (Epsom salts is nice too with it if u do the hot water treatment, although for ur knee u may need to do it in the tub).

If u have to hit the mat try to just drill, and work on things that don't require ur knee too much. Listen to ur body, and slow and steady is better than rushed and reinjured (** not a doctor but stayed at a holiday inn**).

[Bob Jodoin]

You have a strong chance of having strained it in competition. That would be entirely reasonable. I can’t speak to your knee specifically but sometimes knee pain can be caused by problems elsewhere. Here is some general information:
I have always had good luck with a treatment technique called A.R.T. You can Google active release technique to find a provider local to you. They treat scar tissue that can exists in other places but cause symptoms somewhere else. For instance, I once had patellar tendonitis and the doc treat my quad about ¾ of the way up. The knee pain resolved. Muscle balance and hip mobility also play a strong role in knee health. If hips don’t move well then the knee ends up taking more force. If ALL muscles originating or inserting at the knee are not balanced and well functioning then you can also incur problems. Runners see this a lot when the IT band is super tight and the VMO is too weak to counter. The knee cap doesn’t track right and irritation occurs. Hamstrings are often neglected but you have to make sure that the knee is seeing balanced forces from all 4 directions. Foam rolling quads, hams, glutes, calves adductors and abductors is also a good idea. You might also try alternating ice and heat for about 3-4 rotations. I’ve had good luck doing that with my soccer girls and they are expert at ruining knees.

[Daniel D.]

Do u have health insurance? In my experience (having injured my knee, shoulder, ankle in 2 yrs of each other) at least go to ur primary care physician to make sure they don't think anything is torn or seriously hurt. In the meantime def keep icing it, and also mix in some heat treatment as well (Epsom salts is nice too with it if u do the hot water treatment, although for ur knee u may need to do it in the tub).

If u have to hit the mat try to just drill, and work on things that don't require ur knee too much. Listen to ur body, and slow and steady is better than rushed and reinjured (** not a doctor but stayed at a holiday inn**).

I do have insurance, but I seriously hate going to the doctor. I'm starting to lean towards going, however, since my knee doesn't seem to be getting better. Thanks for all the tips.