Unusual Knee Problem - help please!

Thank you so much for your reply to me, valuable advice, that sounds like it could be it. The pain is just slightly to the left of my kneecap which is why I originally thought it wasn't anything to do with my ITB and could be cartilage related. When I first started getting the pain I was feeling pain at the back of my knee, when bending down for instance, but not so much now does this sound right?

Kind Regards

Eric

Knees are strange things. I also have had aching pains in the back of the knee when I started getting pains on the lateral side. My guess was that , whatever was causing friction/irritation, was causing a build of  synovial fluid that builds up inside the knee joint and because it is a closed sack of fluid inside a membrane, then a few mls of fluid will cause pressure and eventually pain in the knee joint. The gold standard of sorting out any knee pain that I have been advised over the years is `straight leg exercises` which do not cause pressure on the joint. 

You might have read my first blog `reduced knee pain` a couple of days ago, which stems from having quite severe wear and tear of cartlilage from the underside of the knee cap and the femoral groove where the knee cap rides along, so `bone on bone`. I suspect you may have some wear and tear as you play a fair amount of sport, but not at the stage I  am at. I was advised I needed a total knee replacement but to hold out as long as possible. In the summer it got worse whilst I was in Greece and the pain was concentrated on the outer aspect of R knee. I have had loads of appointments with the osteopath with manipulation/advice on exercises etc but little effect. Around 4-5 weeks ago, I decided I wanted to try and get my fitness levels up, up but could not run or jog with the stabbing/sharp knee pains., however, walking was not too bad. I have a treadmill in the shed in the back garden and thought that if I set it on an incline and weared ankle weights plus a weighted jacket, thismight push my aerobic fitness whilst walking. Inadvertently, I found that within a few days my knee pains faded away. I still have a little, but it is not sharp/stabbing pains when I run. My theory is that the ankle weights have built up muscle in the quads and particularly a muscle called the Vastus medialis muscle which is the `tear drop` muscle above the knee joint on the innerside of the leg. I basically do a fast walk with ankle weights on both legs plus a weighted jacket and put the treadmill on an incline,  for around 10 -15 minutes either alternate days of every day.

I don`t know if you have access to a treadmill, but ankle weights can be bought cheaply. They tend to come in 1.2 kg per weight but you can get heavier ones. I started off with 1.2 kg, but over time, added more. I am at around 4kg per leg. I have researched the internet and have not found anyone who has found this beneficial for knee pains, in fact, the vast majority suggest ankle weights can exacerbate joint/knee pain, however, I have found the opposite to be true. I think that it is safe if you take it steady and make sure you do not run with weights. I think the reason it has worked for me is that I notice that when I am walking with weights, the legs end up being fairly straight with hardly any bend at the joint, so ineffect, I am doing `straight leg exercises`.

It might be worth a try. If you do try it, I would be interested to know if you have any benefit. It may take a week or two to notice a difference.

All the best, Jonathan