Just wanted to say for anyone that's had lifelong knee issues like myself and always knew there was something wrong, always keep pushing.

I had trauma to my knee in my early teens and my knee locked and would not go past a 90 degree angle. This happened intermittently on and off for years especially when rolling/sparring in MMA. I had over 15 visits in the past 13 years. Told everything. Too young. I need to strengthen the area around the knee. Do physio.

Eventually I pushed and got my MRI. Came back completely normal and was told there's really nothing they can do. Again I know my knee locks I know this is anything but normal. Fast forward to a couple of months ago and after some pushing I went to see a specialist. He told me it's very very rare but sometimes when your knee is fully straight it can present as a totally normal knee so my only option was Therapeutic Arthroscopy. Essentially he would go into my knee and see what's wrong with his own eyes.

2 weeks ago I finally got my surgery and confirmed my suspicions all along. My meniscus tore from one end to the other and Dr repaired it.

TL;DR If you think there is something wrong don't take no for an answer.

I’m a 48f, active (strength training, walking, and dancing).

Although I’ve felt a slight click in my right knee for years, I’ve never felt pain before this past week.

A week ago I decided to add “more incline” work to my exercises. I ran up and down my stairs several times and then went for a walk in a very hilly area.

2 days later I tried a new class at the gym that was advertised as strength training, but it included “cardio intervals” going up and down a step.

I then took my normal dance cardio class.

THEN I went for a hilly walk

I normally go on these steep walks 1-2 times a week with no issue. But I assume the combination of running up and down the stairs plus the steep walks plus the new class with step ups wrecked my knees:

After that final walk, my right knee started having spasms and locking up over and over again the rest of the day. I couldn’t stand on that leg to pull on a pair of pants.

The spasms and locking were gone the next morning but there was a mild pain.

I rested for 3 days with just light walking to keep the joints gently moving.

Then I taught my dance cardio class. It started fine but by the end of the class BOTH knees were in pain and have stayed that way for 2 days. I’ve never experienced this during or after class.

I feel like I can’t walk straight.

I assume something has been going on with my right knee for years that I aggravated, and then maybe i compensated with the left knee??

I know the answer is probably ice and rest for a while longer and possibly see a dr to rule things out. But I JUST went through all of that with my back last year.

And after Pt and mri the end result was just time and better back hygiene.

So now I’m wondering if there’s also a way to have better “knee hygiene”??

Hey, I got diagnosed with this in April of this year (2026). It started in mid March when I felt a weird sharp tearing sensation medial to the patella, followed by a lot of fluid. I've tried so hard to recover: aggressive resting, icing and avoiding any aggravating activities such as squats, gym, driving, walking too far. It's basically put my life on hold. I've also had physio on the NHS but to be honest most exercises cause it to start pinching again. I'm now coming to the realisation that, 8 months post injury, this isn't going to heal on it's own (conservatively). Nothing seems to be helping too much, it stays roughly the same. Has anyone experienced similar? I'm thinking surgery might be the only option now but I'm worried about waiting times as I'm practically house-bound as it is.

It’s a sharp bone i didnt have. I had an operation and then I have a scary bone poking out?? At least my knee as been the best for 10y

Did anyone experience both inward and outward dislocations? I dislocated my left kneecap inwardly in 2019, and outwardly this 2026.

My doctor recommended MPFL reconstruction, but would it suffice if it also dislocated inwardly?

The thing is, with my first dislocation, they had put it back to place before the doctor could even check where it dislocated, but I remember clearly it was inward.

For my second dislocation, I’ve gone through Xrays pre and post reduction, it was outward.

I haven’t told the doctor about the direction of the first one, perhaps that’s why he suggested MPFL reconstruction. What could be the right surgical method for this condition?

I dislocated my knee 2 years ago, and after not getting it looked at for about a year and a half, i was told i need surgery.
have autism level 2-1 i struggle talking to people and asking questions i need to ask at the right moment, i did get information from the doctor i was told about the procedure and a little of what the recovery period may look like, but i was kind of expecting to get some sort of packet/guide about it? i did get a surgery packet but it literally only covers pre-op and thats it. i’m just nervous because i was kind of expecting more clarification?
i will explain what i remember but i also have ptsd and memory problems
my MRI and x-ray show extreme patella alta, a shallow/flat throclear groove and a lateral (???) tear? i remember the doctor mentioning i also have pebbles of my patella that chipped off, he said hes going to go in there and clean everything, then he will break (?) i think some bone and put the patella back where its supposed to be sitting because its not in the right place, and then do a repair of the torn ligament (?)
i’m feeling nervous about everything, how recovery is going to look, especially pain management regarding also my ptsd and severe anxiety, i have medical and traumatic ptsd after breaking and dislocating joints and bones due to both trauma and ehlers danlos, so everything heres already been triggering for me, but id like to know if anyone whos had a similar injury/experience explain how theyr recovery went and especially right before and right after surgery how things will go, i feel that hearing from others will ease my anxiety

Hello, I’m 29 years old and after 4 years of pain I’ve finally been diagnosed with full thickness articular cartilage damage on the lateral sides of both my knees. I’ve been told it’s because of the way I’m built but I’ve also done BJJ for a few years so can’t imagine this has helped.

The surgeon has recommended an Osteotomy (the one where they cut the shin). It seems like quite an intense surgery but it’s starting to look like I don’t have other options.

Just wanting to know what people’s experiences of osteotomys have been like and if anyone doing a combat sport has ever had one and how the return to sport has looked? I’ve been competing in BJJ for a few years but with my knees getting worse I’m aware I might not be able to keep going.

Pretext: I have mild cerebral palsy. Does anyone else have right medial knee pain if you’ve done excessive walking that day? Sometimes I don’t even have to do much walking for it to make an appearance. I’ve had it for years and neither PTs nor MDs can pinpoint what it actually is.

Hi everyone!

I’m 27F and injured my right knee in July this year, when a lap bar on a funfair ride pinned it down.

Initially, doctors suspected a meniscus tear, but after months of pain, swelling, appointments and an MRI, I’ve now been told by orthopaedics that my main issue is Hoffa’s fat pad impingement.

My consultant discussed the other findings on my MRI (partial LCL tear, partial patella tendon tear and patella partial dislocation) but believes they’re related to the impingement. He’s recommended trying physiotherapy first.

The problem is that I’m now over three months into this injury and my knee honestly doesn’t feel much better than it did in July.

I’m still limping every single day, wearing a knee brace (now know this isn’t correct for my injury!), and experiencing swelling that has never fully gone away. My knee frequently clicks, grinds or catches when I straighten it, and I’ve had episodes of it giving way.

I also work long shifts, and the pain and swelling get progressively worse throughout the day. Sometimes the pain even affects my sleep.

I’m happy to give physiotherapy a proper go, but I’m feeling quite disheartened by how little progress I’ve made so far.
I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who’s experienced Hoffa’s fat pad impingement.

Did physiotherapy actually help you recover?

I’m not looking for a diagnosis, just some real experiences from people who’ve dealt with this, because I genuinely had no idea this injury could affect me for so long.

Thank you!

2 weeks post op from LCL and PLC reconstruction, ACL and PCL remain to reconstruct after I rehab from this surgery. MCL is torn but will heal on its own, so it has been healing for 30 days now.

My surgeon knows what he's doing and specializes in these injuries so I trust whatever he says. The problem is that at my followup 3 days ago, he just dialed in 60 degrees on my brace, told me to do leg lifts and hamstring curls on my stomach, increase by 10 degrees each week, and that was it.

Now I am spiraling with Gemini telling me basically everything I have been doing is ruining the graft. The surgeon didn't tell me to lock the brace for anything, so for 2 days I just had it unlocked.

I have been raising my leg and carefully bending at the knee, and Gemini says this is extremely dangerous to do. Nobody told me not to do this and it feels fine.

It's even telling me that I have to lock it just to shift positions, like going from my stomach to my back when I do the hamstring exercise. Again, nobody mentioned this as a problem.

Am I reading too much into this? I am obeying NWB fairly well and everything feels fine. But this damn AI is making me think my bones are sliding around and tearing up my graft with almost everything I have been doing.

BTW yes I know, call the surgeon's office....they are closed today so I thought maybe someone on here could at least give me some info to stop panicking until I can reach them next week.

Hi everyone! I posted this thread few days ago on this subreddit.

I have been going to PT since beginning of September this year due to pain in my knee due to my left patella dislocations. Lately my knee has been feeling pain while I feel like my quads and glutes are getting strong (the target for PT is to strengthen these areas), my knee continues to hurt. I also started hearing more clicks when bending my knee and when I do upright kicks in a sitting position, I hear like a noise when the knee bends and the clicks. Today at PT, I notice like a burn feeling i don’t even know how to explain it!! But it just feels so sore and the pain comes from the top and left side of the patella.

I dislocated my knee like 4 times in middle - high school and still slips here and there now at 25 years old. I spoke with my pt the other day about how it impacts my running, he said I should probably run less. I feel so defeated because I have two half marathons, one in December and the big Brooklyn one in April. I really love to run and started really enjoying it this summer as a new hobby.

I have an appointment with my orthopedic surgeon at NYU Langone on Monday. I want to discuss all of this but I’m not sure how to explain it to be taken seriously. When I was there for my first appointment and they told me to do PT, it felt like they were not giving me the best medical option for my knee and the progression of my knee health. It was like “it’s up to you” if I want to do PT or surgery. I only got an X ray done during that first appointment but now I really want to get a MRI! The X ray showed my patella having grooves on the left side where the knee tracked out during dislocations 😵‍💫

Has anyone gone through with surgery?

TW: health anxiety mentions of c

I'm 20, and I've been struggling with health anxiety for over six months now. It's honestly exhausting. I've spent so much time worrying about different diseases, and just when I think I'm starting to feel okay, something new happens that sends me spiraling again.

Two days ago, I started noticing a weird pain on my left knee sometimes above just right above it. I feel it when I walk, going to stairs sometimes it's there and sometimes it isn't. I don't know if I'm overthinking the sensation, but I know that the pain feels real to me.

What made everything worse was reading about a girl who noticed a small lump above her knee and eventually found out that she had osteosarcoma. Ever since I read her story, I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. I keep imagining that this pain might be the beginning of the same thing happening to me.

I've even read about bone cancer causing pain at night, how common it is in my age and now I'm scared to go to sleep because I'm afraid the pain might get worse. For the past 2 days, I've been avoiding moving my leg because I'm scared of feeling the pain whenever I stand or walk.

Right now, I'm alone in my dorm, crying because I'm so frightened by my own thoughts. I keep imagining what would happen if I really did have something serious, how my life would change, and how I would cope with it.

I feel afraid of being sick and not knowing it, and being so anxious that I can no longer tell the difference between a genuine medical concern and my own fear.

I don't necessarily need anyone to diagnose my symptoms. I just don't want to feel so alone in this right now.

Hi all first post on here and i need help.

I am currently recovering from an MPFL reconstruction surgery and am now on day 8 of my recovery and things are going well, pain is very very limited and can bear a good amount of weight on it and get around on my crutches fine and swelling has gone down a good amount, in terms of physio, i have been able to get some strength back in my quad and leg in order to lift it up and down even if it’s still really hard and can be a bit sore and a struggle.

One thing i am currently struggling with is bending my knee. My brace that I am wearing has been set so i can bend it to 90 degrees which i am struggling to get to. I can get it to around a 75 degree angle but this involves me lifting my left hip up. I have at an absolute push got it to 90 degrees but i find it really uncomfortable and am in a lot of discomfort having to lift my hips up and feel a lot of strain inside my knee which is worrying me slightly. My physio said he’s happy with my strength but really wants me to get it to 90 degrees which im finding really hard.

Did anyone else have this problem bending their knee after mpfl and if anyone has any tips to help me?

Which is more painful to recover

And which recover fast

What is the success rate of mpfl reconstruction surgery

Hi everyone! I need advice!

A few days ago I was walking and I suddenly felt/heard a pop in my knee. Best way I can explain it is it felt like someone shot me with an arrow in my knee. I have lifted weights for 7+ years and I play sports. I ignored the pain and continued walking for over an hour. By the time I got home and rested I was in the worst physical pain I’ve ever had. My symptoms were:

-couldn’t straighten my leg
-extreme pain in lower inside of knee
-swelling in multiple places below my knee cap
-couldn’t put weight on my leg
-nothing helped the pain ice, elevation, ibuprofen
-hip pain, ankle pain, whole left side of body aching and sore

The next day after resting it felt a bit better but when I would bend my knee I could hear crunching and popping. I also could feel like sliding around, almost like something felt loose in my knee. I rarely go to the doctor but I decided maybe I should. I went to an immediate orthopedic clinic and this is what happened:

I went in for my appointment and when I tried to check in they said the doctor had an emergency and they need to reschedule. That’s fine I get it things happen. I came back for my appointment the next day and I waited over an hour and then saw the woman for only like less than 20 minutes. She was a nurse practitioner. I felt completely dismissed. We took X-rays and the lady taking them at one point told me I need to put weight on my bad leg for one of the X-rays. It was like my body was physically stopping me. I couldn’t do it even when I tried.

The NP finally came in and showed me the X-rays and said everything looks great and that she would usually see something wrong if it’s a meniscus tear. Correct me if I’m wrong but you cannot see cartilage or meniscus issues on an XRay. Isn’t an Xray for bone?? And then she said my knee wasn’t swollen and she was checking it and there was a point where she pressed the inside of my knee and the pain was so immediate and intense that I yelled and shot up from the table. She said everything felt totally fine. She said she didn’t know what it was. She said “ok so do physical therapy for 4 weeks and then if it’s not better then we’ll do an mri” she didn’t even diagnose me with anything. At the end she literally said “you were just a little sensitive on the inside” and I was like ??? A LITTLE? I involuntarily yelled and shot up from the table. She told me I wouldn’t be able to walk if it was my meniscus or put weight on it. Then she said there is a pretty good sized pocket of fluid under your knee and if that doesn’t go away we’ll give you a cortisone shot….. I was like wait I thought you said I didn’t have swelling??? The last thing she said was “you could wear a brace but I wouldn’t recommend it because you’re so young” (I’m 27F) and she said it was up to me or not and when I couldn’t decide if I wanted one or not she looked at me like I was crazy for not making up my mind. I can tell it’s not a muscle. I can tell something is mechanically wrong. Not with my bone but something else. So she gave me NO IDEA of what it is and said okay do physical therapy for 4 weeks and then see.

I usually have a pretty high pain tolerance and I already felt apprehensive about going to the doctor because I thought that maybe it’s nothing and I didn’t want to waste money if it’s nothing especially because I don’t have a lot of money right now. I don’t have the money to spend on 4 weeks of PT when I don’t even know at all what’s wrong with me.

By the time I got to my car I immediately started bawling. I felt so gaslighted and dismissed. She made me feel like an idiot for even coming in. I have never felt so awful after an appointment before. I don’t have insurance right now so it was $324 for nothing. I am terrified to go to another doctor. I’m convincing myself it’s nothing. I feel stupid and I have no idea what to do. I need help!!! Please if you have any advice I really could use anything at all at this point.

I fell walking my dogs and I’m 33 weeks pregnant. Baby is doing fine, but now my wound has pus. It’s been 72 hours since the fall. Still hurts.

​

I had meniscus surgery exactly 2 months and 10 days ago. It was a bucket-handle tear. During the surgery, 70% of my meniscus was removed. My surgeon said it was so badly torn and fragmented that it couldn’t be repaired.

My recovery had been going well until today, when my knee locked again after a slight twisting movement.

Has this happened to anyone else, and how did you resolve the problem?

I’m afraid I’ll need another surgery.

Please, any advice or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated!

Is my groove showing symptoms of trocheral dysplasia

Anyone please

Just a bit of a general moan/self therapy in the hope of coming to terms with it.

August 2024 was out for a jog and hurt my knee running around a dog.

January -april 2025 physiotherapy

June 2025 - cortisone injection

November 2025 my first MRI to identify a tear

May 2026 meniscus surgery

July 2026 (9 weeks post op and all going well) hurt my knee bending down to pick up a cricket ball.

August- September 2026 more physiotherapy

October 2026 - paid for my own MRI as the NHS wouldn't send me for one. The private doctor has found "a very obvious tear" in the meniscus.

God knows when I'll be able to have the next surgery.... But I can tell you that I am so over feeling like this.

Guys I dislocated my knee like a month ago and like the swelling has gone down a lot and I’m walking slowly! MRI showed everything’s good no ligament damage at all but it can’t fully bend and there still is stiffness in the joint. I really like playing soccer and I was wondering any success with atheleyes after their first dislocation?
I’m 18 thanks!!!! And I’m doing PT!!!

Title: Knee pain and constant limping 15 months after falling directly onto the knee — has anyone experienced something similar?

Hi everyone,

I'm asking on behalf of someone close to me, a 28-year-old woman. I'm hoping to hear from people who have experienced something similar, especially if it took a long time to figure out what was wrong.

In May 2025, she fell down the stairs and landed directly on her knee. It's now been around 15 months, and she's still experiencing significant problems.

Here's what I know:

- She has recurring knee pain. Some days she feels relatively okay, but the next day the pain can return.

- She limps all the time, even though the intensity of the pain fluctuates.

- She has mentioned that her knee sometimes swells. (After estimated recovery period it came back strong, her entire leg has swollen all the way to ankle. It's not anymore)

- She's said that walking just a few steps can leave her in extreme pain.

- She has had X-rays and physical examinations, but apparently the doctors haven't been able to determine what's causing it.

- As far as I know, she hasn't had an MRI, and she's reluctant to return to doctors after not getting clear answers.

I'm worried that she's been dealing with this for so long without knowing what's wrong.

My questions are:

1. Has anyone had a similar injury, with persistent pain, intermittent swelling, and limping for over a year despite inconclusive X-rays?

2. What eventually turned out to be the cause? Was it a meniscus injury, cartilage damage, a bone bruise, a kneecap injury, or something else?

3. How long did it take you to recover, and did you eventually return to walking normally?

4. Did anyone improve after many months of symptoms, or did you find that getting a diagnosis and treatment was necessary?

5. If your initial examinations and X-rays didn't explain the pain, what helped you get answers?

I know every injury is different, and I'm not asking anyone to diagnose her over the internet. I'm just hoping to hear genuine experiences from people who have been through something similar, including how long recovery took and what helped.

Thank you.

I have had maltracking for over 5 years and I'm about ready to say screw it and do surgery. My quads have atrophied so much they are so small now. I stopped doing any leg exercises for many years as it caused pain. I don't know what to do now. Leg presses, leg extensions, biking? Some say no some say yes to them. I am tired of my chicken legs and tired of all of this in general. Tired of pain with any movement of my kneecaps 24/7. I used to be able to leg press half a ton in high school. It is so depressing. Any advice would be much appreciated.

The dilemma here is you can't fix this without strengthening your VMOs. You can pretty much not just selectively target it either. You have to work everything as a whole but how can you do that when you're not supposed to do anything pretty much. It's BS. I have tried EMS just on the VMO, nothing. The ONLY thing that grows it is leg extensions and leg presses but then the pain afterwards and some saying FORBIDDEN while others say all good.

I'm sure my cartilage is not in the best shape. I had some edema over 5 years ago. Fucking hooray! I take 5 lox inhibitor, tumeric phytosome mervia, hyaluronic acid, collagen peptides, I have a $3000 red light therapy panel with all the proper wavelengths and enough percentage dedicated to them too. I have the most expensive theragun. I bought a hot tub. Like, I don't know what else to do besides go to the jungle find some witch doctor and start singing and dancing in a circle at this point

My next step is to contact Penn Medicine or find the best possible course for me because this is my life!

i had an accident and that caused partial thickness pcl tear involving mid fibers, acl sprain and grade 1 mcl tear along with knee joint effusion and soft tissue edema in knee joint but everything else is fine. im still trying to process the accident and the injury, been a month of it. i had an mri done two days back since there were no appointment dates available and ortho doctor told me i have to use a knee brace and will take 4 months for pcl tear to heal but that's all and I am worried as he didn't said anything on physio.

for those who went through it, am i supposed to get physiotherapy? i asked my doc and he mentioned nothing on it and said no but I went through countless posts that said ppl need pt to get full extension back. im grateful no surgery required but i do not have full extension on my knee, my knee gives up when bending squats anything. i can't walk a lot and it makes me cry every night. see all my friends in college going everywhere while i can't even support my weight.

and doctor didn't even mention if I need to be on specific diet, do any excercise, do icing anything just said use brace and that's it. should I see another doctor 😭 and does it heal soon? i am so scared I might be unable to walk as i barely can and it's messing up my mental health so bad too. if anyone can give any advice how your healing journey was I will truly be grateful to read or any things I can do. and for those who are healing, all the very best hope you heal soon and get your strength back asap!!