Knee pain, weak and wobbly knee, history of runners knee

Posted on Tue, 5 Jun 2012

Question: Hi, I am 5 foot 8 and weigh 60kg and do lots of sport (gym, hiking, skiing.) I am 32 now. 10 years ago I had problems with my knee, and was told by the physio that the cartiledge under the knee cap was irritated (runners knee.) My knees made slight crunching noises. That time discomfort went, only to re-occur five years later and two years ago. On both these occasions the knee settled down and I resumed normal activity, with care. However, the problem is back again now and I am trying to rest the knee, but have a job where I stand up all day (am a teacher) and because I have lapsed on my gym schedule my knee has become weak and wobbly and the muscles have weakened! I still do yoga and my legs shake. Any advice appreciated. Going downstairs is the worst! I can however still go on flat 10 mile hikes with no discomfort, but stairs hurt and also the knee hurts when straightened after I have been sitting down.

Answered by Dr. Rakhi Tayal (4 hours later)

Hello,

Thanks for writing to us.

The pain in the knee on climbing stairs seems probably due to an irritated knee cap along with mild osteoarthritic changes in your knee joint. These are basically age related degenerative changes in the weight bearing joints like knee and is characterized by joint pain and stiffness. The treatment options include pain killers, hot fomentation, lubricating agents like glucosamine sulfate, chondroitin , dycerin, etc and some life style modifications and physiotherapy.

You can start with walking and aerobic fitness exercises, quadriceps strengthening, patellar tapping, lateral heel wedges, etc- under the guidance of your physiotherapist. A Big No to Stair case, squatting postures, any chair which has a sitting platform lower than your knees. Knee brace can also be used for an earlier and prolonged relief.

In severe cases intra articular injections of steroids and hyaluronic acid may be needed after consultation with your orthopaedician.

I also encourage you to consult an orthopedician for physical examination. A few blood tests, X-rays of the knee, CT / MRI scans of the knee will help us diagnose the condition and help us in choosing the best approach of treatment.

I hope my answer and recommendations are adequate and helpful. Waiting for your further follow up queries if any.

Regards.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad