Knee Pain Frustration

[Jonas Stehli]

Hello SS people,

I will try to keep this short (but fail). If this is the wrong forum, just move it, I wasn’t sure where this belongs.

I’m frustrated. Really. I train using SS for a while now (6m almost). My right knee hurt before. Now, both knees hurt. I’m convinced that squats are not bad for the knees. However, I’m in pretty serious pain at the moment when trying to get out of a chair, when climbing stairs, etc. I’m 32 years old, and don’t feel like that’s the way it should be.

I don’t think that anyone has a solution for me, but I need opinions. My main questions are:
- Should I just keep on training and ignore the pain?
- General inputs/ideas wtf is wrong with me?
- Should I try dozens of different doctors, massage therapists? What to do?

I hope to provide all information that’s necessary, just ask for more if needed.

Stats:
32 yo male
BW ca 91 kg
177 cm tall

Lifts:
Squat: 3x5@136 kg, failed at 138kg. Now back to 105kg because of the pain. YouTube
Deadlift: 1x5@150kg
Bench: 3x5@86 kg (needed a reset after)
Press: 5x3@51 kg

Training history:
Fat kid, but always kind of active.
24 yo: Started running 3x/week for 3 years, lost weight. First very light pain in right knee.
27 yo: “CrossFit” for 2 years (mostly bodyweight/kettlebells, no barbells). Bad instructors, doing everything wrong. Pain free at the beginning, as far as I can remember.
29 yo: Bodyweight training (very functional of course) for 1.5 years, right knee got worse.
Starting Strength since Dec 2018, SSOC since Feb 2019. It works, but now, both knees hurt.

Medical history:
Got an MRI ca 14 months ago of my right knee because of sharp pain on the right knee cap (when climbing stairs etc). The diagnosis was weird, nothing concrete, PT… Didn’t help, obviously.
Last week, I saw an orthopedic specialist. He looked at the MRI again, identified most of the things they told me at the other place as bullshit and saw three things:
1. Crack in cartilage behind knee cap. This is where the sharp pain comes from
2. Knee cap is a bit “too high”
3. “ripple” in patella tendon (see picture below). Quote: “I thought I’ve seen everything, but this is new”
The acute pain above the kneecaps was “diagnosed” as patellafemoral pain syndrome. As far as I can understand, this means nothing specific. He gave me exercises as a first step. Are you kidding me? I squat, why should I do bodyweight quarter squats?

Symptoms:
As mentioned, when climbing stairs/standing up out of a chair, I have sharp pain on top of the kneecap of the right knee. Additionally, I now have pretty severe pain (that bothers me more atm) right above the knee cap in both knees in those moments.
Both knees make pretty horrible noises when squatting (with or without weight on my back). It’s kind of a grinding sensation. I know that this doesn’t need to be something bad, but I feel it’s linked to the pain.
In my left knee, something really weird happens after I’ve been sitting down with the leg bent for a couple of minutes or longer. When I extend the leg, it somehow feels like a ligament/tendon jumps in the knee. This happens 3-5 times, then there’s a quite loud popping noise, and it’s gone. I’m kind of worried because of this
I could train pain free after careful warm-ups until about two weeks ago, now I sometimes feel it during the work sets. But it’s bearable. However, the day after is the worst.

Thanks so much for any comments!
Jonas

MRI Image:
2019-05-09 17_18_59-MERLIN DICOM Viewer (Patient Disc) 5.3.147243.jpg

[skid]

Do you wear knee sleeves? Have you tried a warming cream on your knees before workouts? Does a hot tub or hot bath help?

[Jonas Stehli]

Do you wear knee sleeves?

Yes. Didn't really note a difference, but they won't harm me I guess.

Have you tried a warming cream on your knees before workouts?

No. But I heard of people doing this. Something like tiger balm should work, right?

Does a hot tub or hot bath help?

I don't know. We moved to this cool new apartement where we only have a shower. But thanks for giving me a reason to go visit a spa . I'll give it a try.

Generally, my knees are warm during workouts, even without sleeves. But when using them, they're almost glowing when taking the sleeves off.

[skid]

Knee sleeves may put pressure on the patella which can cause pain. I've had this issue before when using a very stiff knee sleeve. A patella tendon strap may work well for you. World strongest man Eddie Hall swears by them. I'm going to try this myself one of these days.

I use Rub A535 cream which really warms my knees up. I use this every time I squat (I'm 55 and squat 400+ for reps).

I find a hot tub after a workout does wonders for sore achy muscles and joints.