45 year old starting novice program with meniscus issues.

[RustyB]

For the last couple years, I’ve had this pain on the medial:inner side of my left knee.I only really get this pain when walking up/down steps and really bad pain when in the bottom of a barbell squat or in the starting position of a barbell deadlift. I don’t get any popping or locking.

I went to a ortho and he suggested that it could be a meniscus tear or some type of degenerative meniscus issue and ordered a MRI. I get the MRI in a couple days.

I’m 45 years old and I just signed up for the Starting Strength gym in Orlando, Florida and I start training there on November 4th.

Can anyone recommend a hinged knee brace or wraps that could maybe help me prevent this meniscus tear medial knee pain while I begin the program and hopefully improve leg strength?

I am hoping I am able to train around it and eventually maybe fix it through training. I definitely don’t wanna get surgery or any of that crap if possible.

Thanks so much. Sorry for the super long post.

[Mark Rippetoe]

A meniscus tear is aggravated by the compression between femur and tibia, and no brace will mitigate this. Usually, this pain settles down over time, and you can train through it, unless the tear is a displaced flap that causes mechanical problems.

[RustyB]

Got the results from the MRI, no tears are present. It’s some type of patellofemoral pain syndrome. The MRI shows mild to moderate cartilage thinning and fissuring (small cracks) in the central part of the patella. This is the cartilage helps the kneecap move smoothly as I bend your knee.

I plan to move ahead with my program at the starting strength gy on 111/04. Any tips or suggestions regarding this injury?

[Railbob1776]

You've got arthritis in the kneecap, so do I, and so do a lot of people. Search the forum for "patella" and "arthritis." This has been discussed tons of times on the board. Not sure about the cracking situation.

[Mark Rippetoe]

If you squat the way we teach it, you should not have any problems.

[TommyGun]

Rusty, keep in mind its the hips moving the load, not the knees. It's truly about "hip drive".

[Mike Kelly]

I had a fissure/crack whatever in my right tibial condyle that when inflamed would cause periodic bone on bone ultramisery that caused a temporary training derailment and a notable tonage drop about 4-5 months ago. As PART of the rehab protocol Will Morris (who the board is hyper-familiar with) put me in an "offloading brace" which mitigates load on the knee joint by essentially "pushing back" on your thigh via leverage you apply with an allen key. I was supposed to use the brace as much as I could tolerate it but I really only used it during lifting. Believe it or not, I found it most useful during benching. Using my legs in the bench without it seemed to really piss it off. This, along with Rx anti-inflamatories (also recommended by Will) has seemed to have quieted my symptoms down to the point where I don't even think about them anymore. These are available on Amazon for between 1-200 dollars but also seem to be able to be prescribed by doctors and PTs in "custom" versions. Will gave me his so I assume his was the garden variety.

This is not the same injury and you of course aren't me and I am not a medical professional, so something to look into, at your risk, blah blah blah.

Train.

Best of luck and feel better.