Left Knee Pain

[miki]

I'm 48 and sometimes I feel quite discomfortable pain in my left knee. It could come after 2 hours of single or just from nowhere
in a calm Sunday evening. After one-two days it's gone!
Is it muscles weakness and I need special exercises or I need to see surgeon?
Regards to all

[nvared]

You didn't specify where you have the pain. It it's on the kneecap, you may have chrondomalacia which seems to come and go. If it bothers you, I would go to the orthopedic surgeon and have them check it out and give you exercises for your specific problem.

[Japanese Maple]

where exactly does the knee hurt-more than likely it is in the front
below the knee cap-let me know and I will share my experiences
that may help you out.

[drummerboy]

It might be a condition called jumper's knee miki. Go to the doc so he can check it out.

[miki]

Thanks for reply, guys!
Japanese Maple, it sounds like I have your case - i feel some discomfort below the knee cap. Can do a lot of sit ups, move good on my toe tips, but it hurts to walk normally!
For now I decided to rest a week and after that will go play or see a doc.
Best regards to all.

[Japanese Maple]

Mikki,

It sounds like you have strained the patella tendon, otherwise
know as" Jumpers Knee" . The reason its the left knee is this is
the leg you land on continuously during a match when you serve.

Here are some recommendations:

1) Before and after you play stretch your quad by placing your
left foot on top of the net-this will also stretch out you patella
tendon. By not stretching your quads this will eventually cause
pain in your patella tendon-stretching is critical.

2) Start taking anti-inflammatory medicine such as advil, and make
sure you ice your knee after playing-this is very important. Also,
consider using a heated whirlpool and heating pad throughout the
week and before you play and stretch the knee.

3) Strengthen your legs around the knee by lifting weights-squats,
knee extensions,lunges,ect.

4) Do a search on google under patella tendinitis or jumpers knee-
you will get some great information from rehab. centers.

5) I f the pain doesn't go away after 2-3 weeks after doing the
above go to a physical therapist because you will get access to
special treatments such as ultrasound that will speed recovery.
My guess is that if it is not a serious acute pain the above advice
will clear up the pain, especially the strecthing and strenthening.
If it is not to painful you should still be able to play-if the pain
doesn't go away take some time off . Good luck.

[dozu]

Take a good look at your shoes. they are not made equal. I find Nike and some Wilson shoes tend to slope down from heel to toe, give extra stress to the knee.

I was wearing some Wilson shoes which look very good but my knees hurt so much I could barely walk down stairs. I had to switch back to my badly beaten Addidas shoes and the pain was gone in a week.

Generally speaking the sloping is quite common in running shoes. But it's a sin to have it in tennis shoes. Most of the stress put on the knees is not due to the running, but the constant "go and stop" in tennis, and the shoes should be perfectly flat from heel to toe.

[miki]

Thanks a lot, guys! I think my problem is weak muscles around the knee. Last 5 years I was plying tennis 4-5 times a week and nothing else to suplement my physical condition and it must be wrong.
Regards to all