I have had this for as long as I can remember, but in a particulary painful period at moment. Any good exercise reccomendations other that the usual quad/glute/ etc building, stretching, swimming and riding ?….Ta

just me then -)

A "loose knee" describes many different knee conditions.
I think you'll have to be more specific.

Yeah I was wondering exactly what you meant?

ok – hypermobile, which means that the joint is loose, moves around more than it should, apparetly often leads to early arthritis etc. I have had a few arthroscopies (2 one side and 1 the other) but loathe to let a surgeon back in there unless a last resort. Age 44.

cheers

I have what I refer to as a "dodgy" knee. Is that the same thing? Tore a ligament about 20 years ago & it still gives me trouble now & again.

edit – ah I see not.

I've always had slightly dodgy knees. Not sure they're "loose". They clunk if I swim crawl as the lower bones move backwards out of place and then slop back into place. Swimming seemed to make it all worse. Standing resting my knee on the car and bending over does the same thing, excruciating and unable to straighten it. Never had a diagnosis though, was originally noted by docs as "one of those things he'll grow out of" but then later I just got used to it.

Is that a loose knee? 😀

ck – sounds a bit like it to me ! mine ache all the time though. Swimming has been reccomended to me as a good thing, so I go a couple of times aweek (crawl rather than breast stroke though). I think it's a hereditary thing – my parents don't have it but 2 of my 3 kids do 😥

I have tendonitus of both my patella tendons. They also dont run in their channels correctly which i think could be classed as loose.

My problem is i have started football again and if its not the tendonitus, i have an 'incident' whereby the patella 'jumps' which is like a hot poker in my knee.

I do special exercises at circuits (Basically a reverse step up) which strengthens my quads which although strong enough dont actually pull my knee cap untill much too late in the movement.. I have also been using some special supports which i am not 100% on. They basically achieve what Mconnell taping does but with supports. They do however help with the tendonitus so am keeping using them.

I go through this on a weekly basis of pain but the football is worth it 🙂

The one exerices I was told to do for it was to lie on the bed with a full coke can between my feet and raise my legs straight up. I had no idea why that would work on my knees and I don't remember it making it any better TBH (but that was a LONG time ago) but cycling made it much worse (to the point where I was going out on painkillers and anti-inflams every time at the age of 18) and this didn't hurt to do so I did it for a while. At some point it either helped or I got bored, I'm not sure which, but I also stopped riding and had much fewer problems with it during that time.

I recently gave SPD singlespeeding a go and remarkably it seems to actually be helping my knees, even in short bursts, it seems to tighten up everythign around teh joint but that gives other issues too. I think it's just a case of "everything in moderation".

OOh I've just remembered, the doc said one set of muscles was too strong in comparison with the others and it was pulling my knee out of balance, as I didn't appear to have ligament problems in "static" situations. My knee feels like it's doing this:

but you can't actually do that by hand.

(Basically a reverse step up)

. The sports massage guy i sometimes go to reccomended step downs from a low box, basically have the bad knee foot on the box and keep it loaded, touch other heel to the floor, so reps front, side and back – seem to build the quads, but I haven't found anything that will actually help to tighten the tendons/ligaments, which I guess is the root of the problem.

I dont think anything tightens the tendons or ligaments. If they are slack then you compensate with muscle exercises.

TheLittlestHobo – Yes, that's pretty much what I've been told – ideally looking for advice on extra muscle excercices I could try to help the situation. cheers

TheLittlestHobo / iainc

The reverse step-up (with foot slightly out-turned) is an exercise associated with quad strengthening.
In particular the VMO muscle (located on the inside / just above the knee).
This muscle often becomes weak(er) relative to other muscles around the knee which can cause knee cap tracking problems.

I believe this condition is known as chrodromalacia, runners knee, patellofemoral syndrome.

The symptoms of a misaligned knee cap manifest itself in a multitude of ways. Pain on a loaded knee from a bent to straight position. Clicking. A mild "bulging" sensation around the joint, sometimes on the inside – other times on the outside.

The exercises above are all good but must be combined with some stretching. The hamstring and calf but also the ITB (the muscle down the outside of your thigh). If you have a tight ITB – it maybe the root cause of your misalignment.

Check out the use of a foam roll to stretch the ITB (videos on youtube). Initially can be quite a painful exercise which may indicate tightness / knots in the muscle tissue(?).

HTTP404 – thanks for that. You got any links to useful exercises by chance ? I do have an IT roller that i use every few days – bluddy sore though!

I've got Type 3 Ehlers-Danlos (hypermobility) although you wouldn't really know it suppleness/double-jointedness wise. Manifests itself as slightly baggy skin and joint capsules that get inflamed when I overdo it.

I've suffered a lot less the fitter I've got (up to a point, just below I get overtired/overtrained). I can usually spot it coming now and back off. The last few degrees of extension is generally thought to favour the VMO, rather than full leg extensions.

I run a lot offroad these days which I think gives good proprioception and strength. Single leg shallow squats and balance exercises too. (45 and not ready to pack in just yet.)

Swimming – front crawl or anything with a flutter kick.
They recommend static cycling but road cycling was fine for me and off-road a bit more iffy.

A wobble board, single-leg squats, arabesque pose and upping the difficulty by closing your eyes (it's a LOT harder).

Ball against a wall
http://www.ehow.com/how_4421092_work-out-quadriceps-exercise-ball.html

Take your pick! Just 5-10 mins per day.

After a few days on the ITB roller the pain went and it became a lot easier.

I do stretching exercises for quad and hamstrings but never before any sports activity.

thanks for that, lots of good stuff in there – much appreciated 🙂

stever – what do you mean by

The last few degrees of extension is generally thought to favour the VMO, rather than full leg extensions.

don't quite follow. thanks

Say you were using a leg extension machine in the gym. Set the stops so you're only straightening the last bit from say a 20 degree bend. Rather than starting with a 90 degree bent leg. Not saying that's your issue, but a relatively weaker VMO can cause tracking problems in your kneecap. Make sense?

Yep mine are fecked, think I am at 2 athroscopies each side now, some ligament repair work also, mostly done 20 years ago, except 1 athroscopy last year…. It is indeed the movemnt that does the cartalidge in. And now have ostio arthrtis in both (bone to bone in some areas)

I was getting some kind of injections last year was supposed to be a kind of knee lube, didnt make a lot of difference though and you need 3 weekly injections every 6 months or so, so I have ditched that.

Riding actually makes mine feel loads better than rest, some shoes make it feel loads worse so maybe pay attention to that when you walking aout next, see what type of shoe helps, for me trainers is bad, proper decent shoes like a brogue is good.

There is a ball thing with a plate around it (looks like saturn) makes you balance standing on the plate, thats supposed to be good for the quick response muscles around the knee. (not tried it, but might help you)

When riding I pay attention to controlling my knees movement, (not all the time) cleat postion, and shoe choice on the bike for me is also critical.

Oh and cod liver oil capsules, not sure if they work but its got to be worth a shot.

cheers all