Bent/INWARD KNEE CAPS?!?

stud1_89 · August 27th, 2005, 09:20 AM

Hi guys,

Ive always assumed that it was genetic or unchangable but ive been reading up and maybe its not. the thing is...BOTH my knee caps are TURNED IN toward each other...when i stand up its clearly visible the knee caps are bending inwards whilst the calvs and thighs are straight.....ive heard this is also linked to lower back pains which is VERY true in my case and unfortunate as im ONLY 15!.......are there any exercise I can do to solve these inward knees and create a stronger lowwer hip/back? please guys i really need some advice thanks.

fitnzdva · August 27th, 2005, 09:37 AM

my advice: don't look for an answer to this problem on the internet! whatever advice you can get here may be, at worst, very dangerous to your long-term health. go see a physical therapist, hopefully with a sports medicine background! you may need a referral from a physician first, but suck it up and do it. a pt will be able to precisely measure the amount of deviation of each patella, and will know which muscles are over-strong and which are weak; they can quantify the strength ratio of your quads to your hamstrings (a major component of back pain) and will identify corrective exercises and provide thorough instruction. you risk years of continued pain, possible further damage and future physical limitations if you simply follow exercise advice given by non-professionals, even if it may have some merit.

**Adonis** · August 27th, 2005, 09:53 AM

I'm sure by this point you ahve been to physios and doctors, so here si a somewhat simple fix (maybe). Put a band (dyna band) around your thighs near the knees but slightly above the knee caps, now, perform some squats (bodyweight at first), and try and push the knees out to the other side. The band will provide some resistance.

**Adonis** · August 27th, 2005, 09:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fitnzdva

my advice: don't look for an answer to this problem on the internet! whatever advice you can get here may be, at worst, very dangerous to your long-term health. go see a physical therapist, hopefully with a sports medicine background! you may need a referral from a physician first, but suck it up and do it. a pt will be able to precisely measure the amount of deviation of each patella, and will know which muscles are over-strong and which are weak; they can quantify the strength ratio of your quads to your hamstrings (a major component of back pain) and will identify corrective exercises and provide thorough instruction. you risk years of continued pain, possible further damage and future physical limitations if you simply follow exercise advice given by non-professionals, even if it may have some merit.

You most certainly underestimate the wealth of knowledge and practical experience of EF.

Why are you on this site, if you don't want help from other members?

fitnzdva · August 27th, 2005, 10:13 AM

"I'm sure by this point you ahve been to physios and doctors, so here si a somewhat simple fix (maybe)..."

Certainly, most contributors and mods here overestimate their level of knowledge - I enjoy reading and contributing myself, but I think a fundamental difference exists between someone who recognizes the limitations of their knowledge and expertise, and someone who knows it all. A problem such as the one in this forum is serious business, and assuming that medical professionals know less than you do in movement science is ridiculous. I'm assuming, of course, that you don't have a medical or physio license and degree, plus training in corrective therapy. I could easily be wrong, but if I were I doubt you'd be on the defensive and would instead wholeheartedly agree with my earlier post!

saying that an issue goes beyond your ability to solve it only increases the amount of respect that someone will have for you and the advice you CAN legitimately provide!

BTW - i meant no offense by saying this site has it's limitations!

**Adonis** · August 27th, 2005, 10:27 AM

Fair enough, I was in a rash mood.I agree that people generally overestimate their boundaries, and by no means am I more qualified then a doctor, or physio, however, we provide advice for free. Most people take it as free advice, others take it as a perscription. I wouldnt want to diagnose someone over the internt or provide a perscription to fixing something I ahve not seen or examined myself, however ideas to prevent the pain, or possibly correct it, are as always I'm sure, welcome.

**bbabb22** · August 27th, 2005, 11:46 AM

I would have to say go to the orthopeadist . There could be a number of things that add up to cause you do to this. I could go into an explanation but its to long to type. For me my IT band get really tight and couses my knee to bend the other way so all i can tell you is to stretch a lot and see if that helps.

fitnzdva · August 27th, 2005, 01:22 PM

i'll admit it's a soapbox of my own as well! i hear well-meaning trainers and even coaches speaking authoritatively on subjects that clearly need referral to professionals. i agree with bbabb about the possibility of IT band tightness, as it's a sound idea. the point was made that a wholistic diagnosis is part of solving the problem, and without even observing Stud (hey baby

) doing a movement like an overhead squat, who can say what the problem is?

adonis and me just had a bonding moment i think - not that i'm getting fresh or anything!

personally i get a lot out of participating here (it makes me feel like my boobs are bigger).

**Adonis** · August 27th, 2005, 02:42 PM

I guess we did, didn't we

**painless2** · August 27th, 2005, 04:09 PM

Sorry to break up the lovefest here, but I have done lots of work with patellar tracking problems. There are a lot of exercises that can be done to strengthen the musculature around the knee, if PT is not necessary. While it's not typical to have inward roatation problems, specific strengthening of the lateral components can assist in this regard. It's important to ask whether you have consulted a doctor in this regard, and what the prognosis was?

Tonyincalgary · August 29th, 2005, 08:43 PM

When I was 10 I was into competitive swimming pretty seriously, and the stroke that I leked the most was the breast stroke and therefore I over exercised my inner thighs and this caused my knee cap to be pulled inwards causing quite a lot of discomfort. My issue had gotten quite bad as me knee cap stated to erode on my femur. I only wish that I had gone to the pt much sooner as now I am 20 and constantly have to take extreme care when doing exercises as to not hurt myself. And I don't know if it related of not but for the past year have had something floating around in my right knee that likes to "pop" out from time to time and also make it cometime difficult to do exercises. I would recomment that you do go and see a physician and he will most likely send you to go see a pt, just make sure to act on it now before it gets worse.

Best of luck

**Old_Fart2** · August 30th, 2005, 07:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fitnzdva

Certainly, most contributors and mods here overestimate their level of knowledge - I enjoy reading and contributing myself, but I think a fundamental difference exists between someone who recognizes the limitations of their knowledge and expertise, and someone who knows it all. A problem such as the one in this forum is serious business, and assuming that medical professionals know less than you do in movement science is ridiculous.

I agree that one should not seek medical advice on an internet forum from strangers that one hardly knows. I have advised that many times myself. I do , however, disagree with the contention that most contributors and mods overestimate their knowledge. Speaking for myself, I try not to offer advice on anything that I have no knowledge of. Many times, I'll check other sources to verify my information before giving out advice. I think anyone who knows me here knows that what I've learned is from years of training, reading and listening to other people's ideas and advice. I've never presented myself as an expert, just an old fart who's still doing this after over 30 years.

There are some on this board who do have the formal education, though, Painless for one, Adonis for another. I respect their opinions and knowledge because of that and because after interacting with them I realize they know what they're talking about. I don't always agree but even the "real" experts don't always agree.

Again, your point is valid about medical advice but don't minimize the knowledge on this forum simply because you might not agree with all of it.

**ntnfdvd** · August 30th, 2005, 08:53 AM

The other side of the coin is that so many people come to these boards looking for advice rather then going to the doctors. Yes the people on these boards are knowledgable and probably someone at one time or another had the same problem but that doesn't mean what worked for them will work for you. See a doc and then come here for some additional information.

**painless2** · August 30th, 2005, 09:44 AM

I'm not advocating coming here instead of going to a doctor, but given that there are millions of people without health insurance in this country, it's more of a practical matter for some people. I will not give out misinformation, plain and simple, given my background and experience, but it is not meant to diagnose or be the end all on therapies/training protocols.

**Italianangel** · October 2nd, 2005, 05:23 PM

definately see the dr, the ortho but you are out of alignment and have muscle weaknesses causing this but the dr will outline this!