Knee Pain

Hi,

I've had some long-term right-knee problems - basically pain and inflammation after a few hours riding.

I've noticed some peculiar symptoms.

If i straighten my leg and tighten the quad muscles ,my patellar sort of clicks. It feels like its being pulled back into place because of tightening the knee.
It always happens when i do this with the right problem leg/knee, but not with my other problem-free knee.
Also, when I straighten the leg and tighten the quad muscle it feels slightly "lazy" in comparison to the other leg. Almost like the muscles are n't tightening quite as much as they should. Its a very subtle thing.

When I had an MRI scan it showed a slight lateral patellar tilt and possible impingement of the patellar on the fat pad. Which sort of fits with the patellar being out of position.

I assume its a weak vmo muscle. Ive been doing straight leg excercises for couple of months now, but the patellar still clicks.

Anyone recogonise these symptoms?

Cheers

Got the exact same thing, along with severe pain under my knee cap when under load. The ortho said the knee wasn't the problem, only a symptom of the problem-- which was a problem with the SI (sacro-iliac) joint, causing my pelvis not to be level, which in turn threw off everything down below, leading to patellofemoral problems (improper knee cap tracking). Also, the quad muscles (including the VMO) in the affected leg had atrophied compared to the right. The prescription was some basic PT, which includes not only exercises to balance out the muscles, but also stretches/manipulations to stabilize and level the pelvis.

I'd go see a good sports ortho or physiotherapist.