Expert: Keith Patton - 10/13/2008

Question
"I have recently started to practice aikido and during one of the sessions I probably twisted my knee which resulted in a slight pain in the inside side of the knee. I am 42 yrs old and male. I can walk normally and can even run and perform a full aikido session without pain however after a session I have a painful knee which last throughout the night. The day after it's back to normal with only a slight pain on the knee.  Which warm up exercises or aikido techniques should I avoid and not practice to avoid after training pain? Also what type and make of knee brace do you recommend for wearing during aikido training and from where can I buy one? My last question is should I continue with my aikido training or should I stop until the
knee pain has completely gone?"


Answer
First let me say that I have had the ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) replaced with grafts in both my knees.  Knees are not something to fool around with or try to work through injurys on.  I tried that with my left knee and was all the worse for it.  After 4 soccer injuries and no doctor visits it blew out entirely during a fencing session.

Anyway, it sounds like you have strained the medial lateral ligament and maybe even torn it.  It could also be that (like I did) you are experiencing trancient pain in the joint due to bits of torn cartilage floating around in the joint.  During times of activity they mobilize like grains of sand or gravel in a machine and eventually end up between the ends of the bones in the knee joint and cause pain and swelling and further tissue damage.  I tore my miniscus and by the time I had arthoscopic surgery to clean out the joint I had about 2 tablespoons worth of pulverized cartilage in a pocket just out side the joint.  This stuff had been mashed up pretty good according to the surgeon.  

So bottom line I would see a orthopedic surgeon and have them take a look at it.  I would not recommend "working through it".

Knee braces only offer false security.  I have a $700 one made for me at my insistance before I had surgery on my left knee.  I was going to the Bolivian jungle for a few weeks and did not want to be in a situation where if I hurt my knee again I could not walk out.  So I wore it to protect the knee.  Every surgeon I have spoken to has said the same thing.  They say you can't stablize a bone joint by wearing a brace around the muscle tissue surrounding the joint.  The bone and joint can still twist and turn withing the surrounding sheath of muscle.  It only offer false security to the wearer and in most cases ultimately leads to a more serious injury to the joint.  The wearer does things they wouldn't do without the added sense of security the brace gives.

See a doctor or lay off doing anything until the joint pain is gone.
If it comes back go see the doctor.