Left Knee Clicking When Straightened From Deep Flexion
Channel: My Outcast State
Date: 2017-01-09

NOTES FOR PHYSIOTHERAPISTS AND CHIROPRACTORS, ETC:

I am looking for someone who can do better than tell me there is an imbalance between the valgus lateralis and the valgus medialis.  Rather, I'm looking for someone who can explain WHY my knee clicks under very specific conditions:
- Bearing weight on the left leg
- Angle of flexion more acute than 90 degrees, around 70 degrees.

I have already seen a number of therapists in an attempt to resolve this issue, and am not satisfied with the diagnosis that I simply need to strengthen one or more of my quadriceps muscles.  If there is an imbalance between the vastus lateralis and the vastus medialis, it manifested very recently and would be due to one of the muscles not firing in correct sequence rather than being too weak.  (The muscles were perfectly fine for four years)

I am more than happy to take on a daily exercise routine, but I am already familiar with leg lifts, clam shells, crab walks, etc.

Over the past four years I have developed considerable functional flexibility in this regard, and have a made a personal study of it.  I do not sit all day in a chair, and have spent hundreds of hours working on ameliorating the effects of modern sedantary living.

My left knee has been clicking since about late October.
As you will see in this video, my knee does not click when I flex my knee, but rather when I extend my knee.
Moreover, my left knee clicks under the following conditions:
- Bearing weight on the left leg
- Angle of flexion more acute than 90 degrees, around 70 degrees.

When I stand, walk, or sit, squat, kneel -- even with my knee in full flexion -- I feel no pain, discomfort, or tension.
When I go up or down stairs I feel a slight discomfort, 1/10 pain, and a vague sense of instability.
I have not been running or jumping, but I suspect that if I did, my left knee would hurt.

I have no problems with my right knee to report whatsoever.

During the day I almost never sit in a chair -- I do not own a chair -- and stand, walk, squat, kneel, or sit with my legs crossed on the floor.
I sleep on the floor.

Whenever I get off the floor, the only way to prevent my knee from clicking is by some contrivance or either to place the bulk of the load on my right leg.  This is obviously not healthy in the long term.

The problem manifested itself when I was working in a job that had me standing at a computer work station for much of the day on hard concrete floors.  I was provided with a rubber standing mat, and made sure that the peripherals and monitor were at ergonomic heights and distances for me.  Nevertheless, the daily work did contribute to tension in my right shoulder complex, lower back, and left hip.