Knee Pain

Around November of 2021 I began feeling pain in the front of my knee. Throughout the fall, I had been playing pickup basketball during which I was sprinting, shuffling, and jumping. I was also lifting. Eventually, the pain in my knees became severe to the point where I could not walk comfortably. I later learned from a doctor that this was the result of hyper use of my legs, particularly my hamstrings, and not enough stretching. My hamstrings were so tight that immense pressure had built up in my patellar tendon, and tendinitis developed. At this point, I lost virtually all power in my quads. I could not hold the pressure of my hand pulling a sock over my foot. I could not sit down and extend my leg.

I was instructed to minimize use of my knees for one month. This meant no basketball, no lifting, avoid stairs, etc. For one week, I iced my knees and stretched my legs every day, while avoiding use of my knees. I felt an immediate relief of pressure after that week. For the rest of the month I lifted lightly and carefully with my legs, iced my knees once a week, and stretched every day.

My month of rehab finally ended, and when I hit the court again, my knees felt incredible. One month of care for my knees and rest had restored power to my quads. I went from hardly being able to hold my own weight, to getting steals, running the floor, and hammering down monster dunks. Pain comes and goes in my knees, but as long as I stretch my legs well it never gets too bad.

Take care of your joints and tendons! Pain means there is inflammation, so ice. Pain in tendons is likely built up pressure resulting from tightness in the surrounding muscles, so stretch well and foam roll to promote blood flow. Lastly, do not be afraid to take some time off. One step back often leads to many steps forward, which is preferable to slow and painful steps forward that risk more serious injury.