CantFullyBendKnees What can i do? - General Health Message Board

nokoBot · 11-01-2005, 09:57 PM

Hello all . I"m a 25 yr old male. Back in year 2000 i had a knee ligament injury from running fast for about 3 long blocks nonstop. from that point on i couldn't bend it. for a long time, and for a long time even when i felt better, i tried not to bend it because i was afraid it would hurt and get worse. and since i didn't bend that LEFT leg( where the knee ligament was damaged) i also didn't bend my right leg much.

So for like 1 year i didn't bend my knees. much. After i felt better from the knee ligament, i started running and everything but i didn't do any deep knee bends. BY that i mean, i didn't bend them all the way as in my Heels touching my Buttocks.

so ever since, i kind of have shied away from bending my knees. and now that i want to bend my knees fully i can't. When i try to kneel with my heels touching my buttocks, the thigh gets so tight, the back of the leg kind of hurts and i just can't bend it fully.

Anyone know why i lost my ability to bend my knees? and how can i gain it back?

thanks

Misty800 · 11-02-2005, 09:49 AM

Due to not bending the ligaments tightened up. It will take very slow but continuous exercises to get ligaments stretched back out. Don't rush it or push too hard or you will injure the ligaments again. Always warm up before doing exercise for stretching the ligaments. Take a very warm bath/shower and the heat will help warm muscles/ligaments before exercise.

Remember, take it slow and easy. It will take lots of time to succeed without reinjury.

RockDiesel · 11-03-2005, 08:17 AM

Exactly, you are extremely tight from not bending them for a long period of time. Try to increase the range of motion slightly and when you can do that comfortably then try to increase it some more and so on. Start with partial range knee bends until you feel comfortable and work your way down into full knee bends. However, you say they are extremely tight so this will take a lot of time to accomplish. You should dedicate yourself to this though because if yuo don't the tightness in the ligaments could cause you problems later on in life.