Hi,

So, about a month ago I was playing soccer and felt a weird feeling in my left knee, almost like something came out of a socket. Not painful, but just weird.
It went away after a few seconds.

The next day I ran 6 miles on it. No pain at all until I finished and it was sore.
That night I noticed it was swollen. Did some ice, alieve, and it went down.

I've been resting it for about three weeks now and it seems fine so I want to start running again, but, would like to strenghten my knee first. Does anyone know of good routines for this?

Also, I know, you're probably not a doctor, and I should have gone to see one, but, anyone have a guess as to what I did? No past injuries on this knee, but, I'm 38, so, it is the age stuff starts going for no reason...

If you want to strengthen your knees, the squat (full squat!) is probably the best exercise you can do.

Good, guess I'm not a doctor! It could have just been a bit of a sprain or overextension that wouldn't have become painful until next day anyway. Your 6 mile run probably just made it much worse than it would've been.

I need to strengthen my knees as well. I went hiking around a month ago, and now everytime I sit at my desk without standing up for a while, my knee cramps up and I start to limp when I get up.

Don't sit still at your desk for that long.

It sounds like you overstretched the ligaments and may have caused some micro tears which would account for it being inflamed and irritated when you use it.

I would rest it and regularly give the cold/ heat treatment to aid recovery.

In terms of strengthening it up you will find that once the ligaments recover it will be nearly like normal (if that is what it is). Because the knee is a hinge joint you can strengthen it very easily by building up the major muscles around it, which mainly requires focus on the quads. The quad muscle overlaps the knee joint and provides a lot of support.

Good luck with the recovery

Rachel, tell that one to my boss, lol.