Knee locks up occasionally
(4 discussions)
I practice Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and every once in a while my knee will end up in some precarious position where it will all of a sudden try to lock up on me. If I can straighten my leg before it does, all I’m left with is some tenderness in the back of the knee. If I can’t catch it it’ll lock in the bent position and I need to have someone physically straighten my leg for me (which is extremely painful!). My knee doesn’t bother me in any other way in day-to-day life, but I always worry about it locking up on me when I train. Any suggestions on what it might be or what I can do to prevent it? I do wear a knee brace when I train to keep the joints warm, but it’ll still occur.
4 comments
Alicia
Maybe I’ll grow out of it too! I don’t think it’s the knee cap though. I always feel it behind my knee, like something’s about to lock up if I don’t straighten my leg immediately.
taimma97
my brother had a similar problem, however he seemed to grow out of it! his knee used to dislocate if we were mucking about or if he got his leg in an unusual position. we used to have to push his knee cap back in. Does it feel or look like the knee cap moves slightly to the side, it is likely that this is caused by a weekness in your ligaments and tendons!
Alicia
I don’t ever feel like it’s going to “give way” – I actually don’t get much of a warning at all about it. The thing I find weird is it doesn’t bother me at all during anything else I do, and it’ll happen maybe once every month or two. I’ve never injured it either, but it’s something I remember my knee doing since I was a kid. The first time I remember it happening was when I was playing with some friends (I was probably 9 or 10) – we were playing tag or something. All of a sudden it locked on me to the point where I couldn’t get up (it was stuck in the bent position). I had to have a parent take me to the hospital where they just straightened it. I saw a chiropractor for awhile after that, and it was fine. But every once it a while it still locks up on me. I was just wondering if anyone on here could offer any advice on why that would happen, when I’ve never injured it before. I’ll also be getting it checked out soon.
DSA
Hi there, a locking joint usually indicates cartilage/ligament damage and in the case of the knee possible miniscus damage. The thing to do is to see a health professional to get the injury assessed or diagnosed. Does the leg feel like its ‘giving way’ as well? Do recall any injury where you may have injured the knee? Whatever the case, having someone straighten out your leg isn’t gonna be a long term solution!!